Rankings 2018-19

[GoMuskies]

2 votes?!? Guess we'll be sneaking up on people this year!!!!

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

To win the Maui Classic, all we'll likely have to do is beat #11 Auburn, #4 Dook and #3 Gonzaga in three straight games. No biggie.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

I think a realistic Maui result is 1-2, 2-1 would be close to ideal.

[GoMuskies]

2-1 would be close to ideal.

Particularly since if the 1 loss is to Auburn, all three games will be at 9:30 am, which is absolutely perfect.

[X-band '01]

Auburn has an experienced core coming back, but they would have been even more potent had Mustapha Heron remained at Auburn. As it is, X will see him twice when they play the Johnnies later in the year.

[xu82]

We got ‘em right where we want ‘em!

[bobbiemcgee]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1053434130724139008

[XUFan09]

The Maui field is so stacked that I honestly would probably be content with a single win. Worse-case scenario that is beating Illinois in the 7th place game, but that could also easily mean beating San Diego State or beating Auburn. Going 2-1 would be great, no matter how it happens. I wouldn't anticipate winning it at all unless X had actually already made the title game.

Man, this would have been a great tournament for last year's team. It's still pretty sweet for this year's team, though!

[drudy23]

3-0 in Maui. Book it.

[GoMuskies]

3-0 in Maui. Book it.

If you put in a $10 ML bet on Xavier against Auburn and parlayed it all the way through, what would that pay? I'm thinking maybe +275 against Auburn, +450 against Dook and +350 against the Zags. That would turn $10 into about $930. I could live with it.

[paulxu]

I don't know what that means, but I'll send you $10 just for the hell of it, if you make that bet for me.

(I'll leave the cash with BJ the next time through)

[bjf123]

I don't know what that means,....

Glad I’m not the only one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[noteggs]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1053434130724139008

Chills

Can’t wait to see live

[GoMuskies]

Guys, just give me the 10 bucks and don't worry about what it "means".

[paulxu]

I understand that if we sweep, you'll give me $930...so there is that.

[GIMMFD]

I understand that if we sweep, you'll give me $930...so there is that.

Basically in an explain like I'm 5 situation, a parlay is a "multiple bet" so you're betting on the outcomes of all three games, but you have to be correct on all 3 to receive payout, so even if ya won the 2 before and X lost the 3rd, you'd get nothing even though you got the first two games correct technically, $10 is minimum bet, and the numbers explain the bet, so if Xavier is +275 against Auburn, for every $10 you put down, you stand to make $275, while for Auburn at -275 would mean for every $275 you put on Auburn, you'd make $10, and that is how you'd make $930 on a $10 parlay. I think I explained that right, Muskies can correct me if I'm wrong.

Back to the topic at hand, I didn't expect to even get a single vote to be honest, we lost like 80% of our scoring, have 3 new grad transfers along with a bunch of new guys in bigger roles, hell we don't even know what to expect out of X, how can we expect anybody else to say we'd be top 25? I do think we have the ability to climb into the top 25/just outside with the talent level we have, if Steele is as good as X's and O's as we think, and if our guys mesh together well, but we know the Big East is a freaking grind, so it's gonna take a little to figure it out.

EDIT: I screwed that up, parlay's multiply, so the original bet at 275 would be for every $100 you bet you'd make $275 on X beating Auburn, but this is how $10 would get you $930

[Xuperman]

I didn't expect to even get a single vote to be honest, we lost like 80% of our scoring, have 3 new grad transfers along with a bunch of new guys in bigger roles,

I could make an argument that this team is better than last years. Of course my premise would be based on statistical projections for our core 4 over a 40 minute game, along with the cache of a years experience. Next simply replacing Gates/Kanter with Welage/Hankins. I could also point to Team 96 had a host of poor performances, even though most ended up as a W.

[XMuskieFTW]

I could make an argument that this team is better than last years. Of course my premise would be based on statistical projections for our core 4 over a 40 minute game, along with the cache of a years experience. Next simply replacing Gates/Kanter with Welage/Hankins. I could also point to Team 96 had a host of poor performances, even though most ended up as a W.

This year's team better? Not a chance. And you can't just say because Welage and Hankins had better stats than Gates and Kanter that it's an improvement. Welage was playing in a much worse division and his defense is light years worse than Gates. Hankins was probably matched up with 6'4 centers in half of his games. Not to mention JP and Trevon compared to Naji and Castlin?

There is no argument where this year's team is better than last year's.

[Xuperman]

Yeah, it's a stretch but I'm a glass half full guy.

[XMuskieFTW]

Yeah, it's a stretch but I'm a glass half full guy.

I'm hopeful, but I see this team's ceiling as more of a 4 seed with a floor of missing the tournament. Having this many unknowns is fun, but will definitely be frustrating at times.

[xubrew]

If history repeats itself, half of the teams in the preseason top 25 won't be ranked at the end of the season, and a third of them will miss the tournament entirely.

Last year USC, Notre Dame, Minnesota, Louisville, Northwestern, Saint Mary's, and Baylor all missed the tournament after being ranked in the preseason top 25. That's actually one or two less than normal. On the flip side Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Auburn all ended up as protected seeds without receiving any preseason votes. Clemson and Ohio State were on the #5 line.

That is one of the things that's so fun about this game. No one knows how it's going to play out before the season starts. There are a couple of teams that no one is thinking about at all right now that are going to have huge years, and there is probably at least one top ten team that's going to miss the NCAA Tournament.

[GIMMFD]

If history repeats itself, half of the teams in the preseason top 25 won't be ranked at the end of the season, and a third of them will miss the tournament entirely.

Last year USC, Notre Dame, Minnesota, Louisville, Northwestern, Saint Mary's, and Baylor all missed the tournament after being ranked in the preseason top 25. That's actually one or two less than normal. On the flip side Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Auburn all ended up as protected seeds without receiving any preseason votes. Clemson and Ohio State were on the #5 line.

That is one of the things that's so fun about this game. No one knows how it's going to play out before the season starts. There are a couple of teams that no one is thinking about at all right now that are going to have huge years, and there is probably at least one top ten team that's going to miss the NCAA Tournament.

Yup that's the fun of college basketball compared to football, there's wayyyy more variety in who's able to make runs, who will win it all, etc. especially with the tournament style in deciding a champion. The turnover for a roster of 12 is actually pretty tough, and I commend anybody that can replace a lot of bodies, like Steele and staff have done, let's see if it all works out, the guys are gonna need to build chemistry with each other and what not, but there's definitely a lot to look forward too, and it's awesome to be one step closer to the season.

[paulxu]

Early rankings:

Pomeroy #55 https://kenpom.com/

Composite #27 https://www.masseyratings.com/cb/compare.htm

Massey #13 https://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=cb&sub=NCAA%20I

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Pomeroy seems about right for a group with talent and nothing proven.

[GoMuskies]

If the Maui Invitational had started this week, Xavier would merely have needed to knock off #9 Auburn, #1 Dook and #3 Gonzaga to win the championship.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings