blogsketball

Since the CIS basketball top-ten has been much discussed this year and since there’s a new poll (that I’m a part of), I thought it’d be interesting to see how close each of the polls are to the other. First, this week’s CIS coaches poll:1. Carleton (19-0) / 516 votes / (1)
2. Brandon (18-2) / 469 / (2)
3. Calgary (17-3) / 427 / (3)
4. Acadia (13-2) / 389 / (4)
5. Toronto (14-4) / 323 / (7)
6. Ottawa (15-4) / 266 / (6)
7. UBC (16-5) / 246 / (5)
8. Cape Breton (13-3) / 236 / (9)
9. Windsor (13-4) / 203 / (10)
10. Brock (11-6) / 97 / (8)

First-place votes: Carleton (43).

Other teams receiving votes: Laval (82), Alberta (67), Concordia (11), Saint
Mary’s (7), Guelph (2).

Now, CIShoops.ca’s poll:

Rank Team Points Last Week
1. Carleton (22) 264 1
2. Brandon 233 2
3. Calgary 226 3
4. Toronto 173 5
5. Acadia 165 4
6. Cape Breton 128 8
7. Ottawa 125 6
8. Windsor 112 10
9. U.B.C. 94 7
10. Alberta 78 NR

DROPPING OUT: Laval

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Laval 74; Brock; 17; St. Francis Xavier 10; Concordia 5; Simon Fraser 4; Queen’s 3; Saint Mary’s 2; Saskatchewan 2; Victoria 1

I’ll follow the lead of fellow poll voter, Facebook friend and Brandon Sun writer David Larkins and post my own voting below:

1. Carleton
2. Acadia
3. Calgary
4. Brandon
5. Toronto
6. Ottawa
7. UBC
8. Windsor
9. Brock
10. Laval
11. Cape Breton
12. Alberta

Like Larkins said last week, voting is hard. I was happy with what I sent off for the inaugural top-ten, but this week…I kind of wish I had a Mulligan. I initially put the Bears at seventh, but looked at last week’s top ten and realized that most of the teams didn’t lose. That become the basis of my voting for this week. If a team that was 2 last week didn’t lose this weekend, how can/why should they fall? It’s a theory, but in hindsight I think it’s a flawed one and one that probably kinks the coaches poll. Laval only played one game this weekend, and the Bears upset UBC then went into Vic and beat them at their game (low scoring, grind-it-out ball), giving them a good shot at getting a wildcard spot should they stumble in the next few weeks of post-season play in Canada West.

That’s my biggest regret with my voting this week. I probably put Acadia too high, and picks 8-12 could have been shuffled and I wouldn’t have been hurt by it. Not the worst picks in the world, but not the best either. It’s a learning process, and I think with a full season under the voters’ belts this time next year the poll will be a very reliable thing.

Cavs-Celts are on. KG remains out and LeBron remains lethal. It’s hard to want to take notes when you can’t see the score properly on the screen, because The Score hasn’t fixed the screen to fit it, on account of their ticker.