Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

[clenz]

Lets be completely honest here. What Drake has done this year is amazing, but are they really the 14th best team in the nation? Could they beat #24 Kansas State? Hang with 9-13? I just saw #11 Texas beat #3 Kansas. Could Drake hang with these teams or is their ranking based off of them beating the mid-majors and having a great record?

[joecooll6]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

All I will say is that people have been saying "Drake can't do this", "Drake cant do that" all year, and each and every time theyve proven them wrong

[clenz]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

All I will say is that people have been saying "Drake can't do this", "Drake cant do that" all year, and each and every time theyve proven them wrong

This is very true. I just have a hard time believing Drake can hang with teams like #23 Louisville, #19 Purdue, #16 A&M, #15 Wisconsin, # 13 Indiana to keep it close in the rankings.

Or that they could beat Marquette, Baylor, or Clemson who are right outside the top 25.

I could be very wrong, but I just have a hard time imaging them beating these teams

[06panther10]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

The answer to your question is probably no. The basketball rankings are just as flawed as the football rankings. They do not accurately "rank" the teams in order of who is best, rather they are ranked in order of who lost least recently. When you look at the rankings and see who is ranked behind Drake, does anyone think that they can beat any of those teams? I dont think that they probably can. And to prove my point, Drake is ranked ahead of St. Mary's at 21st. St. Mary's is the team that beat Drake this year.

[NoPlaceLikeDome]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

The answer to your question is probably no. The basketball rankings are just as flawed as the football rankings. They do not accurately "rank" the teams in order of who is best, rather they are ranked in order of who lost least recently. When you look at the rankings and see who is ranked behind Drake, does anyone think that they can beat any of those teams? I dont think that they probably can. And to prove my point, Drake is ranked ahead of St. Mary's at 21st. St. Mary's is the team that beat Drake this year.

Drake lost AT St. Mary's in a very close game. They ended up down by only 6. A top 25 loss on the road by less than 10 points is nothing to hang your head about.

They absolutely deserve their ranking at the moment. Especially if they get through this week with two wins...

[BUYTICKETS]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

There are not many tickets left for this Saturday's game against Drake, depending on how the student distribution goes it could be a sell out. Students have until Friday evening to reserve their tickets online, then what is left goes on sale to the public on Saturday.

Discounted Tickets Available for Last Two UNI Home Men's Basketball Games
A limited number of $8 seats for Illinois-Chicago and Indiana State are on sale.

The University of Northern Iowa athletics department is offering discounted tickets for the final two home men's basketball games of this season.

For both the Panthers BracketBusters clash with Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 23 - 7:05 p.m.), as well as the senior night game against Indiana State (Feb. 27 - 7:05 p.m.), a limited number of tickets will be available for $8 apiece.

These specially-priced tickets will be available only at the College Square Mall Hy-Vee, as well as at University Book and Supply.

[06panther10]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

Drake lost AT St. Mary's in a very close game. They ended up down by only 6. A top 25 loss on the road by less than 10 points is nothing to hang your head about.

They absolutely deserve their ranking at the moment. Especially if they get through this week with two wins...

I dont care where it was at. Drake played them and were beaten by them, yet still are ranked in front of them. All I'm saying is that the rankings dont properly rank the teams. If the #1 ranked team played the #2 ranked team and the #2 ranked team lost by 1 point at the buzzer they would drop in the rankings, even though that is what should happen according to the rankings. If they are the second best team, they should lose to the #1 team, but they would not still be #2 after losing. Thats not the way that it should be.

[speechpanther]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

This is very true. I just have a hard time believing Drake can hang with teams like #23 Louisville, #19 Purdue, #16 A&M, #15 Wisconsin, # 13 Indiana to keep it close in the rankings.

Or that they could beat Marquette, Baylor, or Clemson who are right outside the top 25.

I could be very wrong, but I just have a hard time imaging them beating these teams

I don't have a hard time at all believing that Drake could beat these teams. Missouri State almost beat Purdue (as 2317 pointed out yesterday), so why couldn't Drake "hang" with them?

I see basketball teams as having a range of ability. Drake's best performance wouldn't beat a Kansas or UNC unless they were having monumentally bad nights. But an above average/great performance by Drake can beat virtually any team in the nation on any given night.

That being said, I think it will hurt Drake that they haven't been facing really tough teams. Butler will probably make this picture much clearer for us (remember, Butler made the Sweet 16 and gave national champion Florida a run for its money; not to mention that Preseason NIT run...).

[DRAKELAWPANTHER]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

The answer to your question is probably no. The basketball rankings are just as flawed as the football rankings. They do not accurately "rank" the teams in order of who is best, rather they are ranked in order of who lost least recently. When you look at the rankings and see who is ranked behind Drake, does anyone think that they can beat any of those teams? I dont think that they probably can. And to prove my point, Drake is ranked ahead of St. Mary's at 21st. St. Mary's is the team that beat Drake this year.

The answer to your question, Mr. Nantz, is yes they could "hang" with those teams.

First, the loss to St. Mary's was the SECOND game of the year.

Second, isn't it funny how there weren't nearly so many questions about the caliber of Southern Illinois, Creighton, or Wichita St. - and their ability to compete withTop 20 teams - when THEY were high in the rankings. But now because it's Drake, we have to hear all this BCS garbage over and over.

Obviously, Drake doesn't have the athletes of these big schools - but these big schools likely don't have 6'8" post-players who are leading their team in three-point percentage. Drake will always compete with these teams because they shoot the ball so well. Just like when they got down against Creighton or Ill. St by double-digits, their ability to shoot the trey will never have them out of a game.

[UNIAlum95]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

As long as Drake is shooting well, they can hang with and possibly beat any team out there. Given that UNI is out of the running, I hope to see them win out and make a big run in the tournament. We need a Valley team to win a few in March this year.

[Whitey81]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

I dont care where it was at. Drake played them and were beaten by them, yet still are ranked in front of them. All I'm saying is that the rankings dont properly rank the teams. If the #1 ranked team played the #2 ranked team and the #2 ranked team lost by 1 point at the buzzer they would drop in the rankings, even though that is what should happen according to the rankings. If they are the second best team, they should lose to the #1 team, but they would not still be #2 after losing. Thats not the way that it should be.

Using this logic, App State football should have been ranked ahead of Michigan in football, right?

[clenz]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

Obviously, Drake doesn't have the athletes of these big schools - but these big schools likely don't have 6'8" post-players who are leading their team in three-point percentage.

Drake doesn't have 7 footers that are more athletic than half the other team either though.

This is the thing that bothers me about mid-majors being ranked so high. They might deserve it, they might not. However, chances are they probably don't. They just don't have the athletes to compete with the BCS schools

[williebat]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

Drake doesn't have 7 footers that are more athletic than half the other team either though.

This is the thing that bothers me about mid-majors being ranked so high. They might deserve it, they might not. However, chances are they probably don't. They just don't have the athletes to compete with the BCS schools

You know what the great thing about that question is? we will get to find out come bracketbuster and again in march.

What hurts so much about drakes success is 3 years ago I would have predicted it would be UNI in top 15 by 2008.

[DRAKELAWPANTHER]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

Drake doesn't have 7 footers that are more athletic than half the other team either though.

This is the thing that bothers me about mid-majors being ranked so high. They might deserve it, they might not. However, chances are they probably don't. They just don't have the athletes to compete with the BCS schools

Yeah, UNI's 7-footer really showed Drake...

"They just don't have the athletes to compete with the BCS schools." Hmm. Well, I guess somebody forgot to send that memo to the aforementioned Southern Illinois, Bradley, Wichita St., and George Mason.

Seriously - do you, Doug Gottlieb, Hubert Davis, and Billy Packer hang out on the weekends or what?

[clenz]

Re: Could #14 Drake beat other ranked teams?

Yeah, UNI's 7-footer really showed Drake...



"They just don't have the athletes to compete with the BCS schools." Hmm. Well, I guess somebody forgot to send that memo to the aforementioned Southern Illinois, Bradley, Wichita St., and George Mason.



Seriously - do you, Doug Gottlieb, Hubert Davis, and Billy Packer hang out on the weekends or what?

Is Jordan more athletic than the 7 footers from the BCS conferences? Heck is Jordan more athletic than half our own team? I love Jordan as a player but he is far from "athletic". You really think that if Drake got matched up with
Indiana? You think Drake has the inside presense to stop DJ White? Or that White can't guard Drake's 6'8" center who is leading the team in three point percent outside the lane? You think Drake has the athletic ability to guard Gordon or the other guards at IU? I hate Indiana, always have, but I don't think Drake would touch them.

How well is that 6'8" going to do downlow agaist White or Micheal Beasley from K-State. Beasley could easily guard the outside against Drake's 6'8" "AA" 3 point shooting center. Beasley is capable of shooting just as well as some guards.

How would they stop L'ville? Padgett inside and Sosa outside, they don't have the athletic ability to stay with them.

You seriously think Drake can hang with any team in the country? I'll take that wager and even put money on it. I'll take Indiana, North Carolina, Texas, A&M, and K-State. We will play best 3 of 5. If Drake takes down 3 of them, I'll believe that they can hang with the best teams in the nation night in and night out. Let's put Drake in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Pac 10, or even the Big 10(1)<--(they would probably have the most "success" here).

George Mason had an amazing run 2 years ago, but are you seriously read to tell me they were one of the 4 best teams in the nation 2 years ago? Teams can, and do make runs come tournament time. However, that is why they are the "cinderella's" of the tourny, and it is such a big upset when they get to the Sweet 16. Drake will get a 3 or 4 seed because of their record and have to play the conference champs out of the MAAC or MEAC, which they will beat. They will probably end up in the sweet 16 and have to play Kansas (assuming they don't choke again), Duke, UNC, G'Town, UCLA ect... and then we will see how good they are.

I'm just not sold they are the 14th best team in the nation