Who’s Next On The SU #1 Bandwagon?
Let’s face it: as unimportant as players and coaches claim them to be, rankings are a lot of fun for us fans to follow throughout the course of the season. Sure, higher-ranked teams get more national coverage, which can pique recruits’ interest in a given school, but apart from that, the collective opinion of 60 some-odd sportswriters doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. And yet, there we are, every Monday, waiting intently for the latest poll results.
With finals week slowing down the college basketball schedule, things were mostly tepid last week. While there were a few upsets (Florida, Tennessee, Georgetown and Butler or Ohio State, depending on where you stand since Evan Turner went down), each top five team won, so it’s hard to picture SU ascending in the polls.
Two weeks ago, however, SU gained a fan in high places when San Jose Mercury News writer and AP voter Jon Wilner penciled in SU as the nation’s best team. In doing so, Wilner joined New York Daily News writer Dick Weiss, who catapulted the Orange from unranked to King Of The Hill on his ballot about a month ago after the coming out party at Madison Square Garden.
So who are the most likely candidates to join Weiss and Wilner by putting Syracuse at the top come Monday? To make an educated guess, we have to see who ranked SU highest in last week’s poll, aside from Weiss and Wilner. You can check out each voter’s ballot at the handy site Pollspeak.com a few hours after the rankings come out. Subsequently, you can determine who you should write scathing letters to and which paper you should subscribe to based on what the AP voters think of the Orange. I’ve listed each of last week’s #2 voters below, with some quick info on each (recent voting history, background, etc.) and you can form your own opinions as to who’s next to jump on the bandwagon.
1. Mark Berman, Roanoke Times (Virginia)
Background: Berman is not afraid to stir the pot. Two years ago, he got under the skin of Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg during a 2008 ACC media conference call by asking a question about suspended Hokie Jeff Allen when Greenberg stated at the beginning of the call that he would not answer questions pertaining to Allen’s suspension.
Berman ranked UConn the lowest of any pollster last week, while also ranking Georgetown higher than all other voters at #10 in the same poll.
2. Michael Rothstein, The Ann-Arbor News (Michigan)
Background: For locals, Rothstein’s name may ring a bell, as he was a contributing writer on the SU beat earlier in the decdefor The Post-Standard. Last week, before the Florida game, Rothstein told readers in a live chat that if SU could down the Gators, he would move them from sixth to second, and sure enough, he did.
Rothstein’s publication is one of a handful that have realized the growing industry trend of shifting to a mostly-online format, as The Ann Arbor News reduced its print edition from seven days a week to two, so there’s the whole “forward-thinking” thing going on. You can find his work at Annarbor.com
3. Nick Jezierny, The Idaho Statesman
Background: Since the big MSG wins, Jezierny has nudged the Orange from 4th in week 4 to 3rd in week 5 to 2nd last week. While he had Michigan State ranked at the top of his ballot for the first three weeks of the season, he pegged Cal as unranked from day one, a realization that many of us didn’t make until they were exposed at the Garden, so he could be a bit of a wildcard. I guess staring at a blue football field all autumn long will do that to you.
4. Paul Klee, Champaign News-Gazette (Illinois)
Background: Like Rothstein, the Florida game made a believer out of Paul Klee, the beat writer for the Fighting Illini. Prior to the Florida game, Klee had the Orange at #5, and after the win, moved them to #2 – I hope I’m making a safe assumption here. Otherwise, he’s quite the believer in the St. Francis Terriers.
5. Vahe Gregorian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Background: Gregorian is an accomplished, national award-winning writer who has been with the Post-Dispatch for over 20 years, so while he isn’t completely old school, he’s been around the block. Notably, Gregorian is one of few voters who has had #4 Purdue in the top 5 all season.
