Can someone explain?

[DblT81]

I know this time of year polls are pretty worthless, well, most of the year, polls may be worthless. But--

Can someone explain why Baylor would be ranked #9 in the AP poll and Texas would be ranked #17?

I really haven't studied this, just saw the polls for the first time this week and was surprised. Hasn't Texas beaten Wisconsin and LSU, both ranked teams? Baylor is winning by a bigger margin. Is that it?

Looks to me like Texas should be ranked higher than any other Big 12 team other than OU right now. Yes ISU had a huge win over a ranked team but one ranked in only one poll.

[KSUron]

It will sort out later. I'm just glad KSU is starting to get some respect from some voters. At this time of the year I just hope all Big XII teams get respect so we will all be in better shape on selection day. Every Big XII non-conference game is important for that respect. By the end of the season we will all know who the best teams in the conference are, and we won't need poll voters to tell us.

[swok34]

Dblt....you know how these rankings work, if you aren't in, it takes winning, winning to break the top 25.....and Texas won't hardly go ahead of Baylor without a Baylor loss, unless Texas were to come out and beat a Top 5 team handily, that might do it.

[schooner2]

Exactly - ditto what swok34 said. Actually I'm surprised at what movement there is in the polls. For instance, Tech took quite a tumble after the loss to New Mexico. Tech is usually one of the Top 10 mainstays and it takes a lot to move them down.

But, once they go on a winning streak and if they can knock off an ISU or OU, they'll zoom back to the Top 10.

[Press]

A lot of that has to do with the respect of the coach too. I've always thought that Texas gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to polls and think Conradt's history has a lot to do with that. I'm a little surpised they're still below Baylor too considering the schedule they've played.

[mred]

This early in the year, teams are ranked more on how well people expect them to do than on how well they've done. They put out a preseason poll and until teams prove that they are ranked too high, they won't fall. ISU has had a few close calls, but I don't expect them to go down in the polls until they lose. That also makes it hard for lower-ranked or unranked teams to move up: unless they have an extremely impressive victory, they are mostly dependent on teams ranked higher losing games for them to move up.

[JK]

Ahhh! My favorite subject. In short, I think my beloved Longhorns are ranked right about where they should be. Having said that, there are several others who have not had the chance to prove their ranking because their schedules are so weak. I still say the best teams in the conference are Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

[dem]

I think mred has hit the nail on the head here. Preseason rankings are all about expectations: how did you do last year, what players were lost and gained, how consistent is your coach's record, etc. Then, the top-ranked teams basically have to play themselves OUT of their preseason ranking through repeated losses. One loss for a highly ranked team is usually forgiven, even to a weak opponent. More than one, though, and you will definitely start to drop. Only if the teams in front of you lose can you expect to pick up more than a spot or two.

Now, having said all that, I definitely agree that Texas's performance this season has earned it a ranking spot ahead of some teams ranked higher. And I think they will pick up one to three places in next week's poll. Baylor on the other hand, because of the nature of their pre-conference schedule, is likely to be penalized more heavily than most other top-15 teams should they pick up even a single loss. But unless and until they do, they're not likely to slip very far.