SMU in Top 25?

[LA_Mustang]

Dropped 1 spot - #22.

[indianmustang]

coaches poll
at 22
http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/ba ... ches-poll/

[ojaipony]

A bit surprised, but I'll take it.

[skyscraper]

http://www.fox4news.com/story/28239424/ ... st-ap-poll

[GreenbeltPony]

Glad to see that my 23/24 prediction was wrong.

[SMU15]

Think voters are giving us a lot more respect. Better national coverage could be the difference

[LA_Mustang]

Five straight weeks of being ranked. We've lost twice during this time and still remained in the top 25. That's respect for us and our conference.

[mustangxc]

Part of it has to be that we are the only ranked team in our conference and people know that despite it being a down year, it is a solid basketball conference.

[Harry0569]

#SMU checks in at No. 22 in both the @AP_Top25 & @USATODAYsports polls today. #PonyUp

[JasonB]

I think the quality of the teams in the game yesterday has to be incredibly well received.

I have said all year that this is a 2 bid league, maybe 3 in the right circumstances. That game yesterday might turn us into a solid 3 bid league.

[PonyFan32]

The puzzling thing is that ESPN's latest Bracketology bracket has 4 teams from the American, with Tulsa leaping from "not in the field" to "firmly in the field", leapfrogging Cincy and Temple in the process (as compared to the last bracket from ESPN that I saw).

I think it's unlikely 4 American teams make the field. Teams like BYU, Purdue and NC State are coming on strong and making that bubble even more tenuous than it was.

[Pony_Law]

The puzzling thing is that ESPN's latest Bracketology bracket has 4 teams from the American, with Tulsa leaping from "not in the field" to "firmly in the field", leapfrogging Cincy and Temple in the process (as compared to the last bracket from ESPN that I saw).

I think it's unlikely 4 American teams make the field. Teams like BYU, Purdue and NC State are coming on strong and making that bubble even more tenuous than it was.

I think the american ends up with 3 with a 4th team one of the first 4 out, assuming memphis and UCONN do not win the conference tournament.

[JasonB]

SMU, Tulsa, Temple, Uconn and Cincy all pass the eyeball test. This is the time of year where media stops watching highlights and reading headlines and actually watches games.
Tulsa has passed every roadblock thus far. I think 90% they are in, locked if they beat Cincy.

I think my above statement is why we flunked out last year. They made a big deal about non-conference and bad losses. But the end of the year is when media and selection committee actually watches the game. We didn't win those games. If Cincy, Temple or UConn can win some games here at the end, they will get at least a 3rd bid. The only thing that possibly keeps us down to a two bid league at this point is if it is SMU-Tulsa in the tournament final.

Our ranking and projected seed not dropping much after a loss tells you the perception of the league is improving.

[Puckhead48E]

Firmly believe we would be looking at #25 at best, and probably out, if that game had not been nationally televised. Everyone seeing the totality of the play, both the resiliency of SMU and the total number of insane plays that worked for UCONN, understood that UCONN suddenly started to realize their potential, while making practically every shot, and we still had a chance down the stretch. Keep this up and we will get into that area where voters look to find what Mustang had a bad game that led to a loss, and the subsequent stability at the top of the conference rankings and national top 25. All great signs that the foundation has been laid in bedrock, not sand.

[Stallion]

Cincy and Temple are very clearly on the bubble and Tulsa very well could be by Sunday with Cincy and SMU on the schedule. Cincy has Tulsa and Memphis. Temple has resurgent UCONN and some of teams have likely tough matchups in Tournament. I'll stick with 2 bids-3 if regular season champ doesn't win Tournament