I'm posting this, but nobody else should waste their time reading it (which is standard for anything written by Ned Seaton).
FROM THE PUBLISHER | Be careful what you wish for in basketball poll
There sure was a lot of recent froth on social media about K-State’s ranking in basketball. That spilled over into at least one sign at Bramlage Tuesday night, where somebody mugged for the camera with a sign that said “Bias Again in AP Poll.”
This after K-State showed up in the AP poll this week at #11 in the country.
But, OK, sure. Let’s assert, at least for the sake of argument, that K-State is one of the better teams in the country in men’s basketball this season. They sure look like it, winning on the road, winning at home, winning in shootouts, winning in defensive slugfests. Markquis Nowell is shooting threes from Mike Evans depth, and Keyontae Johnson catching that alley-oop and dunking it in crunchtime Tuesday night was jaw-dropping. We’re talking Mitch Richmond-type abilities.
If that’s true, then it is also true that the polls prior to this week underestimated K-State.
It’s also true that polls often do that, since K-State is in flyover country, in the shadow of the big crimson-and-blue gorilla over in Lawrence. K-State is, and always will be, the little guy – in every sport, in every way. The underdog. Always.
But here’s my point: This is good. This actually helps. The whole idea is to win the game. Right? The point, in big-time college athletics, is to win the game that you’re playing. Then, when you play again, to win that game. Then, eventually, to get into position to win a championship, or a tournament. The point is not to be ranked high in the polls, at least not halfway into the season.
The problem with being ranked high in the polls in the middle of the season is that it carries a psychological burden. Losing becomes some sort of catastrophe, and winning becomes just a relief.
When you’re the underdog, you have a psychological edge. You’re trying to prove ‘em wrong. You don’t have a burden, you have an extra fire inside. You have nothing to lose. You play to win; you don’t play not-to-lose. You’re the hunter, not the hunted. Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.
The reality, of course, is that if you keep winning, the polls will eventually sort themselves out. If you lose, the polls will sort themselves out. By the end of the season, it’ll be pretty clear where everybody ought to be.
Is K-State the 11th-best team in college basketball? I have no idea. Nobody else does, either. It’s becoming clear that the Wildcats are capable of playing really good games. If they keep doing that, they’ll earn all the accolades that they can get.
Fans clamoring for “respect” is fine, and fans yelping about bias is also standard stuff. But just keep in mind that the getting the “respect” that you’re clamoring for will not actually help at all.
