History Doesn't Lie: For 20 Years In A Row, A Team Ranked In The Top-12 Of Today's AP Poll Has Won The NCAA Tournament (Hint: Kentucky Is There)
I've long said the AP poll is the dumbest thing we do in sports. A bunch of random people, most of which aren't watching games, voting on who the best 25 teams in the country are. It has no value besides teams tweeting out each Monday a number next to their name. It has no impact on the NCAA Tournament, seeds or anything like that. It's why I won't scream about how dumb it is that Kentucky is ranked behind Duke. I will blog about it, but I will not yell. I will blog that these two teams did play on a neutral court, Kentucky won, has 1 less loss and their wins against Gonzaga (Seattle) and Duke (neutral) are better than at Arizona and home to Auburn. Just proving that the AP poll is dumb.
But I can't stop history. I can't stop seeing 20 years in a row this poll dictates who wins a title. There are 12 teams that can win - most notably Mark Pope's team and not someone else's team who used to coach at Kentucky. Facts only here at this blog. So right now these are the 12 teams, seems about right. Obviously you want to throw UConn in the mix because you're an idiot to doubt them right now come March. But, again, 20 years here. You can't just throw out 20 years of history.
I do understand why it's this week that projects the best. You have the MTE's all done. You already had most of the nonconference big matchups. You know what teams are likely to look like and this is the point of the year where you can take results and project the rest of the season.
I know what you're all waiting for though. My pick to win it all: Kentucky. My unbiased pick to win it all: Kentucky (you can't kill this team).