I try to be as careful and as objective as possible when discussing ULWBB this season, as there were times when my own expectations early in the season were low. However, the media and coaches bring a level of hypocrisy when it comes to voting in the polls, as it becomes evident to me, that once a team like UL starts out poorly and drops out of the polls, there seems to be a reluctance to acknowledge that it might have been premature in writing them completely off, and equally slow to reconsider the improvement over the course of the season.
For e ample, it was a little strange to hear the ACC TV crew mention “how difficult Duke’s schedule was”, but failed to acknowledge that UL’s SOS is one of the most difficult in the country. When one considers our losses to ND, NCST, UK, UCLA, Oklahoma, and our wins over ranked GT, California, FSU and now Duke should be worthy of far more respect. For those who want to use that horrible beat down at home at the hands of NCST as justification for our ranking, I would defer you to what UConn did to the Gamecocks in Columbia SC as what can happen in one game.
UL teams in the past have been rewarded with favorable rankings and more than fair seeding in the NCAA tournament, so I do not think there is any prejudice towards UL, but I rather assign this to the pollsters focusing too much attention to early won/loss records and insufficient appreciation for SOS, and how a team like UL is trending towards the end of the season.
