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My personal opinions on ESPN aside, UD was never going to show up strong in this type of rating, at least not at the moment. This is a purely analytical rating based upon their "formula" there should be no "eye test" or "gut feelings" its pure numbers. This is where UD suffers in something like this, is there an NCAA tournament team from last year that returns less proven scoring, rebounding, defense, etc.. than UD? On top of that, they lost their head coach, and while CAG has a history, its been a few years since he's been in the college game, so its not like they can apply some sort of "history factor" like I'm sure is involved in these preseason ratings. Finally, while I like some of the recruits that UD has brought in, its not like they are obvious top 100 recruits that will provide some benefit to the numbers that they are replacing.
In short, any faith you place in UD at this point is a big based upon little concrete evidence. As UD fans, we may realize that Cunningham was a shell of himself after the injury, and its reasonable to have faith that he'll be 100% and fulfill the promise that he showed as a frosh as well as the first 2 games last year. Outside of that, how much are we "certain" of? Can we trust Crosby at Point? If not, are you ready to trust a 3 star incoming frosh? Will Darryl Davis be able to finish strong in traffic? Will his shot become more consistent? Can Williams make the transition from being "a man" to being "the man"? Can Kostas cash in on his superior athleticism; how much has he been set back by injuries? Who's going to get the tough defensive assignments that Kyle used to take on? Who's going to control the offense at the end of tight games like Scoochie did? Will these players respond to setbacks under CAG the way they responded to setbacks under Archie?
Of the million things to worry about as a Flyer Fan heading into Friday, the preseason BPI on ESPN is near the bottom. If you do care, in time the preseason and history that factories into these preseason ratings will vanish and the rankings will reflect what UD has earned on the court.
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