Pre-season rankings are based on
A) recruiting,
B) the last memory of the team from the prior season
C) reputation.
It's gone away, but there were multiple comments in November/December and early January about how this roster needed Corey Sanders.....well, if Corey Sanders didn't leave early and was on this years team, after the MSG performance, it would have been very difficult to have RU picked last for this season.....but the 30 second soundbite, can't be about unknowns like Ron Harper, Shaq Carter, Myles Johnson, Peter Kiss and Mathis etc....
I do know this....before we talk about pre-season rankings, we need to know what mix of games are we playing in the B1G.....if it's home and home with MSU, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin and Maryland next year, I'm going to be more skeptical that we need a tougher OOC slate, vs home and home with PSU, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois and Minnesota.
RU is still in development phase and it still continues with Saturday at Iowa.....it's a road game, something we haven't played well enough of, until very recently.....I think there's a lot more to learn, even in these last 3 games and the B1G tournament, not just for RU, but across college basketball and especially the B1G.
And Mulcahy and Young absolutely must be impact players within the 9 -10 man rotation, to improve next year.....If RU finishes with an 8-12 record in the B1G this year, it will be very difficult to see any preseason rankings picking us lower than 11th....I would argue that we need to see what the entire recruiting landscape has been like in the last 2 cycles around the B1G, to see what teams are bringing in, but I don't think about preseason rankings as much as how each of the next batch of recruits, shapes this roster for the next 2 seasons. That stands out much more than anything else, it's still a talent/chemistry fit/work ethic that RU needs to maintain....landing the biggest name or highest ranked kid, makes headlines, but doesn't always equate to wins and being a good teammate, on gamedays.....
