Poll Position: Tigers don't measure up

Editor's note: Each week this season John Gasaway will audit the nation's polls and power rankings to see which teams are over- and underrated based on his advanced statistical analysis.

Last year at this time I greeted the new season by saying Kansas State was a tad overrated at No. 3 in the nation in the preseason polls. That hardly endeared me to Wildcats fans, and anyway, who knows how the season might have played out in Manhattan if not for all the suspensions and distractions that were subsequently inflicted upon Frank Martin's team? But that's my point: I wasn't forecasting doom for KSU. No one can do that. I was merely saying No. 3 in the nation was too high based on what we knew at that time.

This season there's another team that's just a bit too high in the preseason polls. Meet the Memphis Tigers, checking in at a lofty No. 9 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. That's pretty heady company for a group that had the worst offense in Conference USA last season, no?

To see Gasaway's rationale for stating the Tigers don't meet their early ranking, sign up for ESPN Insider.

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John Gasaway

ESPN Insider

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• ESPN Insider college basketball contributor
• First began covering college hoops in 2004
• Has written for Basketball Prospectus and the Wall Street Journal