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According to the polls, it was a wacky first week of conference play. But who listens to polls?
To be reminded yet again what a rotten idea it is to determine a sports champion with a popularity poll, all you need is a good look at the basketball team Associated Press voters deemed to be No. 14 in Division 1 last week. In its first two Big Ten games, Iowa didn't even play like the 14th-best team in its state.
There were three ways to view the Hawkeyes' performance.
* My way: Thank goodness this sport has a playoff.
* Steve Alford's way: That wasn't the same Iowa team that opened the season 12-1.
* Maryland's/Pittsburgh's/ Arizona's way: Conference play is really tough.
The first week of league competition revealed more about the 2004-05 season than all seven weeks of nonconference games combined -though we were left with more questions than answers. With 10 teams ranked in the January 3 AP poll losing in the subsequent five days, a lot of teams that appeared solid were exposed as flawed. Those flaws need not be fatal; there are nearly two more months to look for solutions.
Connecticut. Of all the ranked teams that fell, the Huskies have the most pure potential. They also are the least accomplished. After recovering from a home loss to unbeaten Boston College with an overwhelming rejection of Georgetown's ambitions, UConn still...