Shocking, news-breaking headline for a post, I know, but while Syracuse fans can boast about the team’s first top-ranked position since 2003 (and first in-season No. 1 ranking since 1990), there’s not much reason to get into a tizzy (I promise not to use this word too much) over what team is ranked where.

You most certainly didn’t notice, but I stopped posting the AP Poll results here. I asked myself: Why do it? They’re not critical; they’re only good for boosting television ratings and stirring up fans’ interest. But I know, and I trust the majority of the visitors to this site know it as well, that I don’t need numbers next to a school’s name to tell me whether a team is good or not.

The argument over rankings will never end — because they’ll never go away — but where teams are slotted now, in March, means virtually nothing. This sentiment goes for the majority of the season, but now that we’ve entered College Basketball’s Time there seems to be a collective angst over where teams are ranked.

Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman put Kansas above Syracuse on their ballots this week and have been attacked on Twitter. Then Parrish, foolishly, made a gender joke and has really set the folks off.

Nothing like a little disrespect to rouse the rabbles. There shouldn’t be this much energy put in to thinking about, talking about or fighting about the rankings. The polls have very, very little to do with where teams get seeded. You want to huff and puff, I’ve got no problem doing it the Monday after Selection Sunday. (It’s a fun, if shallow at times, conversation to have.) In fact, while they’re now a minuscule part of the decision process, I’d be willing to wager that, in the back of the Committee members’ minds, rankings hardly come into play.

I haven’t posted my mock bracket (because you probably don’t care) but I’ve made three since January just to keep tabs on how the field has been shaping (it hasn’t changed much, of course). In piecing together the brackets each time, not once did I refer to the writers or coaches’ rankings.

Does it matter that Purdue only fell to No. 7 now that it doesn’t have Robbie Hummel? Doesn’t bother me. There’s a big wait-and-see philosophy with Purdue. What about Duke? Are people really angry about where Duke is? Mike Freeman, please start paying attention to my sport on a more frequent basis so you don’t look completely out of touch.

On the flip side, Maryland is ranked again, and judging by the “RANKED BITCHES!” text I got from a friend who’s a Terps fan, they’re all feeling a bit better about themselves because of it. I think that’s silly. Feel good about victories over teams, winning streaks, players who have character and coaches that do a good job. Don’t thump your chest over a ranking.

We can have the shouting match about numbers next to teams two weeks from today, when the seedings are released and certain teams are left out. Until then, just observe the rankings, pay little attention and let your eyes tell you who the best teams are that will screw you over later this month.