The Bat Cave

TOP 25:

1. Ohio State (24-0)
Key Wins: @Florida, @FSU, South Carolina, Oakland, Minnesota, @Michigan, Penn St, @Illinois, Purdue, N’western, @Minnesota
Key Losses:
Last Week: #1

2. Kansas (22-1)
Key Wins: Arizona, UCLA, Memphis, USC, @Cal, UNT, @Michigan, @Iowa St, @Baylor, @Colorado, KSU
Key Losses: Texas
Last Week: #2

3. Texas (20-3)
Key Wins: Illinois, @UNC, @MSU, Arkansas, A&M, @Kansas, @Ok St, Mizzou, @A&M
Key Losses: @Pitt, @USC, UCONN
Last Week: #4

4. Pittsburgh (21-2)
Key Wins: Maryland, Texas, UCONN, Marquette, @Georgetown, Syracuse, Cincy
Key Losses: Tennessee, NDU
Last Week: #3

5. Duke (21-2)
Key Wins: Marquette, Kansas State, MSU, Butler, Miami, UAB, Maryland, @NC St, BCU, @Maryland, NC St
Key Losses: @FSU, @SJU
Last Week: #5

6. BYU (22-2)
Key Wins: Utah St., St. Mary’s, @Vermont, Arizona, UTEP, @UNLV, @Colorado St, SDSU, UNLV
Key Losses: @UCLA, @New Mexico
Last Week: #8

7. San Diego State (23-1)
Key Wins: @Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, Wichita St., @Cal, UNLV, @New Mexico, Colorado St
Key Losses: @BYU
Last Week: #6

8. Notre Dame (19-4)
Key Wins: Cal, Georgia, @Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Georgetown, UCONN, SJU, Cincy, Marquette, @Pitt
Key Loses: @Kentucky, @Syracuse, @Marquette, @SJU
Last Week: #9

9. Connecticut (18-4)
Key Wins: Wichita State, MSU, Kentucky, @Texas, Villanova, Tennessee, @Marquette
Key Losses: @Pitt, @NDU, L’ville, Syracuse
Last Week: #7

10. Georgetown (18-5)
Key Wins: NC State, @ODU, @Missouri, Utah State, @Memphis, SJU, @Villanova, L’ville
Key Losses: @Temple, @Notre Dame, @St. John’s, WVU, Pitt
Last Week: #16

11. Villanova (17-4)
Key Wins: UCLA, Temple, Cincinnati, Louisville, Maryland, @Syracuse, Marquette, WVU
Key Losses: Tennessee, @UCONN, @Providence, Georgetown
Last Week: #10

12. Syracuse (20-4)
Key Wins: MSU, NC State, Notre Dame, @St. John’s, Cincinnati, @UCONN
Key Losses: @Pitt, Villanova, Seton Hall, @Marquette
Last Week: #15

13. Purdue (18-5)
Key Wins: Oakland, @V-Tech, @Michigan, N’western, @Penn St, Penn St, MSU, Minnesota
Key Losses: @Richmond, @Minnesota, @WVU, @OSU, @Wisconsin
Last Week: #13

14. Wisconsin (17-5)
Key Wins: @BCU, NC State, @Marquette, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, @Northwestern, Purdue, MSU
Key Losses: @UNLV, Notre Dame, @Illinois, @MSU, @Penn St
Last Week: #19

15. North Carolina (17-5)
Key Wins: Kentucky, @Virginia, V-Tech, Clemson, @Miami, NC St, @BCU, FSU
Key Losses: Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Illinois, Texas, @Georgia Tech
Last Week: #20

16. Florida (18-5)
Key Wins: @FSU, KSU, Xavier, RIU, Ole Miss, @Tennessee, Arkansas, @Georgia, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Key Losses: OSU, @UCF, Jacksonville, SCU, @Miss St
Last Week: #23

17. Kentucky (16-6)
Key Wins: @Portland, Washington, Notre Dame, @Louisville, @SCU, Georgia
Key Losses: @UCONN, @UNC, @Georgia, @Alabama, @Ole Miss, @Florida
Last Week: #11

18. Arizona (20-4)
Key Wins: @NC State, @Oregon, ASU, @WSU, UCLA, USC, @Cal
Key Losses: @Kansas, @BYU, @Oregon St, UW
Last Week: #24

19. Louisville (18-5)
Key Wins: Butler, UNLV, Marquette, SJU, WVU, @UCONN
Key Losses: Drexel, Kentucky, @Villanova, @Providence, @G’town
Last Week: #18

20. Missouri (18-5)
Key Wins: @Oregon, Vanderbilt, Illinois, ODU, KSU, Iowa St, Colorado
Key Losses: Georgetown, @Colorado, @Texas A&M, @Texas, @OkSU
Last Week: #14

21. Texas A&M (17-5)
Key Wins: Temple, Washington, Arkansas, OK St, Missouri, KSU
Key Losses: BCU, @Texas, @Nebraska, Texas, Baylor
Last Week: #12

22. Xavier (16-6)
Key Wins: Butler, @RIU, Dayton, Temple, @Richmond
Key Losses: ODU, Miami (OH), Gonzaga, Florida, @Cincy, @Charlotte
Last Week: #22

23. West Virginia (15-7)
Key Wins: Oakland, Vanderbilt, Cleveland St., @Georgetown, Purdue, @Cincy
Key Losses: Minnesota, @Miami, St. John’s, @Marquette, Marshall, @Louisville, @Villanova
Last Week: #25

24. Minnesota (16-7)
Key Wins: @UNC, @West Virginia, Purdue, @Michigan, N’western
Key Losses: Virginia, @Wisconsin, @MSU, @OSU, @Purdue, @Indiana, OSU
Last Week: #21

25. Vanderbilt (16-6)
Key Wins: UNC, Marquette, Georgia, Ole Miss, St. Mary’s, @Miss St, SCU
Key Losses: WVU, Missouri, @South Carolina, @Tennessee, Arkansas, @Florida
Last Week: Unranked

DROPPED OUT:

Washington (15-7)
Key Wins: Portland, @USC, @UCLA, Oregon, @Cal, Arizona, ASU
Key Losses: @MSU, @Kentucky, @Texas A&M, @Stanford, @WSU, @Oregon St, @Oregon
Last Week: #17

NEXT FIVE:

Old Dominion (18-6)
Key Wins: Xavier, Clemson, Richmond, Dayton, George Mason
Key Losses: Georgetown, @Delaware, @Missouri, @Drexel, VCU, @George Mason

Temple (17-5)
Key Wins: Georgetown, @Georgia, @Maryland, @RIU
Key Losses: @Cal, @Texas A&M, @Villanova, @Duquesne, @Xavier

Tennessee (15-8)
Key Wins: VCU, Villanova, @Pittsburgh, Memphis, Vanderbilt, @Georgia, @Ole Miss
Key Losses: Oakland, @Charlotte, USC, Charleston, @Arkansas, Florida, @UCONN, Alabama

UNLV (17-6)
Key Wins: @Murray St., Wisconsin, @Virginia Tech, @KSU, New Mexico
Key Losses: @Louisville, UCSB, BYU, @SDSU, Colorado St, @BYU

Utah State (22-2)
Key Wins: @Nevada
Key Losses: @BYU, @Georgetown

Notes:

-I bumped Texas ahead of Pitt this week even though both teams won out for the week. Here’s why: a) Texas is extremely hot right now and has momentum on their side; b) Texas has 8 wins over top 50 teams and no one else in the country can say that; and c) Texas beat Pitt in their head-to-head match up earlier this year when Pitt was clearly the better team.

-I bumped BYU ahead of SDSU in a similar scenario. BYU is #1 in RPI, has played a tougher schedule, has twice as many wins over top 50 teams and beat SDSU H2H.

-Texas may be the hottest team in the nation, but Georgetown is right up there. After starting the Big East schedule 1-4, the Hoyas have reeled of six straight wins, including victories over ranked teams in Villanova and Louisville.

-Wisconsin had a monster week taking out Purdue and MSU and climbing five spots in the rankings.

-North Carolina has become nationally relevant again. Larry Drew transferred out of the program now that freshman Kendall Marshall has taken the reigns as the starting point guard and all the Tarheels have done under his watch is go undefeated. The Duke-UNC game this Wednesday is actually going to be worth all the attention it’s going to get.

-Florida has been extremely inconsistent this year, constantly falling out of the rankings and taking bad losses…but here it is, six weeks from tournament time and they sit alone atop the loaded SEC East. Whatever flaws the Gators may have, here are some numbers that are hard to argue against: #14 in RPI, #6 in strength of schedule, and an 11-2 record vs the top 100 teams.

-How reliable are the RPI rankings? Let’s use Florida and Kentucky as an example. Kentucky is #8 in SoS, Florida is #6. Kentucky is 4-4 vs top 50 teams, Florida is 6-1. Kentucky is 1-2 against RPIs 51-100, Florida is 5-1. Florida beat Kentucky. Kentucky is #14 in RPI, Florida is #16. Okay, so Florida has 3 losses against teams ranked 101-150 and the Wildcats are 3-0…but how important is that? Against top competition, it’s pretty obvious which team has had the better season. Are bad losses more important than good wins?

-Texas A&M has been spiraling. When they were sitting around #10 in the nation, I asked the question “is this for real?” and gave my own answer: “no.” We all knew they weren’t going to be a top ten team, but now they are starting to make a case that they aren’t even top 25 good, losing 4 of 5 games in a Big 12 that isn’t nearly as good as everyone expected it to be.

-The last four spots of my top 25 have become a nightmare. Xavier, West Virginia, Minnesota, and Vanderbilt all lost this week… but it’s hard to replace those teams when everyone on the bubble is either losing themselves (Tennessee, St. John’s) or virtually untested (Utah State, St. Mary’s). I bumped Utah State to my top 30 this week, but even if they win out, I still can’t envision myself ranking them in the top 25 when they haven’t played a team in the top 25.

-Finally, I dropped Washington out of the rankings and you know how much it has to kill me to do so. But if you’ve been watching Huskies basketball the past two weeks, you know damn well they are not playing like a top 25 team right now. After flashing NBA-ability for a couple weeks, Isaiah Thomas has looked lost the past four games… starting to go back to his underclassman ways of driving hopelessly into the lane and expecting the refs to bail him out any time he can’t get off a shot. What happened to the guy that had double digit assists in back-to-back games? When Scott Suggs has turned into your most reliable scorer, you know your team is in trouble.