The Bat Cave

TOP 25:

1. Kentucky (6-0)
Last Week: #2
Comments: I’ve had Kentucky at #2 all year and with North Carolina losing to UNLV, it only makes sense…

2. Ohio State (6-0)
Last Week: #3
Comments: …but I have a feeling maybe this team deserves to be #1 instead.

3. Duke (7-0)
Last Week: #6
Comments: Duke’s season is reminding me of 2010 when then kind of surprised everyone by winning the national title. It’s hard to argue against their preseason resume so far: they’ve already posted four quality wins, including two over top 15 teams. It should be no surprise that they are now #1 in the RPI rankings.

4. North Carolina (5-1)
Last Week: #1
Comments: Wow. The best frontcourt in the nation got beat up by UNLV… and Harrison Barnes left the building on crutches. Not good.

5. Syracuse (6-0)
Last Week: #5
Comments: Syracuse has a couple decent wins and remain undefeated, but I jumped Duke ahead of them anyways… this is a program that might be taking a lot of heat soon.

6. Florida (4-1)
Last Week: #7

7. Connecticut (5-1)
Last Week: #4
Comments: Losing to UCF is a slap in the face, but UCONN bounced back by beating a ranked Florida State team. There shouldn’t be too much cause for concern here.

8. Baylor (5-0)
Last Week: #9
Comments: Perry Jones is back in action this week and the Bears are looking plenty good already.

9. Louisville (5-0)
Last Week: #10
Note: Wayne Blackshear ineligible for the year. Peyton Siva injured.
Comments: Tough week ahead with games against Long Beach State and Vanderbilt.

10. Alabama (7-0)
Last Week: #11

11. Xavier (4-0)
Last Week: #12

12. Pittsburgh (5-1)
Last Week: #13
Comments:

13. Vanderbilt (5-1)
Last Week: #15
Comments: The Commodores are finally at 100% with center Festus Ezili returning from suspension this week.

14. Wisconsin (6-0)
Last Week: #16
Comments: Wisconsin posted their first quality win of the season over BYU and seem to be more of a team than the one man show I was expecting. On the down side, superstar Jordan Taylor is only averaging 11 points a game.

15. Marquette (5-0)
Last Week: #17
Comments: After blowing away their first four opponents, Marquette narrowly edged a Norfolk State team they beat by 31 a week earlier. Marquette has played a pretty easy schedule so far, but have Wisconsin and Washington coming up.

16. Michigan (5-1)
Last Week: #18
Comments: Even though Michigan lost to Duke, they move up a couple spots on the strength of wins over Memphis and UCLA.

17. Gonzaga (4-0)
Last Week: #19
Comments: The Zags have been mostly inactive and unchallenged the first couple weeks of the season. The typical Mark Few non-conference schedule awaits, however, with Notre Dame and Illinois coming up this week.

18. Missouri (6-0)
Note: Laurence Bowers out for season.
Last Week: #21
Comments: Missouri absolutely destroyed California last week.

19. Mississippi State (7-1)
Last Week: #23
Comments:

20. UNLV (7-0)
Last Week: Unranked
Comments: After toppling the #1 team in the nation, UNLV’s 7-0 start can no longer be ignored. The Running Rebels have five players averaging at least 9.8 points a game and might have the nation’s most surprising player in forward Mike Moser. The 6’8″ sophomore is averaging 15.1 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.7 steals a game and should be on the National Player Of The Year radar after drilling North Carolina for 16 points and 18 rebounds.

21. Kansas (3-2)
Last Week: #14
Comments: Losses to Kentucky and Duke don’t look so bad and this team is good enough to rally back to a top 15 ranking eventually.

22. San Diego State (7-1)
Last Week: Unranked
Comments: Credit coach Steve Fischer for getting this team back into the top 25 after losing almost all his talent from last year’s amazing squad. The Aztecs have reeled off four straight quality wins since losing to Baylor and have a shown a knack for coming out on top in extremely close games.

23. Memphis (2-2)
Last Week: #8
Comments: The young Tigers had a rough week in the Maui Invitational, often looking like the same immature team they were most of last year.

24. Harvard (6-0)
Last Week: Unranked
Comments: I can’t even name a single player on this team, but Harvard just took down a Battle In Atlantis tournament that featured #4 Connecticut, #22 Florida State, and UCF.

25. Texas A&M (4-1)
Last Week: Unranked
Comments: A&M didn’t do anything to jump back in the rankings except watch their stock improve as other ranked teams took losses. I give the Aggies the slight edge over the rest of the field because they’ve managed to play well despite having their best player sidelined.

DROPPED OUT:

20. California (5-1)
22. Florida State (5-2)
24. Temple (3-2)
25. Arizona (4-2)

BUBBLE:

Cleveland State (6-1)
Creighton (5-0)
Indiana (6-0)
Northwestern (5-0)
Michigan State (4-2)
Oregon State (5-1)
Purdue (6-1)
Saint Louis (6-0)
Washington (4-1)