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h1

Mac’s College Basketball Rankings: January 10th, 2011

January 10, 2011

TOP 25:

1. Duke (15-0)
Key Wins: Marquette, Kansas State, MSU, Butler, Miami, UAB, Maryland
Key Losses:
Last Week: #1

2. Ohio State (16-0)
Key Wins: Florida, FSU, South Carolina, Oakland, Minnesota
Key Losses:
Last Week: #2

3. Kansas (14-0)
Key Wins: Arizona, UCLA, Memphis, USC, @Cal, UNT, @Michigan
Key Losses:
Last Week: #3

4. Syracuse (16-0)
Key Wins: MSU, NC State, Notre Dame
Key Losses:
Last Week: #4

5. Pittsburgh (15-1)
Key Wins: Maryland, Texas, UCONN, Marquette
Key Losses: Tennessee
Last Week: #5

6. San Diego State (17-0)
Key Wins: @Gonzaga, St. Mary’s,Wichita St., @Cal
Key Losses:
Last Week: #6

7. Villanova (14-1)
Key Wins: UCLA, Temple, Cincinnati
Key Losses: Tennessee
Last Week: #9

8. BYU (16-1)
Key Wins: Utah St., St. Mary’s, @Vermont, Arizona, UTEP, @UNLV
Key Losses: @UCLA
Last Week: #12

9. Purdue (15-1)
Key Wins: Oakland, @V-Tech, @Michigan, N’western, @Penn St
Key Losses: @Richmond
Last Week: #13

10. Notre Dame (13-2)
Key Wins: Cal, Georgia, @Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Georgetown, UCONN, St. John’s
Key Loses: @Kentucky, @Syracuse
Last Week: #16

11. Connecticut (12-2)
Key Wins: Wichita State, MSU, Kentucky, @Texas
Key Losses: @Pitt, @NDU
Last Week: #7

12. Texas A&M (14-1)
Key Wins: Temple, Washington, Arkansas
Key Losses: BCU
Last Week: #15

13. Kentucky (12-3)
Key Wins: @Portland, Washington, Notre Dame, @Louisville
Key Losses: @UCONN, @UNC, @Georgia
Last Week: #10

14. Washington (12-3)
Key Wins: Portland, @USC, @UCLA, Oregon
Key Losses: @MSU, @Kentucky, @Texas A&M
Last Week: #23

15. Missouri (14-2)
Key Wins: @Oregon, Vanderbilt, Illinois, ODU
Key Losses: Georgetown, @Colorado
Last Week: #11

16. Illinois (13-3)
Key Wins: @Maryland, UNC, @Gonzaga, Northwestern
Key Losses: @Texas, @Ill.Chicago, @Missouri
Last Week: #22

17. Texas (12-3)
Key Wins: Illinois, @UNC, @MSU, Arkansas
Key Losses: @Pitt, @USC, UCONN
Last Week: #14

18. Georgetown (12-4)
Key Wins: NC State, @ODU, @Missouri, Utah State, @Memphis
Key Losses: @Temple, @Notre Dame, @St. John’s, WVU
Last Week: #8

19. UNLV (13-3)
Key Wins: @Murray St., Wisconsin, @Virginia Tech, @KSU
Key Losses: @Louisville, UCSB, BYU
Last week: #20

20. UCF (14-1)
Key Wins: Florida, @Miami
Key Losses: @Houston
Last Week: #18

21. Temple (11-3)
Key Wins: Georgetown, @Georgia, @Maryland
Key Losses: @Cal, @Texas A&M, @Villanova
Last Week: Unranked

22. St. John’s (10-4)
Key Wins: ASU, Northwestern, @WVU, @Providence, Georgetown
Key Losses: @St. Mary’s, St. Bonaventure, @Fordham, @Notre Dame
Last Week: Unranked

23. Louisville (13-2)
Key Wins: Butler, UNLV
Key Losses: Drexel, Kentucky
Last Week: #24

24. Kansas State (12-4)
Key Wins: Gonzaga, Virginia Tech, @WSU
Key Losses: @Duke, @Florida, UNLV, @OK St
Last Week: #17

25. Florida (12-3)
Key Wins: @FSU, KSU, Xavier, RIU, Ole Miss
Key Losses: OSU, @UCF, Jacksonville
Last Week: Unranked

DROPPED OUT:

19. Memphis (11-3)
Key Wins: Miami, @LSU
Key Losses: @Kansas, Georgetown, @Tennessee
Last Week: #19

21. Minnesota (12-4)
Key Wins: @UNC, @West Virginia
Key Losses: Virginia, @Wisconsin, @MSU, @OSU
Last Week: #21

25. Michigan State (10-5)
Key Wins: Washington, Oakland, Minnesota, @N’western
Key Losses: @UCONN, @Duke, @Syracuse, Texas, @Penn St
Last Week: #25

NEXT FIVE:

Butler (12-5)
Key Wins: @Siena, Stanford, FSU, @WSU, Cleveland St
Key Losses: @Louisville, Evansville, @Duke, @Xavier, @Wisc-Mil

Gonzaga (11-5)
Key Wins: @Marquette, @Baylor, Xavier, OK St., Portland
Key Losses: @KSU, SDSU, Illinois, @WSU, @Notre Dame

Vanderbilt (10-3)
Key Wins: UNC, Marquette
Key Losses: WVU, Missouri, @South Carolina

West Virginia (10-4)
Key Wins: Oakland, Vanderbilt, Cleveland St., @Georgetown
Key Losses: Minnesota, @Miami, St. John’s, @Marquette

Wisconsin (12-3)
Key Wins: @BCU, NC State, @Marquette, Minnesota, Michigan
Key Losses: @UNLV, Notre Dame, @Illinois

BUBBLE:

Arizona (14-3)
Key Wins: @NC State, @Oregon
Key Losses: @Kansas, @BYU, @Oregon St

Baylor (11-3)
Key Wins: ASU
Key Losses: Gonzaga, @WSU, FSU

Boston College (12-4)
Key Wins: Texas A&M, Cal, Maryland, South Carolina
Key Losses: Yale, Wisconsin, RIU, Harvard

Cincinnati (15-1)
Key Wins: Dayton, Xavier
Key Losses: @Villanova

Georgia (12-2)
Key Wins: UAB, @Georgia Tech, Kentucky
Key Losses: @Notre Dame, Temple

North Carolina (11-4)
Key Wins: Kentucky, @Virginia
Key Losses: Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Illinois, Texas

Oklahoma State (13-2)
Key Wins: Murray St., Stanford, KSU
Key Losses: @VTU, @Gonzaga

Old Dominion (12-3)
Key Wins: Xavier, Clemson, Richmond, Dayton, George Mason
Key Losses: Georgetown, @Delaware, @Missouri

St. Mary’s (14-2)
Key Wins: St. John’s, Texas Tech, Miss State
Key Losses: BYU, SDSU

Tennessee (10-5)
Key Wins: VCU, Villanova, @Pittsburgh, Memphis
Key Losses: Oakland, @Charlotte, USC, Charleston, @Arkansas

-No reason the Mountain West won’t have two top ten teams tomorrow. Siiiiiiick.

-Notre Dame has been impressive as hell. No one has more quality wins.

-Glad to see Cincinnati get pounded. I don’t care if you’re undefeated…when your strength of schedule ranking is in the 300s, you’re not legit.

-I only caught the last quarter of the UCONN-Texas game, but it was pretty fucking awesome. Kemba continues to show he’s the best player in the country: that 3 in OT w/ the shot clock expiring and then the game-winner…

-Had to move my Huskies way up with everyone else taking losses and UW just looking good as fuck. Every game we got a different star. Does anyone still think the PAC-10 is wide open? Maybe for every place but first. @ UCLA. @ Ego making me hate a team I used to like.

-Georgetown had a rough week. They dropped ten spots, but I still think their resume is impressive as shit.

-St. John’s could have been a top 15 team if they found a way to beat Notre Dame on Saturday. As it stands, they still should get a top 25 ranking after a sick run the last couple weeks.

-I don’t think Louisville has staying power in the top 25 going through the Big East schedule. They are the team I have ranked that I like the least.

-I don’t know what to make of Kansas State and Michigan State. At full physical and mental health, these are clearly top ten teams… but MSU can’t go a week without losing and KSU has been following just behind the Spartans’ footsteps.

-Florida gets a ranking from me again which means they’ll probably take a brutal loss this coming week.

-Vanderbilt would have cracked my top 25 for the first time with a win over South Carolina Saturday, but with the loss, they remain near the top of my bubble.

-Gonzaga and Butler are headed in the right direction. Gonzaga has been super hot and Butler has been hot too, but took a disappointing loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee this past week.

-Georgia hops onto my bubble with a win over Kentucky and a 12-2 overall record.

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h1

College Basketball Rankings – January 3rd, 2010

January 3, 2011

TOP 25:

1. Duke (13-0)
Key Wins: Marquette, Kansas State, MSU, Butler, Miami
Key Losses:
Analysis: Duke cruised through most of December and got their first challenge in nearly a month from a solid Miami team tonight, but came out of the game remaining undefeated.
Last Week: #1

2. Ohio State (14-0)
Key Wins: Florida, FSU, South Carolina, Oakland
Key Losses:
Analysis: Nothing much new to say about the Buckeyes except that I’m looking forward to their Big Ten match-ups.
Last Week: #2

3. Kansas (12-0)
Key Wins: Arizona, UCLA, Memphis, USC, Cal
Key Losses:
Last Week: #3

4. Syracuse (15-0)
Key Wins: MSU, NC State, NDU
Key Losses:
Analysis: Syracuse opened Big East play with a win over Providence and a big victory over Notre Dame. With a #3 ranking in the RPI and a top 35 SoS mark, I can’t say they’re untested anymore.
Last Week: #5

5. Pittsburgh (13-1)
Key Wins: Maryland, Texas, UCONN
Key Losses: Tennessee
Analysis: The final score of the Pitt-UCONN game looked closer than it actually was. Pitt pretty much dominated from the opening tip, never gave up the lead, and made Kemba Walker work for every single one of his 31 points.
Last Week: #7

6. San Diego State (15-0)
Key Wins: Gonzaga, St. Mary’s,Wichita St., Cal
Key Losses:
Analysis: There’s something incredible about a team like San Diego State being ranked this high. If they can come out of conference play with a top 10 ranking, that would be quite the feat, one likely worthy of at least a #3 seed.
Last Week: #8

7. Connecticut (11-1)
Key Wins: Wichita State, MSU, Kentucky
Key Losses: Pitt
Analysis: UCONN really got exposed by Pittsburgh last week. No one thought this was a top 25 team in the preseason, let alone a top 5 team. Kemba Walker may wind up being a first team All-American, but his supporting cast looked awful against Pitt and one man can only do so much. Kemba is going to get his points, but UCONN is going to need to look more like a basketball TEAM if they plan on getting a top 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Last Week: #4

8. Georgetown (12-2)
Key Wins: NC State, ODU, Missouri, Utah State, Memphis
Key Losses: Temple, Notre Dame
Analysis: Obviously, I think Georgetown has been an underrated team so far. I still have Georgetown higher in my rankings than they were in the AP Poll last week before losing at Notre Dame. Here’s the thing, the Hoyas have lost to two good teams, but they also have more quality wins than just about anyone in the country (five); even with a loss this past week, Georgetown is still #1 in RPI, #3 in strength of schedule and 12-2 overall. Let’s be serious here.
Last Week: #6

9. Villanova (12-1)
Key Wins: UCLA, Temple
Key Losses: Tennessee
Analysis: The win over Temple was big and Nova figures to stay hot as they open with one of the easier stretches of any Big East team: vs. Rutgers, @ South Florida, and vs. Cincinnati.
Last Week: #9

10. Kentucky (11-2)
Key Wins: Washington, Notre Dame, Louisville
Key Losses: UCONN, UNC
Analysis: KU smoked Louisville on the road and could go undefeated in January against the far easier half of its SEC schedule.
Last Week: #10

11. Missouri (13-1)
Key Wins: Vanderbilt, Illinois, ODU
Key Losses: Georgetown
Last Week: #12

12. BYU (14-1)
Key Wins: Utah St., St. Mary’s, Arizona, UTEP
Key Losses: UCLA
Analysis: Big match-up on the road vs. UNLV this coming Wednesday.
Last Week: #13

13. Purdue (13-1)
Key Wins: Oakland, Virginia Tech, Michigan, N’western
Key Losses: Richmond
Analysis: Great start to Big Ten play for Purdue with a dismantling of Michigan on the road and another quality win over Northwestern at home.
Last Week: #14

14. Texas (11-2)
Key Wins: Illinois, @UNC, @MSU
Key Losses: @Pitt, @USC
Analysis: The Longhorns’ stock has risen the past couple weeks with wins over Michigan State and North Carolina on the road.
Last Week: #15

15. Texas A&M (12-1)
Key Wins: Temple, Washington, Arkansas
Key Losses: BCU
Last Week: #17

16. Notre Dame (12-2)
Key Wins: Cal, Georgia, @Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Georgetown
Key Loses: @Kentucky, @Syracuse
Analysis: Pretty break even week for The Fighting Irish with a big win over Georgetown and an expected loss vs. Syracuse on the road.
Last Week: #16

17. Kansas State (11-3)
Key Wins: Gonzaga, Virginia Tech, @WSU
Key Losses: @Duke, @Florida, UNLV
Analysis: KSU hit a bad stretch that finds them relatively underrated at the moment. This is still a top ten team and they should start creeping back up the rankings now that Jacob Pullen is back.
Last Week: #18

18. UCF (13-0)
Key Wins: Florida, @Miami
Key Losses:
Analysis: In my first edit of this post, I had Memphis and UCF switched, but when you compare resumes, UCF has the better wins and remains undefeated, even if Memphis has played a tougher schedule. Conference USA is shaping up to be surprisingly competitive.
Last Week: #23

19. Memphis (10-2)
Key Wins: Miami, @LSU
Key Losses: @Kansas, Georgetown
Analysis: Memphis heads to Tennessee to take on a struggling Volunteers team this coming Wednesday before diving into the C-USA schedule.
Last Week: #20

20. UNLV (12-2)
Key Wins: @Murray St., Wisconsin, @Virginia Tech, @KSU
Key Losses: @Louisville, UCSB
Analysis: Somehow the Running Rebels went unranked in the AP poll last week despite possessing three quality road wins, an 11-2 record, and a top 25 ranking in the RPI. What else do they want?
Last week: #24

21. Minnesota (11-3)
Key Wins: Siena, W.Kentucky, @UNC, @West Virginia, @St. Joe’s
Key Losses: Virginia, @Wisconsin, @MSU
Analysis: Minnesota had a tough week taking two losses on the road against two good opponents (MSU, Wisconsin) and come tumbling down the rankings this week.
Last Week: #11

22. Illinois (12-3)
Key Wins: @Maryland, UNC, @Gonzaga
Key Losses: @Texas, @Ill.Chicago, @Missouri
Last Week: #21

23. Washington (10-3)
Key Wins: Portland, @USC, @UCLA
Key Losses: @MSU, @Kentucky, @Texas A&M
Analysis: How close are the Huskies to being 13-0 right now? It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where UW wins the three games they lost; they were all pretty close up until the final minutes. Seriously, Washington could easily be San Diego State and if I had to bet between the two teams, I’d go with my Dawgs. As it is, UW has fought its way back into the top 25 by winning two of the toughest games on the PAC-10 ledger. They are also at #23 in the RPI and 29th in strength of schedule, so I’m not just being a homer here.
Last Week: Unranked

24. Louisville (11-2)
Key Wins: Butler, UNLV, @W.Kentucky
Key Losses: Drexel, Kentucky
Analysis: Losing to Kentucky at home isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either.
Last Week: #22

25. Michigan State (9-4)
Key Wins: Washington, Oakland, Minnesota
Key Losses: @UCONN, @Duke, @Syracuse, Texas
Analysis: When you look at some of the losses MSU has taken, it’s hard to say too many teams have played a much tougher schedule (even though the rank 29th in strength of schedule). MSU also has a measly #49 ranking in the RPI. I had this spot reserved for Wisconsin, but the Badgers couldn’t pull off the upset vs. Illinois on Sunday night.
Last Week: Unranked

DROPPED OUT:

19. West Virginia (8-4)
Key Wins: Oakland, Vanderbilt, VMI, Cleveland St.
Key Losses: Minnesota, @Miami, St. John’s, @Marquette
Analysis: West Virginia went from being a little underrated nationally to dropping its first two games of Big East play against a couple of the conference’s medium-talented teams.

25. Tennessee (9-4)
Key Wins: VCU, Villanova, @Pittsburgh
Key Losses: Oakland, @Charlotte, USC, Charleston
Analysis: The Vols continue their fall from grace with another loss, this time vs. Charleston, their third loss at home against a team they should be better than.

NEXT FIVE:

Butler (10-4)
Key Wins: @Siena, Stanford, FSU, @WSU
Key Losses: @Louisville, Evansville, @Duke, @Xavier

Florida (10-3)
Key Wins: @FSU, KSU, Xavier
Key Losses: OSU, @UCF, Jacksonville

Temple (9-3)
Key Wins: Georgetown, @Georgia, @Maryland
Key Losses: @Cal, @Texas A&M, @Villanova

Vanderbilt (10-2)
Key Wins: UNC, Marquette
Key Losses: WVU, Missouri

Wisconsin (11-3)
Key Wins: @BCU, NC State, @Marquette, Minnesota
Key Losses: @UNLV, Notre Dame, @Illinois

BUBBLE:

Arizona (11-2)
Key Wins: NC State
Key Losses: Kansas, BYU

Baylor (9-3)
Key Wins: ASU
Key Losses: Gonzaga, WSU, FSU

Boston College (11-3)
Key Wins: Texas A&M, Cal, Maryland, South Carolina
Key Losses: Yale, Wisconsin, RIU

Cincinnati (14-0)
Key Wins:
Key Losses:

Cleveland State (15-1)
Key Wins:
Key Losses: West Virginia

Gonzaga (10-5)
Key Wins: Marquette, Baylor, Xavier, OK St.
Key Losses: KSU, SDSU, Illinois, WSU, Notre Dame

North Carolina (9-4)
Key Wins: Kentucky
Key Losses: Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Illinois, Texas

Northwestern (9-2)
Key Wins: Georgia Tech
Key Losses: St. John’s, Purdue

Oklahoma State (11-2)
Key Wins: Murray St., Stanford
Key Losses: Virginia Tech, Gonzaga

Old Dominion (9-3)
Key Wins: Xavier, Clemson, Richmond, Dayton
Key Losses: Georgetown, Delaware, Missouri

Richmond (10-3)
Key Wins: Purdue, ASU, VCU
Key Losses: Iona, ODU, G-Tech

St. John’s (9-3)
Key Wins: ASU, N’western, WVU
Key Losses: St. Mary’s, St. Bonaventure, Fordham

St. Mary’s (12-2)
Key Wins: St. John’s, Texas Tech, Miss State
Key Losses: BYU, SDSU

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h1

Weekly College Basketball Rankings 12/27

December 27, 2010

I’ve been sick this past holiday weekend, so I’m just doing a fast update today. No team-by-team analysis. I copied and pasted the rankings from my Word document, so I have every team’s important wins and losses listed as well. Last Week’s Ranking in brackets:

Top 25

1. Duke (11-0) [1]
Key Wins: Marquette, Kansas State, MSU, Butler
Key Losses:

2. Ohio State (12-0) [2]
Key Wins: Florida, FSU, South Carolina, Oakland
Key Losses:

3. Kansas (11-0) [3]
Key Wins: Arizona, UCLA, Memphis, USC, Cal
Key Losses:

4. Connecticut (10-0) [4]
Key Wins: Wichita State, MSU, Kentucky
Key Losses:

5. Syracuse (13-0) [5]
Key Wins: MSU, NC State
Key Losses:

6. Georgetown (10-1) [6]
Key Wins: NC State, ODU, Missouri, Utah State, Memphis
Key Losses: Temple

7. Pittsburgh (12-1) [7]
Key Wins: Maryland, Texas
Key Losses: Tennessee

8. San Diego State (14-0) [9]
Key Wins: Gonzaga, St. Mary’s,Wichita St., Cal
Key Losses:

9. Villanova (10-1) [10]
Key Wins: UCLA
Key Losses: Tennessee

10. Kentucky (9-2) [11]
Key Wins: Washington, Notre Dame
Key Losses: UCONN, UNC

11. Minnesota (11-1) [14]
Key Wins: Siena, W.Kentucky, UNC, West Virginia
Key Losses: Virginia

12. Missouri (11-1) [15]
Key Wins: Vanderbilt, Illinois
Key Losses: Georgetown

13. BYU (12-1) [18]
Key Wins: Utah St., St. Mary’s, Arizona, UTEP
Key Losses: UCLA

14. Purdue (11-1) [13]
Key Wins: Oakland, Virginia Tech
Key Losses: Richmond

15. Texas (10-2) [22]
Key Wins: Illinois, UNC, MSU
Key Losses: Pitt, USC

16. Notre Dame (11-1) [21]
Key Wins: Cal, Georgia, Wisconsin, Gonzaga
Key Loses: Kentucky

17. Texas A&M (11-1) [23]
Key Wins: Temple, Washington, Arkansas
Key Losses: BCU

18. Kansas State (10-3) [8]
Key Wins: Gonzaga, Virginia Tech, WSU
Key Losses: Duke, Florida, UNLV

19. West Virginia (8-2) [25]
Key Wins: Oakland, Vanderbilt, VMI, Cleveland St.
Key Losses: Minnesota, Miami

20. Memphis (9-2) [12]
Key Wins: Miami, LSU
Key Losses: Kansas, Georgetown

21. Illinois (10-3) [16]
Key Wins: Maryland, UNC, Gonzaga
Key Losses: Texas, Ill.Chicago, Missouri

22. Louisville (10-1) [unranked]
Key Wins: Butler, UNLV, W.Kentucky
Key Losses: Drexel

23. UCF (11-0) [unranked]
Key Wins: Florida, Miami
Key Losses:

24. UNLV (11-2) [unranked]
Key Wins: Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, KSU
Key Losses: Louisville, UCSB

25. Tennessee (8-3) [17]
Key Wins: VCU, Villanova, Pittsburgh
Key Losses: Oakland, Charlotte, USC

Dropped Out:

19. Baylor (8-3)
Key Wins: ASU
Key Losses: Gonzaga, WSU, FSU

20. Michigan State (8-4)
Key Wins: Washington, Oakland
Key Losses: UCONN, Duke, Syracuse, Texas

24. Florida (9-3)
Key Wins: FSU, KSU
Key Losses: OSU, UCF, Jacksonville

Bubble:

Boston College (10-2)
Key Wins: Texas A&M, Cal, Maryland
Key Losses: Wisconsin

Butler (9-4)
Key Wins: Siena, Stanford, FSU, WSU
Key Losses: Louisville, Evansville, Duke, Xavier

Old Dominion (9-2)
Key Wins: Xavier, Clemson, Richmond, Dayton
Key Losses: Georgetown, Delaware

Temple (9-2)
Key Wins: Georgetown, Georgia, Maryland
Key Losses: Cal, Texas A&M

Washington (8-3)
Key Wins: Texas Tech, Portland
Key Losses: MSU, Kentucky, Texas A&M

Washington State (10-2)
Key Wins: Gonzaga, Miss. St., Baylor
Key Losses: Kansas State, Butler

Notes:

-College basketball was mostly dormant this weekend, but the first half of the week saw a lot of top 25 teams taking losses, which lead to major shuffling in the rankings.

-What’s it going to take for Michigan State to fall out of the national rankings? They were #12 last week with 3 losses… what does 4 losses get you?

-Biggest losers of the week were Tennessee, Kansas State, and Baylor. Who knows what’s going on with the Volunteers, but at least KSU can point to the absence of their top two scorers. They are both on the verge of falling out of the rankings, but these are both teams I’d have a hard time betting against in March. Same goes for MSU. Baylor was a team I’ve had question marks about all season. Heading into this past week, they were ranked #15 in the national polls, but didn’t even crack the top 100 of the RPI. They’ve played three good teams and taken three losses. Consider them exposed.

-Biggest winners of the week were Texas and Butler. Texas knocked off Michigan State and Butler won the tournament in Hawaii, taking down Florida State and Washington State in the process. Texas could be as high as #12 in the national rankings and I wouldn’t be surprised if Butler found itself ranked again. Butler cracks the top 10 of the RPI and rank #3 in strength of schedule; not bad for a team that was having columns written about its dismal tournament chances a couple weeks ago. For now, Butler is good enough to be at the top of my bubble.

-When I updated my rankings in the middle of the week, I had Washington State @ #19. They’ve been impressive lately, but they got smoked by Butler on Christmas and cost themselves a top 25 spot. If they win that game, they probably get a national ranking.

-With Baylor, Tennessee, Illinois, and Florida all possibly exiting the top 25, there’s a chance Washington cracks the national rankings today. They were 27th in votes last week, and if four teams drop out, it’s likely they take a spot. Personally–even as a homer–I don’t think they deserve it. Much like Baylor, Washington has played against three good teams and lost all three games. One difference, Washington was in all three of those games until the last couple minutes. I still think UW is a top 15 team when it comes to talent and depth, but I’m basing my rankings on performance, not potential, and Washington has been disappointing so far.

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h1

College Basketball Rankings (12-20)

December 19, 2010

Last week’s rankings in brackets:

TOP 25

1. Duke (10-0): Duke took the week off, but is still unanimously the best team in the country. [1]

2. Ohio State (10-0): Freshman Jared Sullinger has asserted himself as possibly the best player in the nation, going off for 30 points and 19 rebounds on Saturday. [2]

3. Kansas (10-0): Great debut for Josh Selby: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 3-pointers… but Kansas nearly got upset by an unpredictable USC team. [3]

4. Connecticut (8-0): UCONN took the week off as well and should have two blowout wins before Big East play begins on Dec. 27th. [5]

5. Syracuse (11-0): Is this team really a borderline #1 seed in the NCAA tournament? I’m leaning towards no. [6]

6. Georgetown (11-1): Georgetown plummeted in the national rankings (to #15) last week because of a loss to Temple. I held them strong at #9 because a) Temple is tough and b) they’ve already secured four wins over teams likely to make the NCAA tournament. It’ll be interesting to see where the Hoyas end up on Monday after a week of upsets for a lot of ranked teams. They won’t be this high, but they are #1 in RPI and #3 in strength of schedule. I’m going to go out on a limb and say this team is slightly underrated right now. [9]

7. Pittsburgh (10-1): Pitt jumps slightly up the rankings. [8]

8. Kansas State (9-2): I still think KSU is one of the better teams in the country but that loss to Florida on Saturday was pretty brutal. 44 points? Really? If anyone’s wondering, that’s over 30 points less than they’ve been averaging a game. [4]

9. San Diego State (12-0): Consider me impressed. SDSU cracks the top ten and it’s not like they’ve played a cheese schedule. I think it’s safe to say they’ve claimed the title of best team on the west coast. [12]

10. Villanova (9-1): Villanova hasn’t exactly played the toughest schedule (118th in SoS), but here they are, the 5th team from the Big East to crack my top 10. [13]

11. Kentucky (8-2): The Wildcats take advantage of major shuffles in the middle of the rankings. It’s worth nothing KU is #7 in both the RPI and strength of schedule. [14]

12. Memphis (8-1): Last week I say Memphis could be unranked within four weeks, this week they jump up three spots. Go figure. I still think they’re slightly unproven and I see trouble in the future. [15]

13. Purdue (10-1): We still don’t really know what this team is made of. They rank 48th in the RPI and 176 in SoS. [16]

14. Minnesota (10-1): After Kentucky, I had a real tough time deciding where to put teams 12 through 19. Minnesota is still one of the few teams that has four wins over possible tournament teams. [17]

15. Missouri (10-1): Missouri will probably crack the top ten in most of the national polls, but I wasn’t huge on them in the preseason, so they’re having a harder time climbing up these rankings. I think they’re better than I anticipated, but they’ve still played a relatively easy schedule (157th in SoS). Dropping 116 points on anyone is impressive though. [19]

16. Illinois (10-2): The Illini played one game this week and took a bad loss to… Illinois Chicago? Yuck. I didn’t see the game, but Illinois shot .327 from the field and any team is going to have a hard time winning when they shoot that bad. [10]

17. Tennessee (7-2): Wow, what a difference a week makes. Last week, Tennessee soared up the rankings to #7 and looked like one of toughest teams in the nation after destroying Pittsburgh on the road. This week they took the two worst losses any ranked team has compiled so far. They’re still one of the more impressive teams as far as RPI is concerned, however, losing to Oakland was bad and losing to Charlotte was brutal. [7]

18. BYU (10-1): BYU lost to UCLA badly yesterday, but hold at #18 in my rankings because it’s hard to say anyone below them has been more impressive. [18]

19. Baylor (7-1): When a team has serious questions surrounding their ranking because of a weak schedule and lack of games played and then lose to the first halfway decent team they play (Gonzaga), it raises an eyebrow; a struggling Gonzaga team that had Stephen Gray on their bench for the entire second half no less. [11]

20. Michigan State (8-3): MSU will continue to add fuel to the fire that there’s an east coast bias by climbing to #11 in the national polls on Monday. Look at it from the perspective of a Washington Huskies fan: MSU is 8-3 and rank 66th in the RPI and 66th in SoS, while Washington is 7-3 and ranked 51st in the RPI and 37th in SoS. No way a team with three losses deserves to be that high… I don’t care how good they really are. [20]

21. Notre Dame (9-1): I’m sure The Fighting Irish will hold off Stony Brook today and climb slightly in the rankings. Notre Dame opens Big East play next week with a brutal stretch: their first three games are against Georgetown, Syracuse, and Connecticut. [22]

22. Texas (9-2): Texas held off UNC yesterday and climb up the rankings. [25]

23. Texas A&M (10-1): The Aggies add another decent win to their resume by holding off Arkansas. [24]

24. Florida (8-2): I had a real hard time deciding who to put in my last two spots. Florida has to get some serious credit for what they did to Kansas State yesterday. Plus, they were highly touted in the preseason and have a solid record. [Unranked]

23. West Virginia (8-2): This spot was even harder to fill. I’m giving WVU the edge over some of the teams below simply because I like their resume the most so far. They have a win over Vanderbilt, were the first team to knock off Cleveland State, and also beat decent Oakland and VMI teams. It’s a tough call though and I think there’s a legitimate argument for about five other teams that could be ranked here. [Unranked]

DROPPED OUT

21. Louisville (9-1): A loss to Drexel might not drop Louisville out of the rankings, but I thought they were the least talented ranked team last week, so that loss was enough for me to drop them.

23. UNLV (10-2): I really like UNLV and they’ll have a chance to get back into the top 25 soon enough.

BUBBLE

Boston College (8-2)
Old Dominion (8-2)
Temple (8-2)

On The Radar

Arizona (9-2)
Cincinnati (10-0)
Cleveland State (12-1)
Florida State (9-2)
North Carolina (7-4)
Northwestern (7-0)
Oklahoma State (10-1)
Richmond (8-3)
St. Mary’s (9-2)
UCF (10-0)
Vanderbilt (8-2)
Washington (7-3)
Washington State (7-1)
Wisconsin (9-2)

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h1

College Basketball Rankings 12/13

December 13, 2010

Last week’s rankings in brackets:

Will finish updating throughout Monday.

TOP 25

1. Duke (10-0): Duke lost Kyrie Irving indefinitely this past week–a big blow–but Duke’s one of the few teams in the nation that can suffer such a loss and still be okay. Their chances of ending the regular season undefeated have been diminished, but I still don’t see anyone challenging them as the top team in the country. [1]

2. Ohio State (8-0): I believe in OSU as a top five team, but their resume isn’t incredibly impressive so far: none of the teams they’ve played are currently ranked. I can’t wait for Big 10 play to start and see what these guys are really made of. Jared Sullinger made a statement concerning the question of who the best freshmen in the country is by dropping 40 points in a game last week. [2]

3. Kansas (9-0): The Jayhawks had a big week with wins over Memphis and Arizona and Josh Selby is eligible for their next game. I expect them to be the #2 team in the country before long. [4]

4. Kansas State (9-1): [5]

5. Connecticut (8-0): [6]

6. Syracuse (10-0): After watching The Orange demoralize MSU last week, my doubts about this team have been erased. They are legit. [7]

7. Tennessee (7-0): For the first time this year, I made a change in my rankings after the national polls came out by switching Tennessee and Pittsburgh around. When my dad is calling me out and saying “you’re going to rank Tennessee behind Pittsburgh after they crushed them?” I know I made a mistake. [10]

8. Pittsburgh (10-1): The loss to Tennessee is worse than it looks. Not only did they lose decisively, they got beat that bad on a “neutral” court in Pittsburgh. [3]

9. Georgetown (9-1): The Hoyas lost to Temple and took a drop in the national polls, but it’s hard to overlook what Georgetown has accomplished so far and say Illinois or Baylor deserve to be ahead of them. Georgetown has four wins over top 50 teams and rank #2 in the RPI, plus Temple’s stock is starting to rise again. [9]

10. Illinois (10-1): [11]

11. Baylor (6-0): I really think Baylor is a good team–maybe even top 10 good–but the lack of games played and a weak schedule makes me wince to have them so high. [12]

12. San Diego State (10-0): SDSU will likely be 17-0 by the time they face off with UNLV on January 12th. [14]

13. Villanova (8-1): [15]

14. Kentucky (7-2): [16]

15. Memphis (7-1): Memphis dropped to Kansas and lost Wesley Witherspoon for five weeks. With some surprisingly good teams in Conference USA, Memphis could find themselves unranked by the time their leading scorer returns. [9]

16. Purdue (9-1): [17]

17. Minnesota (9-1): [19]

18. BYU (10-0): I thought Arizona was going to beat BYU, or at least challenge them, but it looks like Jimmer and Co. are a national force. [22]

19. Missouri (8-1): [20]

20. Michigan State (7-3): MSU still has top 5 talent and experience, but they’ve struggled against top level teams, posting three losses against teams currently in the top 6 and narrow victories over now unranked Washington and a small, but talented school from Oakland. The Spartans are ranked #14 in today’s AP Poll, a ranking that’s clearly based more on potential than recent history. [13]

21. Louisville (8-0): I had Louisville near the top of my bubble last week and a win over ranked UNLV proved they belong here now. [Unranked]

22. Notre Dame (9-1): Losing to Kentucky, but beating Gonzaga is about a break even week for The Fighting Irish. [24]

23. UNLV (9-1): UNLV lost to Louisville, but maintain their spot in the top 25 because no one below them has accomplished as much. [23]

24. Texas A&M (9-1): Not only did A&M knock off Washington, but their win over Temple earlier this season is starting to look better and better. [Unranked]

25. Texas (7-2): Texas holds on to their top 25 spot, but all they’ve done since the an impressive run in the 2K Sports Classic is beat mediocre teams and lose to a middling USC team. Their ranking will be in jeopardy on Saturday when they face off against a resurgent North Carolina. [25]

DROPPED OUT

Washington (6-3): It’s painful for me to drop the Huskies out of my rankings, but it’s also painful to watch them lose to every good team they play. I still think we have top 10 level talent and depth, but it’s going to be hard to fight our way back into the national rankings now that the PAC-10 doesn’t have a single ranked team. Embarrassing. [18]

Florida (7-2): Florida didn’t lose any games this week, but their resume isn’t nearly as impressive as the teams that are currently ranked. [21]

BUBBLE

Arizona (8-2)
Boston College (8-2)
Cincinnati (8-0)
Cleveland State (12-0)
North Carolina (7-3)
Old Dominion (8-2)
Oklahoma State (9-1)
Temple (7-2)
UCF (8-0)
Washington State (7-1)
West Virginia (7-2)
Wisconsin (8-2)

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h1

Weekly College Basketball Rankings

December 6, 2010

Last week’s rankings in brackets:

TOP 25

1. Duke (8-0): Writers are already starting to make “Will Duke go undefeated posts?” Seems overboard to me, but this is clearly the best team in the country. They could arguably lose a game and still be ranked #1. They were a near consensus preseason favorite, they’re undefeated, and they’ve already beat four teams that are almost certainly tournament bound. No one else in the country can say that. [1]

2. Ohio State (6-0): Well, at least the Buckeyes have been up on a couple solid teams from Florida. [2]

3. Pittsburgh (9-0): Pitt has been untested since a tough early schedule and I’m not even sure they’re the best team in the Big East anymore. [3]

4. Kansas (7-0): Josh Selby is eligible next week, an addition that could arguably make Kansas the #2 team in the country. [4]

5. Kansas State (7-1): Washington State tested them, but KSU is a gritty, grind-it-out squad. [5]

6. Connecticut (7-0): Well, UCONN didn’t shock the world this past week but they did add two more wins to their resume and Kemba Walker continued to display his brilliance with a triple-double. [6]

7. Syracuse (8-0): Maybe this will end up being a great team because of all the wins they picked up in close games against mediocre teams. Their signature win so far this season is vs. North Carolina State–a fringe tournament team–and they were getting beat almost the entire game. I was shocked to see them get the win. I just doubt The Orange are even a top 15 team after they get through the Big East schedule. [8]

8. Georgetown (8-0): The Hoyas went surging up my rankings this week with wins over ranked Missouri (pulling off the upset based on national polls) and a Utah State team that’s heavily favored to win their conference. With Old Dominion and NC State already falling to Georgetown, the Hoyas have one of the more impressive early season resumes. [14]

9. Memphis (7-0): Memphis is cruising right now, but Conference USA could be more of a challenge for them than expected: UTEP, Southern Miss, and UCF could all be solid. [10]

10. Tennessee (6-0): It’s arguable that the Vols could be at #9, but if I didn’t rank them above Memphis last week, I don’t have any reason to now. [15]

11. Illinois (8-1): For whatever reason, the Illini have been unfairly ranked by the national polls the past couple weeks, but after posting wins over North Carolina and Gonzaga this past week, their national standing should improve immensely. [13]

12. Baylor (6-0): Arizona State is the best team they’ve beat. They have the talent to be top ten good, they just haven’t really proved much yet. [12]

13. Michigan State (6-2): The widely picked preseason #2 team in the country was easily handled by #1 Duke. [7]

14. San Diego State (8-0): Can’t wait to see how the Aztecs hold up against the good Mountain West teams. So far they have shown dominance as the best non-Big 6 Conference team in the nation with wins over St. Mary’s, Gonzaga, and Wichita State. [21]

15. Villanova (6-1): Wildcats improve their ranking with an uneventful week. [17]

16. Kentucky (6-2): Kentucky takes another loss, this time to North Carolina. This is a talented team, but clearly not as good as last year’s squad. [11]

17. Purdue (7-1): Purdue rebounded from last week’s loss to Richmond with a win over Virginia Tech. [18]

18. Washington (5-2): Washington continued to display its dominance over teams that aren’t nationally ranked with blowouts over Long Beach State and a Texas Tech team that beat them last year. I think it’s a question of confidence with this team… they destroy the teams they should beat and find a way to lose against teams that are supposed to beat them. [20]

19. Minnesota (7-1): After a surprisingly strong start, the Golden Gophers lose to a Virginia team that is picked to finish last in the ACC. [16]

20. Missouri (5-1): Missouri lost their first game of the year and still moved up in my rankings. Why? Because they showed they can play against good teams taking Georgetown to the buzzer. [22]

21. Florida (6-2): Florida took one of the more embarrassing losses of the year in a game against UCF, which sends them tumbling down my rankings and possibly out of the national polls. [9]

22. BYU (8-0): Jimmer Friddette and BYU continue to dominate the non-conference schedule. [24]

23. UNLV (8-0): Yes… that’s three teams from the Mountain West that remain undefeated and ranked in the top 25. Anyone think the PAC-10 is still the better conference this year? [25]

24. Notre Dame (8-0): The Fighting Irish nearly made my top 25 last week and find a spot now thanks to Gonzaga’s early struggles. [Unranked]

25. Texas (6-2): Texas can be pretty inconsistent. Remember how they were ranked #1 at one point last year and had to fight for a spot in the NCAA tournament? Well, they started this season playing solid against ranked Illinois and Pittsburgh, but lose to a subpar USC team last night. Could be more of the same for the Longhorns in 2010-11. [23]

DROPPED OUT

Gonzaga (4-3): Credit the Bulldogs for playing a tough schedule, but they need to beat some of these teams to stay in the top 25 and that’s not happening so far. It could be March before these guys find themselves ranked again.

NOTES

*It was tempting to drop Texas out of the top 25, but the teams I have on the bubble aren’t really screaming at me to crack the rankings. Oklahoma State (7-1), Vanderbilt (7-1), Cleveland State (10-0), Louisville (6-0), and Cincinnati (7-0) all have impressive records, but none of them have faced a tough schedule. Cleveland State hasn’t even played a team from a Big 6 Conference, let alone a ranked team. Louisville has beaten Butler and Vanderbilt took out North Carolina, but neither of those teams are as good as originally thought. I still like Texas’ performance a bit better so far.

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h1

College Basketball Rankings 11/28/2010

November 29, 2010

Last week’s rankings in brackets:

TOP 25

1. Duke (6-0): Duke survived it’s first tests of the season edging a possible tourney team from Marquette and easily handling #4 Kansas State. [1]

2. Ohio State (5-0): Looking forward to seeing what these guys can do against a stretch of good teams. [3]

3. Pittsburgh (7-0): Panthers still cruising after a good start to the season. [4]

4. Kansas (6-0): The Jayhawks got their first test of the season and beat a good Arizona team, plus Josh Selby is eligible soon, so these guys are just going to get better. [6]

5. Kansas State (5-1): KSU took a pretty bad loss against Duke, but hey, that’s the number one team in the nation and Kansas State already has a couple good wins under their belt (Gonzaga, Virginia Tech). [4]

6. Connecticut (5-0): Talk about a statement. UCONN headed into last week unranked by everyone and projected to finish in the bottom half of the Big East by most publications. Apparently, Kemba Walker and Alex Oriachi disagreed; UCONN toppled a good Wichita State team, #2 Michigan State, and #9 Kentucky en route to winning the Maui Invitational and Walker looked like the most dominant player in the nation. I’ve never heard of an unranked team jumping this far up the rankings, but I can’t see how you can rank them lower. They are #1 in the RPI rankings, #1 in strength of schedule, and they’re still undefeated. I could see an argument for them being in the top 5. I can’t wait to see what the AP does with them tomorrow. [Unranked]

7. Michigan State (5-1): It’s interesting how these rankings work. Michigan State lost to unranked UCONN, which is going to plummet them from the #2 spot. But… starting tomorrow, losing to Connecticut isn’t going to be so bad. Go figure. The Spartans did bounce back by edging PAC-10 favorite Washington. [2]

8. Syracuse (6-0): Still waiting for this team to play someone good. I doubt this is a top 10 team. They’re playing very tight games against some mediocre schools. [8]

9. Florida (5-1): Gators jump up a few spots and got a decent win under their belt today (vs. Florida State). [12]

10. Memphis (5-0): Hmmm… is Memphis really a top 10 team? Hard to say, but they’ve beat two teams from major conferences and play Kansas, Georgetown, and Tennessee before entering conference play, so we’ll know for sure after that stretch. [13]

11. Kentucky (4-1): Like Michigan State, the Wildcats fell victim to The Kemba Walker Show this past week. However, also like Michigan State, they notched a win over Washington. Plus, Terrence Jones looks damn good… there was hype around him in the preseason, but he could wind up being an All-American and top 3 draft pick this year. [7]

12. Baylor (4-0): Undefeated, but untested. [14]

13. Illinois (6-1): Easy week for the Illini. [15]

14. Georgetown (6-0): Same for the Hoyas. [17]

15. Tennessee (5-0): I hate on the Volunteers every year and they consistently prove me wrong. I was hoping to drop them out of the Top 25 this week; instead they had the best week of any team not named Connecticut. The Vols are #2 in RPI rankings and #7 in strength of schedule. The AP had them #24 last week, but they should be right around here now. I was tempted to rank them even higher than this. [18]

16. Minnesota (6-0): Minnesota maintains after a surprisingly strong start. [19]

17. Villanova (5-1): Just when I bite the bullet and bump Villanova up my rankings, they get upset by Tennessee. [10]

18. Purdue (5-1): I wanted to believe that Purdue could survive as a top ten team without Robbie Hummel, but I felt an impending sense of doom surrounding this team. They hadn’t played anybody special and I thought Richmond might upset them and they did exactly that. Richmond’s a good team, but that’s a game Purdue needs to win. [9]

19. Gonzaga (3-2): The Zags took another loss, but salvaged their top 25 spot with a win over Marquette. [16]

20. Washington (3-2): As a Huskies fan, this was a heartbreaking week. After absolutely demolishing Virginia, the Huskies played a mediocre game against Kentucky and still hung in there until the last couple minutes. They followed that up with a solid showing against Michigan State and barely lost that one. Even though UW took two tough losses, they still showed they are a team to be reckoned with. They’ll climb back up these rankings soon enough. I hope! [11]

21. San Diego State (6-0): Maintaining… [23]

22. Missouri (5-0): I’m waiting for Missouri to lose a game so I can say “Ha!” but it hasn’t happened. Still, I refuse to move a team I don’t really believe in up the rankings until they beat someone worth talking about. [22]

23. Texas (5-1): The Longhorns nearly lost to Rice this weekend, but knuckled up for the win to hold their top 25 spot. [24]

24. BYU (6-0): BYU fell out of my rankings last week, but made it back after going 3-0 this week with wins over South Florida and a St. Mary’s team that I wanted to put here. [Unranked]

25. UNLV (6-0): UNLV has officially played their way onto the national radar with big wins over Wisconsin and Virginia Tech. [Unranked]

DROPPED OUT

Butler
North Carolina
Virginia Tech

NOTES

*Temple, a team that was in the top 25 in both the AP and ESPN polls, took two losses this week. They’ll be unranked tomorrow and I feel kind of smart.

*North Carolina won both their games this week, but they still drop out because they haven’t beaten anyone good, lost to two unranked teams, and, after last year, it’s time to show and prove for UNC.

*I wouldn’t be shocked to see Notre Dame ranked tomorrow. They have a pretty impressive early resume for a team no one was talking about, notching wins over California, Georgia, and Wisconsin already.

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h1

College Basketball Rankings

November 22, 2010

Previous ranking in brackets:

1. Duke (3-0) – Easy going so far for the reigning champs. First week of December looks tough though: Michigan State and Butler. [1]

2. Michigan State (2-0) – Part of the Maui Invitational this week in a field that features Kentucky, Washington, Connecticut, and Wichita State. [2]

3. Ohio State (3-0) – Just as strong as I thought they’d be. They already crushed #9 Florida. [3]

4. Pittsburgh (5-0) – A big jump up the rankings for the Panthers. Not only do they have five wins already, but they’ve notched victories over tough Maryland and Texas teams. [9]

5. Kansas State (3-0) – The Wildcats already own a decisive win over a ranked team from Virginia Tech. [5]

6. Kansas (3-0) – Josh Selby has been declared eligible (after nine games I think) and the Jayhawks have been crushing teams without him… including North Texas, a tournament team last year. [6]

7. Kentucky (2-0) – I’m iffy about this ranking… KU has looked dominant so far, but they haven’t played anybody and losing Enes Kanter drops them in this week’s rankings. Brandon Knight and Terrance Jones have been great though and this week’s Maui Invitational will determine if this team is legit. [4]

8. Syracuse (4-0) – The Orange move up in the rankings, but they’re pretty lucky to do so. William & Mary gave them a run for their money and shooting 36.7% from the field isn’t going to get the job done against good teams. Plus Fab Melo has been a non-factor. [10]

9. Purdue (3-0) – Oakland put up a good fight against the Boilermakers today and we probably won’t really know what this Purdue team is made of without Robbie Hummel until they face off against Virginia Tech on Dec. 1st. [7]

10. Villanova (4-0) – I think I missed the mark on this one in my initial rankings; ‘Nova is deep and talented. [14]

11. Washington (2-0) – The Huskies have been putting up some serious points and look to be severely underrated on the national level. Beating Virginia and Kentucky in the Maui Invitational would change that… and a win over MSU in the championship would open a lot of eyes. [12]

12. Florida (3-1) – Losing to Ohio State doesn’t hurt that much and it’s not like the Gators didn’t play them tough most of the game. [13]

13. Memphis (4-0) – Already have two victories over schools from major conferences (Miami and LSU). [15]

14. Baylor (3-0) – The Bears get a bump because my initial rankings assumed LaceDarius Dunn wouldn’t play this year. He’s back next week and the core of this team looks great so far.

15. Illinois (4-1) – I had Texas ranked before the season, so an overtime loss to them isn’t terrible, plus the Illini bounced back with a win over Maryland. [17]

16. Gonzaga (2-1) – Losing to San Diego State isn’t a good look, but it’s not a travesty either. It’s not going to get any easier for the Bulldogs: they have games against Kansas State, Illinois, and Baylor in the next three weeks. [10]

17. Georgetown (5-0) [20]

18. Tennessee (3-0) – Hoyas jump ahead of the Volunteers because Tennessee is untested so far and Georgetown has wins over ODU and North Carolina State. [18]

19. Minnesota (5-0) – The Golden Gophers boast the best resume in college basketball right now with wins over North Carolina, West Virginia, and Western Kentucky, all of whom could be NCAA tourney teams come March. Yikes. [unranked]

20. North Carolina (2-2) – Wow. Is this a repeat of last year? I doubt the Tarheels will fall this far in the AP rankings, but they should with two losses against unranked teams already. I saw UNC play Hofstra the other night, and even though it was a decisive win, the Heels looked pretty sloppy outside of Harrison Barnes, and then Barnes went 0-12 from the field against Minnesota. Will the real Tarheels please stand up? I don’t think this team is going to lose 17 games, but this is a bad start. [8]

21. Butler (2-1) – I’ve already heard people gunning for Butler to be dropped out of the top 25, but that seems harsh. It’s not like Louisville is a bunch of slouches and the Bulldogs still boast Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard on their roster. I think Duke is going to destroy them on December 4th, but wins over Siena and Xavier would help make up for the Louisville loss. [16]

22. Missouri (2-0) – I’m still unsure of what to think of this team and I haven’t seen them play yet. Everyone else has them ranked much higher, but I need them to prove it first. [22]

23. San Diego State (4-0) – I had BYU ranked #25 and the Aztecs unranked in my preseason rankings, but after some thought, I decided that San Diego State is going to be the better team and win the Mountain West. With a win over Gonzaga under their belt already, leap-frogging BYU in this week’s rankings not only makes up for my previous mistake, it makes sense too. [unranked]

24. Texas (3-1) – The Longhorns have been impressive so far. Unranked by a lot of publications in the preseason, they’ve already upset #13 Illinois and took #5 Pittsburgh to the buzzer, losing by two points. [24]

25. Virginia Tech (2-1) – A loss to Kansas State doesn’t hurt their stock too much. [21]

Dropped Out:

Wisconsin (2-1) – Lost to unranked UNLV.
BYU (3-0) – Shouldn’t have been ranked in the first place, but they’re right there.

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h1

NCAA College Basketball Preseason Top 25

October 21, 2010

I’m already in full college basketball mode and today we had our first official coach’s poll, which has inspired me to make my own list, along with the nagging of one of my co-workers. Along with my rankings, in parentheses I have the rankings from various publications in order of my perceived level of validity: Coach’s Poll, ESPN’s Andy Katz, Sporting News, and Lindy’s Sports. I wanted to post my full list, but i’ll add synopsis as time goes on, leading up to the opening game.

1. Duke (1, 1, 2, 1): Here’s your consensus preseason favorite and for good reason. Last year’s champs lose only two key components from this past season in point guard Jon Scheyer and center Brian Zoubek. Zoubek’s absence could be felt as the only knock on Duke is the lack of a big man to roam the post and grab rebounds. I doubt many people would rather have Scheyer over incoming freshman Kyrie Irving though, plus the Blue Devils add former Liberty guard Seth Curry, who averaged over 20 points a game as a freshmen and has bloodlines on his side. Most importantly, Duke returns the services of Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, both of whom are legitimate All America candidates, with Singler a possibility for Player Of The Year honors. Duke’s backcourt is absolutely loaded and with Singler on the wing, this is the team to beat in 2011.

2. Michigan State (2, 2, 1, 3): It’d be silly to rank Tom Izzo’s Spartans much lower than this as they’ve reached the Final Four in consecutive seasons and they’ve consistently burned me in my own brackets. The Spartans return all five starters from last year’s Final Four team and Raymar Morgan is their only significant loss. Kalin Lucas has been dealing with an Achilles injury during the off-season and should be ready to play in November. A return to 100% may take some time for Lucas, but at any rate, he should be full speed by March, which is always when Izzo’s teams play their best. There’s been a lot of hype surrounding senior guard Durrell Summers taking a significant leap forward in production, while Delvin Roe, Draymond Green, and Korie Lucious round out a ridiculous starting five.

3. Ohio State (5, 5, 5, 7): No one has ranked OSU as high as I have here, yet everyone seems to think that incoming freshman big man Jared Sullinger is going to make a major impact in his only college season. While no one was as crucial to his team’s success as Evan Turner was last year, the same could ring true of Sullinger in the 2010-2011 season. Losing Turner is a major blow, but his run as Player Of The Year overshadowed an otherwise well-rounded team. Junior William Buford (14.4 ppg, 5.6 rbg, 3.1 apg) put up numbers that look a lot like Turner’s sophomore season and joins fellow guard Jon Diebler as a deadly 3-point duo. The Buckeyes return their other two starters in the frontcourt with seniors Dallas Lauderdale and David Lighty. The depth of this team remains a question mark as it relies heavily on untested freshman, but with Sullinger dominating the inside and Buford and Diebler bombing from outside, this team is going to be trouble for just about anyone.

4. Kentucky (10, 11, 8, 14): Again, another team I have ranked higher than anyone else, but betting against John Calipari has proven to be a mistake. No one recruits better than Coach Cal and this year’s class is again the best in the nation. This ranking is highly dependent on the eligibility of freshman center Enes Kanter, whose status is still in question. Much like Sullinger, Kanter has the ability to be a complete game-changer and his availability is probably the difference between a top 5 team and a top 15 team. Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb round out this ridiculous freshman class, while returning players Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins continue to provide support while playing a background role.

5. Kansas State (3, 4, 6, 4): Giants nation and closer Brian Wilson have popularized “Fear The Beard” this baseball season, but Jacob Pullen and Kansas State could argue they originated the concept in early 2010. Pullen returns as the Wildcats biggest offensive threat and should probably get some All America consideration this season. Losing Denis Clemente could be a big blow, but it sounds like Pullen is going to run the point (similar to how Evan Turner ran Ohio State’s offense last year) and that’s not so bad. Curtis Kelley was dominant in the NCAA tournament last year and the Wildcats are going to need him to continue putting up that kind of production to hold onto this ranking. Wally Judge’s development might be even more critical to the team’s success. Highly touted out of high school, Judge was a disappointment in his freshman season, but should look to take a big step forward in the upcoming season. Jamar Samuels was big in a reserve role last year and should move into the starting lineup this season. With Pullen at the helms and continued maturation from Kelley and Judge, KSU shouldn’t be too far off from their dominant showing last year.

6. Kansas (7, 6, 4, 17): Another team ranking that largely depends on the eligibility of one player. For Kansas, that player is point guard Josh Selby, #1 on Rivals.com’s list of incoming freshman. Like Kentucky, Kansas has top 5 potential with Selby playing a full slate, but is probably a top 15-20 team without him. Kansas did lose three players to the NBA draft and graduation, so the question is who is going to step up and replace the production that Sherron Collins, Cole Aldritch, and Xavier Henry, who combined for 40.2 points and 16.3 rbg, provided last year. One obvious answer is junior Marcus Morris, who improved immensely as a sophomore and made Sporting News’ First Team of preseason All Americans. Look for Morris to improve on the numbers (14.2 points, 7.3 rebounds per game) who put up in conference play last year. Outside of Morris and Selby, the Jayhawks will need a legitimate third scoring threat. Tyshawn Taylor averaged 7.2 points a game last year and will probably be the third option this year, with the other Morris twin, Markieff, crashing the boards and providing an additional inside threat. The Jayhawks have enough talent and depth to compete for the Big 12 title, but a lot of that success depends on if Selby is playing or not.

7. Purdue (8, 23, 3, 2): A few weeks ago, there were three teams that clearly stood atop the college basketball landscape: Duke, Michigan State, and Purdue. Owning three seniors with All America potential, the Boilermakers looked poised to make a run at a Big Ten title and a trip to the Final Four. And then Robbie Hummel blew out his ACL… again. The question is: how important is Hummel to Purdue’s success? With a skill set that is somewhat similar to Duke’s Kyle Singler, the answer is: pretty damn important. Hummel has had a solid college career, but has constantly been hampered by injuries and one wonders what he and Purdue could have achieved if he was consistently healthy. While the Hummel injury is a huge blow, I’m not so sure the team should go diving in the rankings (ESPN dropped them from #2 all the way down to #23). Most teams would be happy to have two potential All Americans and Purdue still has that in guard E’twaun Moore and center JaJuan Johnson. I’ve been keeping tabs on Johnson ever since he dominated Washington in the 2009 NCAA tournament and he lived up to that performance last year by averaging 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, and over 2 blocks a game…. still building strength on what used to be a pretty wiry frame, he can build on those numbers. Moore will aide Johnson in providing leadership and will probably be asked to do the bulk of the scoring with Hummel out. He’s got a great jump shot and will be asked to step up his defensive game with the departure of Chris Kramer. Outside of the big two, Purdue is deep, but inexperienced. Outside of the three seniors, no returning player averaged more than 3.4 points a game and this year’s roster has ten underclassmen. Moore and Johnson have enough talent to keep Purdue in the top ten, but without Hummel it’s extremely unlikely this team has a shot at winning the conference and making a run past the Elite 8.

8. North Carolina (9, 14, 9, 6): I feel risky saying that UNC will be a top ten team after their implosion last year. However, last year they didn’t have freshman Harrison Barnes, a ridiculously athletic wing that received more attention in high school than any other incoming recruit. Barnes is unlikely to experience the growing pains that plagued last year’s freshman class and should make an immediate impact in the ACC. Speaking of last year’s freshmen, no one on the team will be asked to produce more than big man John Henson. Henson averaged 5.7 points and 4.4 rebounds a game playing behind departed Ed Davis and Deon Thompson, but will have to carry a much larger load now that they’re gone. It’s not difficult to imagine Henson becoming the ACC’s Most Improved player and he has enough talent potential to be a lottery pick next June. The Tarheels have enough potential star in seven footer Tyler Zeller, who has had some injury problems so far in his career. Even though the Wear twins transferred to UCLA, the Heels still have plenty of McDonalds All American depth on the bench and another potential freshman star in Reggie Bullock. If Henson and Zeller live up to their potential and Barnes is as good as advertised, Duke could have a run for their money in the ACC.

9. Pittsburgh (4, 3, 6, 4): A consensus top five team that I’m not as sold on. Left off everyone’s radar last year, Pittsburgh turned out to be a team to be reckoned with. Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker sort of came out of no where to provide some pretty ridiculous numbers. Both those guys are back this year and sophomore Dante Taylor looks to prove that his disappointing freshman season was a fluke. Pittsburgh will be a tough team this year, and probably good enough to win the Big East, but while it’s usually a mistake to underestimate the Panthers, I don’t really see them as a Final Four squad.

10. Gonzaga (12, 8, 14, 16): Gonzaga won’t open the season as a top ten team, but as a nationally relevant mid major school, they’ll be there after running through conference play. The loss of Matt Bouldin hurts, but is easily relieved by the return of Elias Harris, who most projected as a lottery pick after his first week in college. Harris averaged 14.9 points and 7.1 rebounds a game as a frosh and is probably the most talented and athletic player in Gonzaga’s history (sorry John Stockton, the game has changed). The Zags have plenty of experience returning with center Robert Sacre and guard Steven Gray providing enough of an offensive threat to keep opposing defenses from zeroing in on Harris. The point guard position is the biggest question for Gonzaga. Demetri Gooden has proven to be unreliable, so JuCo transfer Marquise Carter may be asked to take the reigns. While the WCC has some solid teams from St. Marys and Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga could still run through league play undefeated… but the days of being the tournament’s Cinderella are over and the Bulldogs need to take advantage of what is likely the last year for Harris.

11. Syracuse (13, 10, 7, 21): The Orange return a solid core and add 7 foot freshman Fab Melo to the middle. Also, Kris Joseph could be this year’s Wesley Johnson.

12. Washington (17, 17, 23, 10): This is my team so I’m going to write a bit more about them. First off, the Dawgs are the best team in the Pac-10 and should run through conference play. Then again, I thought that last year and had they to fight tooth-and-nail for a NCAA berth. Losing Quincy Pondexter hurts, but UW recovered from the loss of Jon Broxton last year, and I’m looking for more improvement from Matthew Bryan-Amaning this year. He won’t provide Quincy’s production, but he should improve across the board. The backcourt is still crazy. Isaiah Thomas is underrated nationally, but he does have some glaring flaws. While he’s a great slashing guard, his decision-making needs work. Too many times I saw him drive hopelessly to the basket and come up empty, trying to force a basket through three defenders. If he can learn to dish out when he can’t get off a good shot and improve his outside game, he could be a beast. Venoy Overton is UW’s secret weapon. He’s known as a defensive pest, but he can also score when we need him to. Abdul Gaddy is still a question mark. Watching him as a freshman was painful most of the time. He showed flashes of brilliance every once in a while, but he usually looked uncomfortable on the court. He’s still regarded as one of the best NBA prospects in the Pac-10 and I think it all boils down to confidence for him, so if he can find that, he could be the difference-maker for this club. I don’t know much about Terrence Ross, but word is that he’s going to be a player for us. The Huskies have some depth on the bench. Justin Holliday is another underrated player that is solid defensively and I’m not sure what to expect from 7 foot center Aziz N’Diaye. If he has any type of talent in the middle, the Huskies could be a lot more dangerous than expected.

13. Florida (11, 9, 20, 11): Kenny Boynton had a great freshmen year and the Gators are long on experience and talent.

14. Villanova (6, 7, 11, 13):
15. Memphis (19, 15, 12, 34)
16. Butler (18, 18, 19, 8)
17. Illinois (16, 13, 15, 9)
18. Tennessee (20, 20, 22, 12)
19. Baylor (14, 16, 16, 15)
20. Georgetown (21, 19, 17, 27)
21. Virginia Tech (23, 26, 21, 18)
22. Missouri (15, 12, 13, 33)
23. Wisconsin (24, top 40, 18, 32)
24. Texas (25, top 40, unranked, 20)
25. BYU (27, top 40, unranked, 25)

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h1

Poker: September 2010 Results

September 13, 2010

This is a bit premature, but I self-excluded myself from playing online poker for the rest of the month, so it’s not going to change much. Here are the results:

Starting Bankroll: $109.75
Ending Bankroll: $0.04
Net Profit: -$100.71
Deposits: $25
Cash Outs: $100
Transfers: $0
Rake Back: $35.71 (through Sept. 10th)
Bonuses: $50
Tournaments: +$69.20
Cash Games: -$341.33

Notes:

-I went busto on September 2nd and had to deposit money for the first time in ages. I put in $25 and got about $20 in rake back and built that $45 up to a peak of $366 within a week.

-I only cashed in 3 of 23 online tournaments I played before banning myself, but all of them were final tables. My best showing was 1st of 135 for +$149.50.

-When my bankroll reached $366, I decided to do something rare: cash some out.

-After my cash out and a couple days basically treading water, I decided to take a shot at a $100 buy-in NL cash game. This was 10x higher than I was usually playing and it seems whenever I decide to take a shot, the Gods punish me for it. The pivotal hands:

—I have Tc8c in the BB and someone raises it to $5. I’m going to fold if it folds around to me, but the SB calls and I decide to take a flop. The board comes T83 with two hearts. SB checks and the opening raiser has about $42 left and my objective is to get as much of it as possible. I figure if he has an overpair, I’m stacking him no matter what. If he has unpaired high cards, he might not call if I bet, but he’ll likely make a continuation bet if it checks to him and maybe even price himself in. Since checking seems to make me more money, that’s what I do. He goes all-in. Yay! The small blind calls $42. Boo! Not what I was hoping for at all. What does this guy have? I go into the tank for a bit… It’s really unlikely that he has TT or 88 since I have two of those cards and two of them are on the board… 33 is certainly a possibility, but I convince myself that it’s probably a big heart draw. Since I’m playing way over my head, the safe play would be to fold, but if I end up folding the winning hand, I’m not going to forgive myself. Since I think my hand is good, calling is out of the question, and I go all-in for $108. The SB calls and shows AhKh and the 4h comes on the turn and I don’t fill up. $270 pot and roughly 40% of my bankroll gets shipped to him.

—After that last beat, I decide to call it a night, but I can’t sleep at all because I’m steaming so bad. So I get back online and sit down in the same game looking to make my money back quickly. After a few hands, I pick up KK and make it $3.50 to go. Someone re-raises me to $10.50. Ugh. Am I really going to be up against aces right now? The button calls him. It folds back to me… only one hand has me beat, but do I believe it? I decide to go Matt Damon in Rounders and just shove it all-in for $100+. The re-raiser folds, which is great, but the button calls, which is shocking. What does this guy have that he’d play that way? Amazingly, he shows 22 and before I can even get over the shock of seeing his hand, he spikes a set on the flop, and stacks 70% of my remaining bankroll. Unbelievable. I’m playing on a Rush table, so I don’t even get the satisfaction of being able to berate him for such a horrendous play.

—I’m down to like $45 and take it to same $100NL game and decide that I’m getting it all-in at the first sane opportunity. After a few spots where my opponents fold, I pick up AQ and get one caller with position on me. I bet the pot on an A high flop and he calls. I get it all-in on a blank turn and he shows a flopped set and I’m busto for the second time this month.

-I played live for the first time in a loooooooong while. I went into Bremerton Lanes to see if they had a tournament and it was super dead. There were about five people waiting around in a live game and I decided to sit down against my better judgement. I bought in for $100 to play $4-$8, to kill the hour before the tournament, and basically just dwindled. I won two pots and they were both small and I never picked up any big hands. Lost $66.

Highlights from the live tournament:

—blinds @ 50-100 on deep stacks. One person limps, I limp with 66, SB calls, BB raises to $600. First limper folds, and since we are on deep stacks and I know this player will dump if I spike a set, I call. SB folds and the flop comes 953. He checks to me and it looks like a bet, but I’ve played with this guy before and I don’t think he’d make that raise w/out a pair, so I check behind and take one off. Turn is a 2 and he bets $800. I’m still pretty sure he has an overpair, but his check on the flop leaves enough doubt that I speculate with a call, plus I should have six outs, position, and some other river cards I might be able to bluff with. River is gin: a four peels off. No flush on board, so I’m sure I have the nuts. He leads out for $1000, which looks like an ace. I doubt he’d make that bet with KK/QQ/JJ, so I expect to get paid off and raise it to $2700, hoping he might even re-raise. He just calls and I’m surprised when he tables 99 for top set. hahaha… sorry buddy! Nice pot for me. It’s a pretty odd river call for him, but sometimes I think people need to show how bad of a beat they took… and I appreciate it!

—blinds @ 200-400. UTG goes all-in for about 1900 and I’m UTG+1 with AA and about $12K. I decide to just call because some players behind me have been raise happy. Everyone folds except the small blind, who calls also. The flop comes AT9 with two hearts. SB checks to me and even though I have top set, a bet is in order because that board is super draw-friendly. I bet out $1500 and the small blind becomes exasperated. I’m all for the cooperation play in a lot of spots, but this is not one of them. After throwing a mini-fit, he says “Fine, I’ll all-in” and raises about $7500 more. Hahahahhahaha. I call and flip over my aces and he tables QQ and walks away sonned.

—blinds @ 300-600. I pick up AA and raise to 1500. I have over $20K at this point and a player behind me has even more chips. We are easily the chip leaders at the table. He’s been really raise happy and doesn’t disappoint when he makes it $5500 to go. It folds around back to me and I go into acting mode. I count my chips, see how much I’d have left if I call and fold later, basically trying to sell AK or some other hand… After a minute or so, I go all-in and he instacalls and shows JJ. I hold and I have an enormous chip lead. I got chastised by a couple players after this hand, including my opponent. Some of the comments: “he had to think about that one” — “yeah, he must’ve been worried I had a set” etc. Uhhh… okay noobs. If I shove all-in without thinking about it, my hand range can be narrowed down pretty easily. I know if I had JJ in his spot, I would fold it. Hell, I wouldn’t have re-raised in the first place. Maybe my acting job didn’t play a role at all and he would have spewed with JJ regardless, but there’s certainly no rule that says if you have aces you must reraise as soon as possible.

—Per usual, when I get a huge chip lead, I get card dead for a long time and eventually dwindle down to an average stack. I make the final table with a good amount of chips, but all my opening raises get shoved on and I have to fold my attempts to steal the blinds.

—Busto hand: blinds are 2000-4000 and I have about $21K. Two people limp in, SB calls, and I have AT in the BB. I have enough chips left behind that the limpers can’t call me without fear and the limps indicate there isn’t a lot of strength out there, so I shove and take my chances. First person folds, but the second hesitates for a bit, sighs, and decides to call. She tables 99 and flops a set. GG. 7th place for money back. Laaaaaaaaaaaame.

Another shitty month… but on the bright side, I cashed out more money than I put into gambling this month, so my wallet actually saw a profit. I keep saying that playing above my bankroll is one of my biggest leaks, but I don’t think it’s wrong to take shots. I don’t want to grind it out for nickels and dimes and no one makes it big by playing it safe. It would just be nice if one time I took a shot something ridiculous didn’t happen. Sigh. Until next month….

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