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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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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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