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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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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 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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