College Basketball Rankings - 29 Dec

I've updated my college basketball games to include all games through yesterday, December 28. With the Christmas holiday, there were not as many games this week, so the overall movement in the rankings is smaller than normal, but with conference play beginning, there should be some very interesting games starting this week. Team name is followed by this week's record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. Ohio State (2-0) (13-0) -25.84 (2)
2. Duke (0-0) (11-0) -24.61 (1)
3. Kansas (1-0) (11-0) -23.23 (4)
4. Washington (1-0) (8-3) -20.83 (3)
5. Purdue (1-0) (12-1) -19.96 (9)
6. Kentucky (2-0) (10-2) -19.49 (7)
7. Pittsburgh (2-0) (13-1) -19.43 (5)
8. Georgetown (1-0) (11-1) -18.99 (8)
9. Vanderbilt (0-0) (9-2) -18.81 (6)
10. Arizona (1-0) (11-2) -18.72 (10)
11. BYU (1-0) (12-1) -18.70 (12)
12. Saint Mary's (1-0) (10-2) -18.65 (17)
13. Louisville (2-0) (11-1) -18.58 (11)
14. Texas (1-0) (10-2) -16.48 (22)
15. Villanova (1-0) (10-1) -16.16 (NR)
16. Butler (3-0) (9-4) -16.03 (23)
17. UNLV (0-0) (11-2) -15.66 (16)
18. North Carolina (1-0) (9-4) -15.51 (NR)
19. San Diego State (1-0) (14-0) -15.33 (15)
20. West Virginia (0-0) (8-2) -15.24 (13)
21. Texas A&M (0-0) (11-1) -14.95 (18)
22. Wisconsin (2-0) (11-2) -14.83 (20)
23. Belmont (0-1) (9-3) -14.56 (25)
24. Syracuse (2-0) (14-0) -14.02 (19)
25. Maryland (1-0) (8-4) -13.97 (NR)

Dropping out:

UCF (1-0) (11-0) -13.43 (14)
Duquesne (0-1) (5-5) -11.17 (24)
Indiana (0-3) (9-5) -7.31 (21)

Ranked teams by conference:

Big East: 6
Big 10: 3
ACC: 3
Big 12: 3
MWC: 3
Pac 10: 2
SEC: 2
WCC: 1
Hor: 1
Atl Sun: 1

The Big East made a big move this week, as did the ACC, while the Big 10 dropped off overall. The Big 10 did, however, claim the top spot with Ohio State's very impressive week and got another top 5 with Purdue's larger-than-expected victory at Michigan.

Saint Mary's moved up this week even though its most recent win, by 20 points over New Mexico State, wasn't anything that impressive. The teams ranked directly in front of them all managed to have off-weeks at the same time, thereby allowing the Gaels to make a strong move.

Texas made a big move after beating Michigan State on the road this week, just 4 days after beating North Carolina, who was able to enter my top 25 this week. The next big game for the Longhorns is January 8, when the overrated Connecticut Huskies come to town.

Villanova joined the rankings this week after a 40-point victory over Monmouth, but with no victories over teams currently in the top 25, they will need to pick up some quality wins in conference play to maintain their standing.

The Butler Bulldogs won the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii over the holiday weekend with consecutive victories over Utah, Florida State, and Washington State, each more impressive than the last. It sure seemed that they would drop off after Gordon Hayward left for the NBA, but they are looking like a probably tournament team who may be able to at least return to the Sweet 16.

North Carolina joined the list of the ranked with a big win over Rutgers in New York City yesterday. They have lost 4 games already this year, and none of the 4 qualifies as a bad loss. They lost to Texas, who is ranked, Vanderbilt, who should be, Illinois, who sits just outside my rankings, and Minnesota, who is ranked nationally, even if I don't think they should be. They are also one of 2 teams who have beaten Kentucky so far this season, so their ranking is not without merit.

Despite not playing this week, West Virginia fell 7 spots in the rankings. There are two good reasons for this. Their close win over Duquesne doesn't look quite as impressive after the Dukes fell at home to George Mason. The other problem is that one of the teams they have lost to, Minnesota, fell in its conference opener to Wisconsin, making the Mountaineers look slightly less strong.

The Belmont Bruins are the only team in my rankings who lost a game in the past week, but they do deserve their ranking. The loss was by one point on the road to the Tennessee Volunteers, who were ranked at the time and are still a good team from a power conference. Take away their road losses to SEC teams from Tennessee, and the Bruins are undefeated.

The Maryland Terrapins enter my rankings just one day after beating NJIT by 39 points, but their next real test doesn't come for another week, when they travel down to North Carolina to take on the undefeated Duke Blue Devils. If they can keep that game close, it will verify to me that they belong in this spot. If not, they will definitely drop back out.

UCF dropped from my rankings because of an underwhelming victory over UMass, coupled with a weak overall schedule. The only ranked team they will face the rest of the way is Memphis, who I have called overrated repeatedly for several weeks.

Indiana fell far from the rankings after being upset twice at the Las Vegas Classic, then losing their first conference game at home to the Penn State Nittany Lions. They looked just as weak over the past 7 days as they looked strong over the week before, and I don't expect to see them back in the rankings or the NCAA Tournament this year.

NBA Player of the Day

Dwyane Wade - MIA - 40 pts, 9 reb, 13-28 FG, 13-16 FT
D-Wade scored 15 of his season-high 40 points in the fourth quarter as he helped the Heat hold off a late New York Knicks rally to win their 15th game in the past 16. This is the 2nd straight time that a Heat player took this honor on the day of their game, after LeBron was Player of the Day after their Christmas Day win over the Lakers.

Predictions - 29 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Warriors at Hawks - Hawks by 8
Pacers at Wizards - Pacers by 3
Cavaliers at Bobcats - Bobcats by 6
Celtics at Pistons - Celtics by 11
Lakers at Hornets - Lakers by 1
Nuggets at Timberwolves - Nuggets by 6
Nets at Thunder - Thunder by 9
Heat at Rockets - Heat by 5
76ers at Suns - Suns by 3
Grizzlies at Kings - Grizzlies by 6
Jazz at Clippers - Jazz by 4

College Football

East Carolina vs. Maryland - Maryland by 21
Illinois vs. Baylor - Baylor by 1
(14) Oklahoma State vs. Arizona - Arizona by 1

College Basketball

(1) Duke at North Carolina-Greensboro - Duke by 31
Texas-Arlington at (3) Kansas - Kansas by 35
(9) Georgetown at (15) Notre Dame - Notre Dame by 1
Furman at (21) UCF - UCF by 14
(25) Illinois at Iowa - Illinois by 2
Saint John's at West Virginia - West Virginia by 10
North Florida at Maryland - Maryland by 27
Marquette at Vanderbilt - Vanderbilt by 14
Washington at USC - Washington by 4
Mississippi State vs. Saint Mary's - Saint Mary's by 23

Prediction Results - 28 Dec

NFL: 0/1 (.000) 57/96 overall (.594)
College Football: 0/2 (.000) 43/62 overall (.694)
NBA: 6/7 (.857) 203/278 overall (.730)
College Basketball: 4/4 (1.000) 159/189 overall (.841)