Two conference favorites lost games unexpectedly this week and hurt their chances at getting a good seed in the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky lost at Florida, dropping them 2 games behind the Gators for the SEC East lead. Washington lost consecutive road games to Oregon and Oregon State, which dropped them 2 games behind Arizona for the conference lead and third overall in the Pac 10. Most of the other favorites were able to take care of business this week, and a couple of familiar Big East faces have rejoined the top 25. Each team's record is followed by this week's record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.
1. Ohio State (2-0) (24-0) -23.09 (2)
2. Kansas (2-0) (23-1) -23.02 (1)
3. Duke (2-0) (21-2) -22.80 (3)
4. Pittsburgh (2-0) (22-2) -19.36 (7)
5. Texas (1-0) (20-3) -19.08 (4)
6. BYU (2-0) (22-2) -18.73 (8)
7. Kentucky (1-1) (17-6) -18.48 (6)
8. Wisconsin (1-0) (17-5) -17.97 (12)
9. Washington (0-2) (15-7) -17.65 (5)
10. Purdue (1-0) (19-5) -17.508 (11)
11. San Diego State (3-0) (24-1) -17.506 (9)
12. North Carolina (1-0) (17-5) -16.69 (10)
13. Syracuse (2-0) (20-4) -15.96 (NR)
14. Illinois (0-1) (15-8) -15.38 (15)
15. Georgetown (1-0) (18-5) -15.25 (13)
16. Arizona (2-0) (20-4) -15.17 (17)
17. Villanova (2-0) (19-4) -15.13 (25)
18. Belmont (2-0) (22-4) -14.71 (19)
19. Connecticut (1-1) (18-4) -14.23 (20)
20. Vanderbilt (1-0) (16-6) -14.17 (22)
21. Maryland (1-1) (15-8) -13.95 (16)
22. Louisville (1-0) (18-5) -13.74 (14)
23. Notre Dame (2-0) (19-4) -13.68 (21)
24. Missouri (1-2) (18-6) -13.66 (24)
25. Marquette (0-1) (14-9) -13.52 (NR)
Dropping out:
West Virginia (1-2) (15-8) -13.23 (18)
Saint Mary's (2-0) (20-4) -13.16 (23)
Ranked teams by conference:
Big East: 8
Big 10: 4
Big 12: 3
ACC: 3
MWC: 2
SEC: 2
Pac 10: 2
Atl Sun: 1
Feeling the Love
After spending the last 2 weeks on the cold list, the Syracuse Orange came back to life this week as they pulled off a huge upset at UConn and blew out South Florida on the road 3 days later. While the 4-game losing streak will be hard to forget, they're getting hot at just the right time, with games this week against Georgetown and Louisville.
Duke fought off a very tough Maryland team on the road this week in a game that I thought would be much closer than it was. Duke's victory gave them a very firm hold on a top 3 spot, and they have joined Kansas and Ohio State in pulling away from the rest of the pack this week.
Utah State still has not beaten a good team, but their two losses were to Georgetown and BYU, both of which are currently in my top 15, and they won their two conference games this week by an average of 25 points. They have now won 17 straight games and are making their move at just the right time.
Wisconsin only played one game this week, but what a game it was. They blasted preseason conference favorite Michigan State 82-56 in their highest scoring game in over two months. Coming up this week is a shot at taking down #1 Ohio State, an outcome that I think will most likely happen.
Villanova played two home games this week against teams that have been hanging right around the bottom of the top 25 for several weeks, and instead of winning by 6 or 7, like I expected, they won the two games by a combined 31 points, not giving either one of the challengers a chance to pull off the upset. This week they'll get the chance to impress even more as they take on conference-leading Pitt at home.
Broken Hearts
Washington's collapse this week was completely unexpected and very disturbing. The Ducks and Beavers have absolutely no hope of playing in the NCAA Tournament, and Washington was looking at getting a favorable seed, but now they may need to win the conference tournament just to ensure that they even get in the field.
Louisville did not lose a game this week, but a comeback win over DePaul, the only Big East team without a conference win this season, does not sound like a real victory. They Cardinals were missing several of their best players, but playing the conference doormat at home should be a recipe for an easy victory, no matter who takes the floor.
Washington State joins their in-state rivals on the cold list this week after they were also upset by the Oregon Ducks, 69-43. They did bounce back against the Beavers, winning the game by 6, but with the struggles coming from the two schools this week, it's starting to look doubtful that both will make the tournament anymore.
West Virginia continued their up-and-down play of the past few weeks with back-to-back losses to Villanova and Pitt this week. The Mountaineers are still looking like they will probably make it to March Madness, but they haven't beaten a ranked team in 3 weeks, which is like 3 months in Big East time.
Texas won the only game they played this week, at home over Texas Tech, 76-60. It may seem odd that they earned a spot on the cold list with that performance, but a national title contender should be blowing out any team with a losing record, especially at this point in the season, and 16 points just doesn't cut it at home.
NBA Player of the Day
LeBron James - MIA - 41 pts, 13 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 15-23 FG, 2-5 3P, 9-13 FT
The Indiana Pacers came out hot last night, shooting over 60% for more than half of the game, but they were no match for the MVP, who had an amazing game. James is just the 4th player to record those numbers in the past 25 years, and the others are very good company: David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Larry Bird.
Predictions - 9 Feb
Upset picks are in italics.
NBA
Pistons at Cavaliers - Pistons by 3
Bobcats at Pacers - Pacers by 6
Hornets at Nets - Hornets by 6
Magic at 76ers - Magic by 1
Bucks at Wizards - Bucks by 3
Spurs at Raptors - Spurs by 10
Clippers at Knicks - Knicks by 6
Bulls at Jazz - Bulls by 2
Mavericks at Kings - Mavs by 6
Nuggets at Warriors - Nuggets by 3
College Basketball
(3) Texas at Oklahoma - Texas by 12
(21) North Carolina at (5) Duke - Duke by 12
(15) Louisville at (7) Notre Dame - Notre Dame by 6
(8) BYU at Air Force - BYU by 9
(10) Villanova at Rutgers - Nova by 3
(11) Georgetown at (13) Syracuse - Syracuse by 6
(14) Wisconsin at Iowa - Wisconsin by 6
(17) Utah State at Idaho - Utah State by 6
(19) Florida at South Carolina - Florida by 4
(22) Texas A&M at Colorado - Colorado by 5
Longwood at Maryland - Maryland by 34
Marquette at South Florida - Marquette by 6
Prediction Results - 8 Feb
NBA: 4/7 (.571) 419/588 overall (.713)
College Basketball: 3/3 (1.000) 394/484 overall (.814)
I have now picked 9 straight college basketball games correctly, and we'll see if I can double that streak today.
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