There is still one team undefeated in college basketball, and that team has still not done enough to reach the top 25 in my rankings, despite the fact that there are 9 teams from the non-power conferences among the top teams. The two teams with just one loss are both in my top 10, but are not ranked at the very top. That slot belongs to a team that has lost 3 times, but has outplayed everybody they've faced recently. Here are the full top 25 rankings, with gaps between groups of teams representing differing levels of performance.
TW. (LW) Team (Week) (Overall) Rating (ESPN)
1. (1) Ohio State (2-0) (19-3) -21.10 (3)
2. (6) Kentucky (2-0) (21-1) -18.33 (1)
3. (3) Michigan State (1-0) (17-4) -17.01 (10)
4. (2) Kansas (1-1) (17-4) -16.53 (8)
5. (7) North Carolina (2-0) (18-3) -16.28 (6)
6. (9) Wisconsin (1-0) (17-5) -16.22 (20)
7. (5) Syracuse (2-0) (22-1) -16.19 (2)
8. (13) Florida State (1-0) (14-6) -14.28 (24)
9. (11) Florida (2-0) (17-4) -14.24 (11)
10. (4) Missouri (1-1) (19-2) -14.14 (4)
11. (12) Baylor (2-0) (19-2) -13.69 (6)
12. (15) Indiana (1-1) (17-5) -13.60 (20)
13. (19) Marquette (2-0) (18-4) -13.36 (15)
14. (14) Duke (2-0) (18-3) -13.22 (5)
15. (10) UNLV (2-0) (20-3) -13.17 (13)
16. (8) Wichita State (1-1) (18-4) -13.10 (33)
17. (16) Creighton (2-0) (20-2) -12.18 (12)
18. (20) Memphis (2-0) (15-6) -11.46 (NR)
19. (NR) Saint Mary's (2-0) (21-2) -11.37 (16)
20. (NR) Harvard (2-0) (18-2) -11.26 (23)
21. (22) Georgetown (0-1) (16-4) -10.95 (14)
22. (21) Saint Louis (1-1) (16-5) -10.70 (NR)
23. (NR) Virginia (2-0) (17-3) -10.56 (18)
24. (NR) New Mexico (2-0) (17-4) -10.55 (34)
25. (NR) Belmont (2-0) (15-7) -10.52 (NR)
Dropped Out
(23) California (1-0) (17-5) -10.27 (38)
(18) West Virginia (0-3) (15-8) -10.12 (34)
(17) Middle Tennessee State (1-1) (20-3) -10.09 (31)
(25) Long Beach State (2-0) (16-6) -10.00 (37)
(24) BYU (1-1) (18-6) -9.39 (NR)
Ranked Teams by Conference
Big 10 - 4
ACC - 4
Big 12 - 3
Big East - 3
SEC - 2
MWC - 2
MVC - 2
CUSA - 1
WCC - 1
Ivy - 1
Atl 10 - 1
Atl Sun - 1
Florida State's upset victory over Duke last week was no fluke. The Seminoles are now the #2 team in the ACC, behind the Tar Heels, who they have already beaten, and they would be ranked ahead of them if it weren't for losses to Princeton and Clemson right around the new year. They have another chance to pad the resume this week against Virginia, as they set out to prove just how good they really are.
Missouri was looking pretty good last week after a one-point upset of Baylor down in Waco, but then they got too complacent with their success and let an obviously inferior Oklahoma State team beat them in a huge surprise on Wednesday night. Beating Texas Tech wasn't enough to repair the damage from that loss, but a win over Kansas this week would probably do it.
Right after I went on bragging about Wichita State last week, they went and let me down with a triple-overtime loss at Drake, a team just barely above .500 that shouldn't have given them much of a test. The Shockers never gave up, battling back from 6 points down in the second overtime to force a third, but without their two best players for the final four minutes, Wichita State got shocked and took their second conference loss.
I didn't have a lot of faith in Saint Mary's before this week, as they hadn't played up to the level I expected of them early in the season, so I had picked them to be upset twice, by Loyola Marymount and BYU. They proved me wrong with strong road wins in both instances, which got them back into my rankings for the first time in 3 weeks, and now I'm thinking that they are probably going to be the ones to finally beat Gonzaga for the WCC title, not BYU.
On Friday, Harvard traveled to Yale with the Ivy League lead on the line, and most expected it would be a close game. I pick the Crimson to win by 2, so when they demolished the Bulldogs 65-35, it suddenly became clear that there is no competition for the top spot in the Ivy League and its berth in the NCAA Tournament, and that they deserve the spot in the national rankings they've held for most of the season.
Predictions
Upset picks are in italics.
Tuesday
Tennessee at (1) Kentucky - Wildcats by 21
(6) North Carolina at Wake Forest - Tar Heels by 15
(10) Michigan State at Illinois - Spartans by 4
Seton Hall at (15) Marquette - Golden Eagles by 14
Clemson at (18) Virginia - Cavaliers by 16
(20) Wisconsin at Penn State - Badgers by 11
New Mexico at Air Force - Lobos by 5
Wednesday
(6) Baylor at Texas A&M - Bears by 7
Oklahoma at (8) Kansas - Jayhawks by 19
Illinois State at (12) Creighton - Bluejays by 15
Colorado State at (13) UNLV - Rebels by 17
Connecticut at (14) Georgetown - Hoyas by 9
Boise State at (17) San Diego State - Aztecs by 14
(20) Indiana at (22) Michigan - Wolverines by 1
Georgia Tech at (24) Florida State - Seminoles by 22
Wichita State at Missouri State - Shockers by 1
Memphis at Southern Miss - Golden Eagles by 4
Saint Bonaventure at Saint Louis - Billikens by 11
Thursday
(5) Duke at Virginia Tech - Blue Devils by 1
Southeast Missouri State at (9) Murray State - Racers by 23
South Carolina at (11) Florida - Gators by 22
San Diego at (16) Saint Mary's - Gaels by 26
Friday
Cornell at (23) Harvard - Crimson by 21
Belmont at Lipscomb - Bruins by 7
Saturday
(1) Kentucky at South Carolina - Wildcats by 13
(2) Syracuse at Saint Johns - Orange by 11
(3) Ohio State at (20) Wisconsin - Badgers by 2
(8) Kansas at (4) Missouri - Tigers by 4
(6) Baylor at Oklahoma State - Bears by 7
(6) North Carolina at Maryland - Tar Heels by 11
(9) Murray State at Tennessee-Martin - Racers by 16
Vanderbilt at (11) Florida - Gators by 11
(12) Creighton at Northern Iowa - Bluejays by 1
(13) UNLV at Wyoming - Cowboys by 1
South Florida at (14) Georgetown - Hoyas by 14
(15) Marquette at Notre Dame - Golden Eagles by 1
TCU at (17) San Diego State - Aztecs by 17
(18) Virginia at (24) Florida State - Seminoles by 10
Auburn at (19) Mississippi State - Bulldogs by 15
(20) Indiana at Purdue - Boilermakers by 1
Columbia at (23) Harvard - Crimson by 21
Rutgers at (25) Louisville - Cardinals by 14
Indiana State at Wichita State - Shockers by 20
Xavier at Memphis - Tigers by 12
Dayton at Saint Louis - Billikens by 13
New Mexico at Boise State - Lobos by 5
Sunday
Miami at (5) Duke - Blue Devils by 13
(22) Michigan at (10) Michigan State - Spartans by 16
Prediction Results
College Basketball: 41-15 (.732) 325-76 overall (.810)
Upsets: 5-8 (.385) 32-21 overall (.604)
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