We're now down to one undefeated team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, and they haven't been without their share of close calls. Only one team left the top 25 completely, but there was a lot of movement this week as upsets happened left and right, especially on Saturday. In all, 14 of last week's top 25 teams lost at least once this week, and two of the others avoided that fate by not playing. Here are the new rankings, with each team's name followed by this week's record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.
1. Kansas (2-0) (21-1) -22.85 (3)
2. Ohio State (1-0) (22-0) -22.49 (1)
3. Duke (1-1) (19-2) -21.12 (2)
4. Texas (3-0) (19-3) -20.84 (5)
5. Washington (0-1) (15-5) -19.91 (4)
6. Kentucky (1-1) (16-5) -18.84 (6)
7. Pittsburgh (1-0) (20-2) -18.61 (9)
8. BYU (1-1) (20-2) -18.13 (7)
9. San Diego State (1-1) (21-1) -17.83 (12)
10. North Carolina (3-0) (16-5) -17.15 (22)
11. Purdue (1-1) (18-5) -17.04 (10)
12. Wisconsin (1-1) (16-5) -16.74 (8)
13. Georgetown (3-0) (17-5) -16.44 (17)
14. Louisville (2-1) (17-5) -15.76 (21)
15. Illinois (1-1) (15-7) -15.74 (15)
16. Maryland (2-0) (14-7) -15.16 (24)
17. Arizona (2-0) (18-4) -15.13 (16)
18. West Virginia (1-1) (14-6) -15.04 (NR)
19. Belmont (2-0) (20-4) -14.96 (20)
20. Connecticut (0-1) (17-3) -14.67 (14)
21. Notre Dame (0-0) (17-4) -14.61 (23)
22. Vanderbilt (1-2) (15-6) -14.56 (11)
23. Saint Mary's (1-1) (18-4) -14.50 (19)
24. Missouri (0-1) (17-4) -14.03 (18)
25. Villanova (0-2) (17-4) -13.94 (13)
Dropping out:
UNLV (0-0) (16-5) -12.66 (25)
Ranked teams by conference:
Big East: 7
Big 10: 4
Big 12: 3
ACC: 3
Pac 10: 2
SEC: 2
MWC: 2
Atl Sun: 1
WCC: 1
Early Spring
North Carolina went 3-0 this week, which included a 20-point win over North Carolina State and a 32-point win at Boston College, who may have just played their way out of the tournament picture. This week they take on Florida State, the first team to take down Duke this year, and if they handle them the way they've handled their other recent opponents, they may have a chance at Duke next week.
West Virginia performed much better than expected this week, especially considering that their leading scorer has been suspended by the team. They nearly pulled out a win at heavy favorite Louisville, then knocked off the Cincinnati Bearcats on the road over the weekend. I guess that I proclaimed their demise a little too early.
Saint John's had an interesting week. First, they went to DC and got blown out by the resurgent Georgetown Hoyas, then they hosted Duke 4 days later and blew out the defending national champions. They were expected to lose big to the Hoyas, so it didn't hurt them that much, but the huge win over Duke has them very much in the discussion to be the Big East's 11th tournament team in March.
The Colorado Buffaloes nearly pulled off an upset victory at Baylor this week before coming home and totally dismantling Iowa State, who had been ranked around #50 all season long. Colorado hasn't been this good since Chauncey Billups left school over 13 years ago, and they may be looking to make the tournament in their final year as a member of the Big 12.
Maryland got two impressive conference road victories this week, beating Virginia and Georgia Tech by a combined 35 points on their home courts. Next up for the Terrapins is a huge game against Duke tonight, and I would not be one bit surprised to see the Blue Devils go down again.
Six More Weeks of Winter
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are just not as good as their ranking would suggest, and for proof, you only need to look at their loss to a struggling Purdue team this past weekend. Yes, the Gophers are missing their starting guards, but you don't get wins based on the players who should have played, and Minnesota is looking at a couple more big losses this week.
Richmond was looking like a conference contender until they played Xavier on Saturday. The 23-point blowout on their home court probably removed them from the Atlantic 10 title picture, but they still have a chance at an at-large berth, especially if they can beat Temple on the road in two weeks.
Vanderbilt was down all week, starting with a squeaker of a victory over the usually noncompetitive Mississippi State Bulldogs. They followed that up with a home loss to Arkansas, a team that hasn't been good in years, then lost in overtime to Florida last night. For a while I've thought the Commodores would have a chance to beat Kentucky this month, but if they don't rebound this week, I'm not so sure about that.
Duke's cold week is the result of one very bad game, the same game that put Saint John's among the week's hottest teams. The Blue Devils only have one win against a team currently ranked in my top 25, and they'll have to repeat that feat tonight against Maryland if they don't want to find themselves back out in the cold next week.
Villanova lost two games that they should have won this week, first against Providence, who is ranked #14 in the Big East, then at home against Georgetown. The Wildcats have now lost 3 of their last 4, and unless they can protect their home court this week against serious challenges from West Virginia and Marquette, they will fall out of my top 25.
NBA Player of the Day
LaMarcus Aldridge - POR - 40 pts, 11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 16-23 FG, 8-9 FT
Aldridge seems to be making a very strong case for a spot on the All-Star team, setting a career-high in scoring against the best team in the NBA. Aldridge led the Blazers in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals in Portland's surprising upset victory over the top-ranked Spurs.
Predictions - 2 Feb
Upset picks are in italics.
NBA
Raptors at Hawks - Hawks by 10
Pacers at Cavaliers - Pacers by 7
76ers at Nets - 76ers by 3
Bobcats at Pistons - Pistons by 2
Mavericks at Knicks - Knicks by 1
Grizzlies at Timberwolves - Grizz by 3
Hornets at Thunder - Thunder by 1
Bucks at Suns - Suns by 2
Trail Blazers at Nuggets - Nuggets by 4
Rockets at Jazz - Jazz by 2
Bulls at Clippers - Bulls by 4
College Basketball
(5) Duke at Maryland - Duke by 1
(6) San Diego State at Colorado State - San Diego State by 5
(17) Syracuse at (7) Connecticut - UConn by 7
(9) BYU at Wyoming - BYU by 18
Marquette at (12) Villanova - Nova by 6
(15) Missouri at Oklahoma State - Missouri by 3
(20) Minnesota at Indiana - Indiana by 7
Nevada at (21) Utah State - Utah State by 16
Seton Hall at West Virginia - West Virginia by 13
Prediction Results - 1 Feb
NBA: 3/4 (.750) 385/534 overall (.721)
College Basketball: 5/6 (.833) 354/437 overall (.810)
Upsets: 1/1 (1.000) 95/152 overall (.625)
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