NBA Rankings - 15 Mar

The Clippers have extended their winning streak to 10 games, taking down all four challengers it met this week, and this week's schedule is pretty weak, so look for them to extend it to 12 by next week. Just winning won't be enough to guarantee the top spot for another week, though, as the Spurs are on a run of their own, winning 9 in a row and closing the gap on the Clippers, and they will probably also have a 12-game streak by this time next week. Here are my full current rankings:

Rank	LW	Team	Record	Rating	Predic	Ch	Seed
1	1	LA Clippers	47-20	-7.86462	58-24		3W
2	2	San Antonio	49-16	-6.62317	61-21	+1	1W
3	4	Oklahoma City	48-17	-5.43378	59-23		2W
4	5	Golden State	41-26	-4.64538	51-31	-1	6W
5	3	Houston	44-21	-4.05353	55-27	-1	4W
6	9	Toronto	37-27	-3.63821	50-32	+1	3E
7	7	Portland	43-23	-3.45549	54-28	-1	5W
8	6	Miami	44-19	-3.42752	55-27	-3	2E
9	10	Indiana	48-17	-2.62233	58-24	-1	1E
10	8	Minnesota	32-32	-2.4651	42-40	-2
11	12	Memphis	38-27	-1.93755	48-34	+2	7W
12	11	Dallas	39-27	-1.72059	48-34		8W
13	15	Chicago	36-29	-1.39367	47-35	+1	4E
14	13	Phoenix	37-28	-0.60858	45-37	-1
15	14	Washington	34-31	-0.46957	44-38	-1	5E
16	16	Brooklyn	33-30	0.371606	44-38	+2	6E
17	17	Charlotte	32-34	1.376143	41-41	+1	7E
18	20	New York	26-40	1.884913	33-49	+1
19	18	Sacramento	23-42	2.17783	30-52
20	19	Atlanta	28-35	2.797213	37-45	+1	8E
21	21	New Orleans	26-39	3.673526	32-50	-1
22	22	Denver	29-36	3.956815	34-48	+1
23	24	Cleveland	26-40	4.227929	32-50	+1
24	23	Detroit	25-40	4.794329	31-51
25	26	Utah	22-44	5.212003	27-55	-1
26	25	Boston	22-44	6.026226	27-55	-1
27	27	Orlando	19-48	6.577309	23-59	-2
28	28	LA Lakers	22-44	7.586408	26-56
29	29	Milwaukee	13-52	8.454623	17-65
30	30	Philadelphia	15-50	14.13362	17-65	-1

Memphis has been the league's hottest team this week, winning 3 of 4 while moving themselves solidly into playoff position. They are projected to finish 3 games ahead of the Suns, and this week they have 2 easy wins, against the Jazz and 76ers, so they'll start to pull away a little bit.

Brooklyn has also continued to be hot, winning three times this week, each time against a slightly better team. They wrapped up the week on Wednesday with a last-second win over the Miami Heat, making them a perfect 3-0 against the defending champs, and they are projected to finish 11 games ahead of the Knicks, so they won't have to worry about making the playoffs.

Miami has gone ice-cold, losing 5 of their last 6 games, including 3 of 4 this week, and while Brooklyn and Chicago have been playing well, losing to Denver at home is a major cause for concern. The Heat need to beat Houston tomorrow, especially since the Rockets are the team that started this slide.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Milwaukee at New York - Knicks by 10
Brooklyn at Washington - Wizards by 2
Denver at Atlanta - Hawks by 6
Indiana at Detroit - Pacers by 2
Memphis at Philadelphia - Grizzlies by 15
Sacramento at Chicago - Bulls by 7

College Basketball

Albany at Stony Brook - Seawolves by 7
Tulsa vs. Louisiana Tech - Bulldogs by 8
Tennessee vs. (1) Florida - Gators by 4
Pittsburgh vs. (6) Virginia - Cavaliers by 2
St. Bonaventure vs. Saint Joseph's - Hawks by 1
(24) Ohio State vs. (8) Michigan - Wolverines by 1
NC State vs. (7) Duke - Blue Devils by 12
Arkansas State vs. Georgia State - Panthers by 5
Georgia vs. Kentucky - Wildcats by 8
George Washington vs. (23) VCU - Rams by 3
(22) Michigan State vs. (12) Wisconsin - Badgers by 1
Prairie View A&M vs. Texas Southern - Tigers by 8
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Western Kentucky - Ragin Cajuns by 5
UCLA vs. (4) Arizona - Wildcats by 6
(21) Connecticut vs. (5) Louisville - Cardinals by 9
(20) New Mexico vs. (8) San Diego State - Aztecs by 4
Morgan State vs. North Carolina Central - Eagles by 12
Toledo vs. Western Michigan - Rockets by 3
North Dakota at Weber State - Wildcats by 10
Providence vs. (14) Creighton - Bluejays by 8
Sam Houston vs. Stephen F Austin - Lumberjacks by 7
Baylor vs. (16) Iowa State - Cyclones by 4
Idaho vs. New Mexico State - Aggies by 13
Cal Poly vs. Cal State Northridge - Mustangs by 4

Pick of the Day #125

Georgia State

For the first time I am picking today against the team I picked yesterday, since the Red Wolves should be extra tired after surviving in 4 overtimes against Little Rock. The Panthers are the top team in the conference anyway, so they didn't need that extra advantage.

Prediction Results

NBA: 7-3 (.700) 643-335 overall (.657)
Upsets: 0-1 (.000) 93-95 overall (.495)
College Basketball: 35-9 (.795) 4313-1452 overall (.748)
Upsets: 4-0 (1.000) 699-478 overall (.594)
Pick of the Day: 117-7 overall (.944)