1. Pittsburgh (15-0) -
2. Wake Forest (14-0) +6
3. Duke (14-1) -1
4. Connecticut (14-1) +1
5. North Carolina (14-2) -2
6. Clemson (16-0) +1
7. Michigan St. (13-2) +4
8. Oklahoma (15-1) +1
9. Syracuse (16-1) +1
10. Texas (12-3) -4
11. Georgetown (11-3) -7
12. California (15-2) +7
13. Marquette (15-2) +11
14. UCLA (13-2) -
15. Illinois (14-2) +2
16. Michigan (13-3) +4
17. Minnesota (15-1) +4
18. Butler (14-1) +4
19. Purdue (12-4) +4
20. Arizona St. (14-2) +5
21. West Virginia (11-4) -9
22. Wisconsin (12-4) -6
23. Tennessee (10-4) -8
24. Memphis (12-3) New
25. Miami FL (12-3) New
Next Ten:
26. Xavier (13-2) +2
27. Gonzaga (10-4) +14
28. Notre Dame (12-3) +2
29. Kansas (11-4) -3
30. Nevada Las Vegas (13-3) -12
31. Baylor (13-2) -
32. Ohio St. (10-3) +1
33. Villanova (13-3) -6
34. Missouri (13-3) -
35. Washington (11-4) +5
Others on watch list: Louisville, Boston College, Florida St., Maryland, Stanford, Davidson, Dayton, Florida, St. Mary's, Arizona, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Arkansas
New this week: Memphis, Miami FL
Dropped out: Nevada Las Vegas, Boston College
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The myth is debunked. North Carolina is officially composed of humans, and thus fallible. You could chalk up last week's loss to holiday hangover, but Wake Forest clearly beat them at their own game, taking them off the pedestal and putting them into the middle of the top 10 contenders.
Wake Forest showcases their talent and conditioning by beating North Carolina in a track meet. The Demon Deacon's are for real - which is an utterly ironic statement. What is a Demon Deacon, anyway?
Michigan State is on a mission to prove that they are the best team in the Big Ten - beating Ohio State and Kansas by convincing margins at home. Four of their last six (!) are over very good (ranked or on the verge of being ranked) teams (Texas, Minnesota, Ohio St, Kansas), and the win over Northwestern at their home is not shabby, either.
California is #7 on my score ratings - they have beaten Arizona, Arizona State, Washington State and Washington in their last four. I have seen the two last OTs of the 3OT game with Washington, and I was very impressed by the poise and the ability to make plays and finish in a long, tight game - by both teams.
Marquette is another team that is rolling, beating a good West Virginia by a large margin. Their last four also includes a win over Villanova and Cincinnati. Pretty impressive.
Weber has Illinois playing the motion offense beautifully. However, the team had trouble with playing down to competition and not getting up for every game emotionally. Blowing out Indiana was proof that Weber can motivate them to play hard every game. The only issue is re-bounding - Indiana outrebounded Illinois by a large margin - but when you make your shots, that's less of an issue. Illinois leads the nation in assists and assists per game, and leads the Big Ten in field goals made and field goal percentage. Quite a turnaround from last year.
Purdue puts an impressive beatdown on Wisconsin, showing that it isn't size that matters - but the motion of the ocean. Or something. Wisconsin is still trying to figure that one out.
UNLV - losing to Texas Christian is not Top 25 resume material, I am sorry.
Louisville and Nova plays a comedy of errors - Louisville gets a much needed win, but both teams play sloppy. They need to go back to the basics and learn how to execute on half-court offense and how to take care of the ball. Oh, and practice free throws, too.
Gonzaga is coming out of the slump with a road win at Tennessee and beating Portland at home. I think they will be back to the Top 25 soon, they just need to brush up the resume a bit.
Notre Dame is also on the re-bound, putting it on Georgetown and putting away Seton Hall. Another good team with a resume challenge that will probably be back to the rankings soon.
Comments
jonny1795
Reputation: 86Level: All-Star Since: Nov 19, 2008 |
Posted on: January 12, 2009 12:29 pm
Score: 83
College Basketball Rankings, Week 9Very good analysis. I look forward to next weeks. |
|
gezemice Level: Superstar Since: Feb 28, 2007 |
Posted on: January 12, 2009 4:05 pm
Score: 98
College Basketball Rankings, Week 9Thanks. This is my ballot I submit every week to the People's Poll. Check it out - it has even better analyis, because Jawhk takes the best comments from everyone. |
