1. Duke - Still undefeated, no reason for them not to be here.
2. Florida - Still undefeated and playing great.
3. Connecticut - Beat a decent Cincinnati team this week to stay at No. 3.
4. Illinois - Nice win over Michigan helps them move up one spot.
5. Texas - Almost back to that No. 2 ranking they held earlier in the year. A great win against a very good Villanova team.
6. Memphis - Into conference play where they should only stumble a couple of times. The Tigers should be a fixture in the top 8-10 the rest of the season.
7. Villanova - Stumbled against a very good Texas team. There is no shame in that loss, but it does drop them down a couple of spots. They are still one of the most dangerous teams in the country.
8. Pittsburgh - Still undefeated and a great win over Louisville this week has me contemplating moving them into the Top 5 today, but I'll wait one more week of conference play before I know for sure.
9 North Carolina State - Two nice conference wins this week against Boston College and Georgia Tech. You can never underestimate a conference win in the ultra-tough ACC.
10. Washington - Will one of these Pac 10 teams please step up and win all their games for a couple of weeks in a row so I can decide who is the best? Please? Nice win on the road against UCLA.
11. Michigan State - Back up to their old tricks. Two wins against stiff competition in Indiana and Ohio State. Those two losses to start conference play seem like they happened months ago.
12. Louisville - They lost once this week to a damn-good Pittsburgh team.
13. UCLA - See the comment about Louisville and replace Pittsburgh with Washington.
14. Gonzaga - They have a legitimate chance at winning all of their remaining games, which means, they'll probably end up moving up as teams ahead of them lose. Is that really fair? I mean they play in a weak West Coast Conference. I still am unsure about how good they'll be come tourney time. Playing against weak competition for two months won't help prove their case.
15. George Washington - Struggled against St. Louis, but came back and thoroughly dominated St. Joseph's, a team that beat them by 15 at home last season.
16. Wisconsin - They sit tight for the week after a pair of wins.
17. Indiana - I'm still not sold on them as one of the two or three best teams in the Big 10.
18. West Virginia - They keep on winning.
19. Syracuse - Two more nice wins and Syracuse is up to No. 19.
20. Ohio State - Heartbreaking loss to Michigan State Sunday afternoon. They put up a good fight, but came up short.
21. Maryland - Everybody seems to lose to Duke this week, so that doesn't really hurt them, even though they got blown out of the water. They bounced back nicely against Wake Forest.
22. North Carolina - Even though they lost to Miami, a bunch of other teams surrounding them lost and lost to some weaker opponents. Let's see how they bounce back this week.
23. Iowa - They Hawkeyes are playing well, and fully healthy again. They could do some damage in the Big 10.
24. Tennessee - Despite the loss to LSU they jump into the rankings. They are a decent team, in what appears to be a very down year in the SEC. Let's see if they can take advantage of that.
25. Xavier - They've come on real strong to start conference play, beating both St. Joseph's and Charlotte on the road. They are coming together at the perfect time. They could definitely challenge George Washington for the A-10 title this season.
So from about 19-25 I was really having a tough time figuring out who to put where. There are a lot of uninspiring teams from about 19 through 35 or so. I can completely see how others might have their views on that area of the rankings because it is indeed tough right now as teams begin to sort themselves out in conference play.
Anyway, here are five more teams to keep an eye on...
26. Nevada - Almost put them above Xavier, but decided not to, thanks to Xavier having played a tougher schedule.
27. Cincinnati - Two losses this week, but they lost to Connecticut and Syracuse. That's not so bad.
28. Ohio - They look to be the team to beat in the Mid-American Conference. Despite the conference not being as strong this year, the Bobcats are pretty good. By the way, that's the fourth Ohio team I have among the Top 28.
29. Air Force - Can't say I know much about them, except that they are playing very good basketball right now.
30. Miami - The Hurricanes had two spectacular wins this week against Maryland and North Carolina. That is certain to turn some heads in the ACC. I want to watch them a couple more weeks to see if this was just a fluke of a week or this team is for real.
And before I go...six teams with great tradition who have all spent time in the Top 25 (or getting votes) this season, who are now squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament aftering continuing to confound the entire nation. Some of the teams really aren't very good and will probably be playing in the now NCAA-controlled NIT in March.
Boston College - They barely beat Florida State for their first-ever ACC win. They are struggling big-time!
Oklahoma - Lost to a lousy Missouri team and now at 10-4. Yuck!
Arizona - Nothing like losing to both Oregon schools in the same week!
Wake Forest - They lost to Clemson! and a half-way decent Maryland team. The Demon Deacons still don't have a conference win. Ouch!
Kentucky - They're like a Tom Petty song (Free Fallin' for those of you who don't know). Three straight losses including losing their first two conference games to Vanderbilt and Alabama (an Alabama team without its best player). At this rate, the NIT might even be a stretch.
Kansas - How do you lose to Kansas State? I know the Jayhawks are young, but I thought they turned a corner last week with the systematic demolition of Kentucky. I guess all it proved was that Kentucky is real bad, not that Kansas was any good.
Duke - good but I don't like them.
Florida - not the best but I like them.
Uconn IS THE BEST, had one stumble.
Nova- kinda like Illinios and fun to watch.
Davison a first round upset potential in March.
Texas tech- keep your eye out for a Booby blunder? but hope it doesn;t happen for everyones sake.
UNC- getting better every day- one day soon will be on top again due to Roy being a great coach.
Metswon you must be a UCONN fan cause that one stumble was them getting their butt kicked. That came was never close and I'm sure you watched it. UNC as long as Roy is there and recruiting his players not taking somebody elses players and winning, will never again win another national championship. Look at his years in Kansas. He recruits players that have no balls.
Right now there is not a Best team in the country and if you had to chose it is obviously either Duke or Florida. UCONN really can't be considered, if they would have lost by 3 or something ok not 20 something
Noah - I can see why you think Louisville might be a little high. Your comment had me doing a little more research on their season, and No. 12 might indeed be a stretch. Thanks for the comment.
Ryan - I completely agree that there is no best team right now in college hoops. Maybe it seems like this every year and I just forget, but I feel like it's been a while since the college hoops season seemed so wide open. I think Duke is clearly playing the best, but they are a team I could see very easily losing in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, at about this point in the season, I thought Illinois might as well book its ticket to the Final Four. There is not one team I can say that about right now. It seems like everyone but Duke and Florida are trying to play their way out of the Top 10 and/or Top 25 on a regular basis. It's already been a great season and I expcet it to continue.
I live and work in Manhattan. I grew up on eastern Long Island (at the end, nearly three hours away from Manhattan). I am a Mets, Redskins and Capitals fan. Odd combination, I know. I went to George Washington Univiersity graduating in 2003, before getting a Master's in 2004 from Northwestern University.
