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By Josh Cochran and Joel Steiner
NCAA Power 16: December 14th

Through the first five weeks of the season there appears to be separation between the top 13 teams and everyone else.  This has been evident in our Power 16 Rankings as teams 14-21 have changed weekly.  Meanwhile, Kentucky and Syracuse further established positions in our top five with big wins last week.  Texas gets an opportunity to make a statement this week with a huge match up against North Carolina in Cowboy Stadium. 

Rank (Last Week)
Record
Comment
1. Kansas (1)
9-0
This team is loaded and handling its business, so we’ll keep them at #1 despite the fact that they haven’t played anybody. We should mention that Xavier Henry has been a beast averaging 18.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg while shooting 55.6% from the floor and 53.3% from three-point range.
2. Syracuse (5)
8-0
At some point you have to look at the Cuse’s resume’ and when you do that this team should be number two. The Orange have been as impressive as any team in the country so far, and they notched another convincing win against undefeated Florida last week.
3. Purdue (3)
10-0
The only other team that plays that kind menacing defense is West Virginia and lucky for us they play January 1st.
4. Kentucky (4)
10-0
John Wall does it again with late game heroics versus UConn…while another Kentucky freshman, DeMarcus Cousins, is also playing well. The biggest weakness on this team is the lack of help from the bench where they rarely get good production.
5. Texas (2)
8-0
This team is the biggest mystery in the top five but they’ll get a chance to prove themselves against North Carolina this week and Michigan State on the 22nd.
6. West Virginia (7)
7-0
How do you keep teams from scoring?  WVU forces their opponents turn it over a lot and they don’t let opponents get offensive rebounds. 
7. Tennessee (9)
7-1
The Vols shoot 43.4% from downtown and their opponents shoot 28.8%. I like that tradeoff and it will probably win them a lot of games if these percentages stay in place.
8. Duke (10)
7-1
I hope finals week was fun for the Blue Devils. Now for the real test, Gonzaga on Saturday.
9. Villanova (6)
9-1
Going into the Temple game the Owl’s opponents were shooting 22.9% from the three-point line. That is 2nd best in the country. Corey Fisher went out and shot 2-9 behind the arc and Nova gets beat. By the way Temple is pretty good.
10. North Carolina (11)
8-2
Saturday will be another test for the Tar Heels. I like that UNC has played numerous games in football stadiums because the depth perception can affect shooters. This may give them the edge against Texas.
11. Georgetown (14)
8-0
Greg Monroe showed some assertiveness and led the Hoyas to two big wins against Butler and Washington last week. He will need to play with that kind of energy when Big East play starts, because tough Wednesday/Saturday game weeks are typical in that conference.
12. Michigan State (10)
8-2
Izzo took Durrell Summers out of the starting line-up and went small in the backcourt with Lucas and Lucious against Oakland. Then, Draymond Green put on a show against NBA prospect Keith Benson scoring 16 points in the first half of a blowout win for Sparty.
13. Florida (8)
8-1
No shame in losing to a hot Syracuse team but the scary part is you never felt Florida had a chance in the game.
14. New Mexico (NR)
10-0
The Lobos caught our attention with recent wins against Texas A&M and Cal…Roman Martinez is lighting it up from the outside. Steve Alford’s team protects the ball as well as anyone. They are 8th in the country at not turning the ball over.
15. Ole Miss (NR)
8-1
Interesting match-up against UTEP on Wednesday. UTEP has only played five games but they get transfer Derrick Caracter into their rotation. If they get by this game, it will set up a huge match up next week against WVU.
16. Kansas State (16)
9-1
The Wildcats have reeled off six straight since their loss to Ole Miss in Puerto Rico. The streak includes quality blowout wins over Washington St, Xavier and UNLV.

The Next Five: Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Temple, UConn, Gonzaga

Games to Watch:

Wednesday December 16th

Richmond at South Carolina – Not a lot of quality games to watch going into Wednesday so you might as well check out Devan Downey who is fun to watch. This will be another chance for Richmond to notch a win over a big six conference program.

Saturday December 18th

North Carolina at Texas – Going into this game the headliners are Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Dexter Pitman and Damion James. That means the game will probably come down to which teams backcourt plays better. Can the Texas freshmen Avery Bradley and J’Covan Brown outplay their Carolina counterparts Larry Drew and Marcus Ginyard.

Gonzaga at Duke – Gonzaga will not be intimidated going into Cameron but the way Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and John Scheyer are scoring it will be tough for the Bulldogs to get a key non-conference win.

Texas Tech at Wichita State – I suspect this will be the first loss of the season for the Red Raiders. Wichita State is a quality mid-major looking for a signature non-conference win.

Sunday December 19th

Florida State at Georgia Tech – Quality big men will be on the court and watching Alabi and Singleton go up against Favors and Lawal will be exciting.

Follow Joel and Josh on Twitter at NBADRAFTNETJJ.

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10 Comments

  1. John Wall
    John Wall done it again. He just out done them all.

    Wish him best of luck in the future.

    ————–

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  2. John Wall
    John Wall done it again. He just out done them all.

    Wish him best of luck in the future.

    ————–

    Contributor to the Pregnancy Miracle Review

    Limo Hire Birmingham have been in business for many years, providing a professional Limo and Hire service in the Birmingham area. Our Luxury Limousines are top of the range and equipped with exceptional extras to make your journey more enjoyable.

    Property for sale in Birmingham is one of the premier estate agents for Birmingham and the surrounding areas. If you are looking to Buy, Sell or Rent property in and around Birmingham, then talk to the people who know Birmingham.

    Web design Hertfordshire, carried out by Now Design, Develop high level CMS websites. Specialists in Search Engine Optimisation – Call our office on 0845 053 5617, for more details

    Non Status Contract Hire, Bad Credit, defaults, arrears, or been declared bankrupt. We have an excellent approval rate. Call 0844 88 49 33 5.

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