Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Syracuse (1) | 19-0 | Only four of the Orange’s victories have come by margins of less than double figures. That is called dominance. |
2. Kentucky (2) | 17-1 | All things considered, the Wildcats held up pretty well under the weight of their first two SEC games away from Lexington. |
3. Baylor (5) | 17-0 | The Bears can deftly do away with any remaining doubters by coming out of Phog Allen Fieldhouse Monday night with a W. |
4. Ohio State (3) | 16-3 | As the Duke Blue Devils and Indiana Hoosiers would attest, the Buckeyes are capable of looking very impressive in Columbus. |
5. Duke (7) | 14-2 | The Blue Devils have yet to overwhelm anyone – at least by points spread – but they are off to a spiffy 3-0 start to Atlantic Coast Conference action. |
6. Missouri (9) | 16-1 | The Tigers bounced back nicely from their first loss with a road win over Iowa State and a victory in Columbia against Texas. It’s Texas A&M at home Monday night and then a trip into Waco on Saturday. |
7. Kansas (10) | 13-2 | The Jayhawks are likely to need standout performances from a lot more sources than just Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor in order to hand the Baylor Bears their first loss Monday night. |
| 8. North Carolina (5) | 15-3 | Not to take anything away from a remarkable performance by the host Seminoles but the Tar Heels’ effort in Tallahassee Saturday during a 33-point shellacking was baffling, to say the least. |
9. Michigan State (10) | 15-3 | Yes, it’s very difficult to win on the road in the Big Ten as Northwestern reinforced by toppling the sizzling Spartans in Evanston on Saturday. |
10. Indiana (6) | 15-3 | The Hoosiers encountered their first real speed bump of the season Sunday afternoon in Columbus. |
11. Connecticut (11) | 14-3 | Andre Drummond continues to play in the kind of dominant fashion within 10 feet of the iron that everyone who saw him play last June and July knew he would. |
12. Creighton (12) | 13-2 | The Blue Jays hit the road for a Wednesday rematch with the only team (Missouri State) to beat them in Missouri Valley Conference action. |
13. Virginia (14) | 14-2 | The Cavaliers are just seven points from being unbeaten and being among the top four-ranked teams in the country. Mike Scott could very well be the ACC Player of the Year. |
14. Murray State (15) | 18-0 | The Racers are going to be challenged by what appears to be the second best club in the Ohio Valley Conference (second-place Southeast Missouri State) Saturday on the road. |
15. San Diego State (16) | 15-2 | Comment: Four days after struggling to edge a one-loss Chicago State squad, the Aztecs knocked off UNLV in a Mountain West Conference opener on Saturday. Go figure. They’ll get their other toughest competition in the conference – the University of New Mexico Lobos – Wednesday in Albuquerque. |
16. UNLV (15) | 16-3 | The Rebels came-oh-so close to leaving San Diego 1-0 in the MWC. They’ll get their turn against the aforementioned New Mexico club Saturday in Las Vegas. |
On the cusp: Seton Hall 15-3, Georgetown 14-3, Illinois 15-3, Florida14-4, Mississippi State 15-3, Vanderbilt 13-4, Saint Mary’s 17-2, Harvard 15-2, Marquette 14-4, Kansas State 12-4, Michigan 14-4, Wichita State 14-3, Gonzaga 14-3 and New Mexico 15-2.
TOP PERFORMANCES OF JAN. 9-15
TEAMS: Connecticut (got a come-from-behind home victory over West Virginia and another Big East win in South Bend against Notre Dame), Kentucky (won first road games in more than a month in SEC contests with Auburn and Tennessee), Oregon (road Pac-12 victories over Arizona State and Arizona), Baylor (collected road Big 12 victories against Kansas State and Oklahoma State), Saint Mary’s (three home WCC victories, including 83-62 against Gonzaga), Illinois (topped Ohio State in Champaign, 79-74) and Ohio State (five days after losing at Illinois, the Buckeyes blasted Indiana in Columbus by 17 points).
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Baylor
PLAYERS: Brandon Paul (Illinois/hit 11 of 15 shots – including eight of 10 behind the arc – to score 43 points in his team’s win over Ohio State), Pierre Jackson (Baylor/came off the bench for 28 points, eight rebounds, 19 assists and seven steals in his team’s two road victories), Andre Drummond (Connecticut/hit 14 of 23 shots for 30 points with 24 rebounds, five blocked shots and only two turnovers in wins over West Virginia and Notre Dame) and Anthony Davis (Kentucky/collected 32 points – 13 of 19 from the field – with 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots in SEC wins over Auburn and Tennessee).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brandon Paul
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
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That Brandon Paul performance
Was the best individual performance I got to see in college basketball this year. Glad he got his respect due as the player of the week, because he was incredible against Ohio State.