Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Kentucky (2) | 19-1 | Next four SEC games (at Georgia and LSU; vs. Tennessee and at South Carolina) vs. likely non-NCAA tourney teams. |
2. Syracuse (1) | 20-1 | How quickly can Jim Boeheim’s formerly top-ranked crew bounce back from its first loss? We will not have long to find out – the Orange faces a tough Cincinnati club on the road Monday night. |
3. Ohio State (4) | 17-3 | Extensive minutes given to freshmen in Lincoln Saturday could polish depth for down the road use. |
4. Missouri (6) | 18-1 | It can’t get here soon enough – Feb. 4: Kansas at Missouri! |
5. Kansas (7) | 16-3 | The improvement/contributions of center Jeff Withey should never be low-keyed when evaluating the Jayhawks’ success. |
6. Duke (9) | 16-3 | A perplexing stat – the Blue Devils have only three more assists than turnovers (255 to 252). |
7. Baylor (3) | 17-2 | Bears’ “defense” bordered on non-existent in season’s first losses (to Kansas and Missouri) last week. It better show marketable improvement Wednesday night in Norman. |
| 8. North Carolina (8) | 16-3 | The loss of a second key player (starting guard Dexter Strickland last week; superb jump shooter Leslie McDonald was sidelined late in the summer) to a torn ACL has severely hampered the program’s depth/perimeter/scoring. |
9. Michigan State (9) | 16-4 | How tight is the Big Ten race? The Spartans are one six teams that are either tied for first or within a game of the lead. |
10. Creighton (12) | 18-2 | Five games (and counting) before Wichita State comes to Omaha for a Feb. 11 clash of the MVC titans. |
11. Murray State (11) | 20-0 | And the last of the unbeaten teams still standing – the Racers! |
12. San Diego State (12) | 17-2 | The Aztecs take to the road this week to play a couple of MWC clubs (Wyoming, Tuesday, and Colorado State, Saturday) that are much better than most non-MWC followers realize. |
13. UNLV (14) | 18-3 | If the Rebels take care of their business on the road, they’ll return as members of the 20-win club with three days to spare in January. |
14. Indiana (10) | 16-4 | The Hoosiers, after a nifty second-half performance at home against Penn State on Sunday, play three of their next four outside of Bloomington. |
15. Florida State (NR) | 13-6 | Since their ACC-opening, 20-point loss to Clemson, the Seminoles are 4-0 – including a sweep of North Carolina and Duke! |
16. Virginia (13) | 15-3 | After playing so well on the road all season the Cavaliers stumbled at home Sunday (47-45) to a Virginia Tech club that lost its first four ACC games. |
On the cusp: Connecticut 14-5, Georgetown 16-3, Florida 15-4, Mississippi State 16-4, Saint Mary’s 19-2, Illinois 15-5, Saint Louis 15-4, Harvard 16-2, Marquette 16-4, Gonzaga 16-3, Kansas State 14-4, North Carolina State 15-5, Dayton 14-5, Michigan 15-5, Wichita State 17-3, West Virginia 15-5, Wisconsin 16-5.
THE TOP PERFORMANCES OF JAN. 16-22
TEAMS: Kansas (gave Baylor its first loss; won at Texas), Notre Dame (stunned Syracuse after losing at Rutgers), Ohio State (beat Indiana and Nebraska by a collective 51 points), San Diego State (beat TCU and New Mexico by a collective 40 points) and Florida State (snapped Duke’s 45-game winning streak after a 14-point win over Maryland).
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Florida State
PLAYERS: Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas/scored 50 points in wins over Baylor and Texas, with seven rebounds and 10 assists), Kevin Jones (West Virginia/scored 51 points with 20 rebounds in wins against Marshall and Cincinnati) and Michael Snaer (Florida State/hit a combined 33 points in wins over Maryland and Duke, including game-winning 3 vs. the Blue Devils).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Taylor
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
Follow Frank on twitter @FrankieBur. Also make sure to follow his website at www.burlisononbasketball.com. College coaching staffs interested in Burlison’s scouting service should contact him at [email protected].
