Let us introduce you to the newest No. 1 in the weekly Power 16 ratings.
Moving into the No. 1spot is a Florida team that many believe is the best in the country at the moment.
Twenty-nine and zip Wichita State moves to 2 after a week in which Syracuse dropped toughies in the ACC to Boston College (ouch!) and Duke.
Games of note this week: (Monday) Oklahoma at No. 5 Kansas; (Tuesday) No. 5 Florida at Vanderbilt; Indiana at No. 10 Wisconsin; (Wednesday) California at No. 3 Arizona; No. 14 North Carolina at North Carolina State; (Saturday) No. 8 Syracuse at No. 6 Virginia; No. 16 Louisville at Memphis; No. 4 Creighton at Xavier; No. 13 Saint Louis at VCU; No. 11 Cincinnati at Connecticut; (Sunday) Stanford at No. 3 Arizona.
Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Florida (2) | 25-2 | The Gators didn’t exactly overwhelm SEC foes Auburn and Mississippi, winning by a collective margin of nine points. |
2. Wichita State (3) | 29-0 | How long does the Shockers’ unbeaten run last? That’s now looking like it’s not going to happen until some point in the NCAA tourney – if then. |
3. Arizona (4) | 27-0 | It was a nice few days away from Tucson for the Wildcats who eked out a win at Utah and then turned in a terrific second 20 minutes in Boulder to roll past Colorado Saturday while flexing their Pac 12 muscles. |
4. Creighton (7) | 23-4 | Nothing much knew here, as the Blue Jays continue to win and draw 18K-plus at home while Doug McDermott re-wrote record books. |
5. Kansas (8) | 21-6 | And, just like that, the Jayhawks are pulling away from the Big 12 field. |
6. Virginia (10) | 23-5 | How many people who follow the sport realize that the Cavs are sitting alone atop the ACC standings? |
7. Duke (9) | 22-6 | The Blue Devils hit .500 in their two ACC “Showdowns” of last week. |
| 8. Syracuse (1) | 25-2 | All that good fortune apparently been up in several squeaker wins as the Orange lost toughies with Boston College (ouch!) and Duke. |
9. Villanova (11) | 20-5 | The Wildcats improve their non-Creighton record to 24-1 with narrow wins over Providence and St. John’s. |
10. Wisconsin (12) | 22-5 | The Badgers are in reasonable position to close the regular season with nine wins in a row. |
11. Cincinnati (6) | 24-4 | A third meeting Louisville in conference tourney would be every bit as nail-biting. |
12. San Diego State (5) | 23-3 | The Lobos certainly looked like the better team Saturday night in Albuquerque. |
13. St. Louis (15) | 25-2 | The Billikens “guard you” and make “you guard them” – a pretty nifty combination in hoops. |
14. North Carolina (16) | 20-7 | Hey! Those Tar Heels are suddenly not so “unpredictable”, are they? |
15. Michigan (NR) | 19-7 | Wolverines sweep Spartans but meeting No. 3 could come in Big Ten Tourney for sure. |
16. Louisville (NR) | 23-4 | Cardinals picked up their most impressive victory of the season in Cincinnati, thanks to Mr. Smith. |
THE NEXT 16: Connecticut 21-6, Gonzaga 23-6, Green Bay 22-5, Harvard 22-4, Iowa 19-7, Iowa State 21-5, Kentucky 21-6, Memphis 21-6, Michigan State 22-6, New Mexico 21-5, Ohio State 22-6, Oklahoma 20-7, Pittsburgh 20-7, SMU 22-6, Texas 20-7 and UCLA 21-6.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK
*Arizona. The Wildcats moved ever closer to a regular season Pac 12 title and possible No. 1 NCAA Tourney seed with road wins over Utah and Colorado.
*Louisville. Rick Pitino’s team picked up its first win over the season over a ranked club (at the time) by pulling out the American victory at Cincinnati Saturday.
*New Mexico. The Lobos swept UNLV and San Diego State to move into a deadlock with the Aztecs for the lead in the Mountain West Conference.
*North Carolina. The Tar Heels continued their creep toward the top of the ACC standings with wins over Duke and Wake Forest.
*Wisconsin. The Badgers got their third consecutive Big Team road victory Saturday (vs. Iowa).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
*Cameron Bairstow. New Mexico’s senior power forward by way of Australia averaged 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots per games in the Lobos’ MWC wins at UNLV and home to San Diego State.
*Josh Huestis. Stanford’s senior power forward averaged 16.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 4.0 blocked shots per game in the Cardinal’s Pac 12 home sweep of USC and UCLA.
*Leslie McDonald. The senior guard averaged 20.0 points per game while helping the Tar Heels sweep Duke and Wake Forest in ACC play to extend their winning streak to nine.
*Russ Smith. The senior guard hit just three of 10 shots from the field but one of those field goals providing the tying and winning points in Louisville’s 58-57 win at Cincinnati Saturday.
*Andrew Wiggins. The freshman forward scored on a follow shot to give Kansas a one-point win at Texas Tech and the led the Jayhawks to a romp over Texas in Lawrence while averaging 20.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in the Big 12 sweep.
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].
