We saw something this last week that we’ve never ever seen before…in the last four weeks – a top-ranked team retained their top ranking throughout the week and into the next. Congratulations go out to UConn for traveling to Louisville and owning the Cardinals’ arena and then following up that performance by owning their own house when Meechigan came-a-calling. Now, just try to do that again…

Let’s take a look at this past week’s college roundball happenings…

There was plenty of movement in the polls this past week:

Big East: Patphish -The best conference in the country is starting to have its best teams separate from the rest. People love to talk about how many teams from each conference will make the big dance, as if that “proves” what a great conference it is. I have no idea why. Does the fact the Big TelevEN had 7 bowl teams or that the ACC had 10 mean they were the best football conferences? Not when you look at the impressisive 5-12 combined record they finished with. The Big East may have 10 teams in the madness this March, but the true measure of a conference comes with how many teams are playing the second weekend. And I would not be surprised to see 5, and possibly 6, reaching the sweet 16; and 2 of those will survive to see Detroit.

The FNCUH actually know how to be the #1 team in the land – go on the road and win against great competition - something Wake Forest and Duke could not do the past 2 weeks. They are rolling right now; Hasheem Thabeet picked up player of the week honors in the conference after basically disposing of Michigan by himself. He should be the first pick in the draft in June. He may not be the best player but his 7′3″ frame and defensive prowess are surely making NBA scouts drool. The only question for the Huskies is, are they peaking too soon? I say no. They have great senior leadership and are looking like they will not be denied.

Cincinnati is playing some very good ball of late winning 4 of 5. Yancy Gates is playing like a freshman that doesn’t want to be a sophomore. They could end up as a 10 seed that gives a #2 all they can handle in a second round game.

Villanova is another team on a tear, winning 5 straight including a complete ass-kicking on Syracuse Saturday. This team can run and score with anyone. They have only lost 4 games this year, and are ready to make a serious run at the final 4. They have excellent depth; thier bench hammered Syracuse’s 32-12.

Which brings us to the ‘Cuse. They rely on the their excellent backcourt of Flynn and Devendorf too much. They are the Big East version of Duke, the lack of interior defense is going to be thier downfall. And much like Duke, they can’t beat UConn when it counts. On Wednesday they make their annual trip to Storrs Connecticut for their annual ass-beating.

Rising: UConn: yes it is hard to go up when you are the best (but they are getting better each week), Cincy, Nova, Pitt, Seton Hall.

Falling: Syracuse, Marquette (losing to USF is inexcusable), Providence, Notre Dame (Mike Brey fired before Charlie Wies?).

Chilling: Louisville, West Virginia.

Still Sucking: Rutgers (really Trey?), DePaul.

ACC: GITC – Well, well, well… what have we here? Bracketology with eight teams from the ACC and only seven from the Big East? Let’s see if we can follow the math… 67% of the ACC teams are in the tourney and 44% of the Big East teams are in. Add on the fact that the ACC teams that are left out are on average better than the Big East teams left out and you have yourself a settled argument. Don’t listen to those who say the Big East will get nine teams in.

Moving on to where the teams are right now…The Tar Heels are still the best team in the country when it comes to talent, but they really need to start playing some defense. They had an easy week last week (home with Maryland and Virginia) but they have a tough week this week (Duke and Miami on the road). Duke is coming off a hard week where they took a beating at Clemson but made a big comeback to beat Miami in OT. The game against the Heels is big because they are tied atop the conference, but they also go to BC this week. Wake is part of the 4-way tie for 3rd place in the ACC and is coming off a loss at Miami and a win against BC. They go to NC State this week (always a dangerous place to play) and get the ‘Noles at home in a game they should win, but where they can’t underestimate the opponent. Clemson beat the crap out of Duke at home, but then lost to FSU. This week they have the easiest two game road trip the ACC has to offer (BC and Virginia). FSU beat Georgia Tech and had the impressive win at Clemson last week but faces the dreaded trip to Wake later this week. Virginia Tech needed OT to take down BC this past week and hopes to come off more easily when Georgia Tech comes to town. After that, they have to go to face the Terps which is never fun. BC won at Virgina but lost at Wake last week. This week is their chance to prove something. They have home games against two top-10 teams (Clemson and Duke) and would love to prove to the critics that their home court advantage shouldn’t be the odd man out in the ACC. Maryland went to Georgia Tech and pulled one out after the loss at UNC earlier in the week. This week they get a home game against Virginia Tech that is huge for both teams. Miami won at home against Wake but blew their chance to win at Cameron against Duke. They get UNC at home followed by a trip to FSU this week in what may be their only chance to stay in the tourney debate as they’ve already dropped six ACC games. Jack McClinton is awesome.

Big 10: Sparty – Wild week in the Big 10. A couple teams took a step back and there was one team that I had left for dead fighting their way back into tournament contention.

Minnesota suffered one of their worst defeats in school history last week, courtesy of Michigan State at the Breslin Center. The Gophers can thank Penn State and their upset of the Spartans just a couple days before. Michigan St destroyed the Gophers from the get-go, en route to a 29 pts loss for Minnesota. The Goph’s followed that up with a difficult defeat on the road at Ohio State, dropping them to 6-5 in conference play. Minnesota is in desperate need of a win, and Indiana comes to town this week to help.

However, Tubby Smith takes his squad back on the road to Penn State. This the other team that is desperate for wins this week. After winning 4 conference games in row, including their upset of Michigan State, the Nittany Lions have dropped their last two, including a blowout in Ann Arbor. This week doesn’t get any easier for Penn State, as they travel to Purdue and again, host Minnesota. They need a win this week to keep hope alive in Happy Valley.

The Big 10 better take notice; Wisconsin may not be dead after-all. After an atrocious start to the Big 10 season, the Badgers find themselves only 1 game under .500 in conference, and have a decent shot at getting themselves up above that mark by the end of the week as they welcome Iowa and Ohio State to the Kohl Center. Bo Ryan remains one of the better coaches in the Big 10, and he may have the ability to rally his team to make one final push towards a tournament birth come March. There is no signature win on the Badgers schedule, so a win in East Lansing, or a couple Big 10 tournament wins, may be needed to secure a spot in the Dance.

Big 10 is still looking at the same 6 teams at this time: Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota.

Trying to sneak in: Michigan, Wisconsin.

Fading Fast: Northwestern

Big 12: Miz/Trey – You know that sound the Wile E. Coyote makes when he falls off a cliff? That’s what it sounds like in Austin. All of the sudden a projected top 10 team is struggling to get through Big 12 play. They’re 4-5 since the new year, and on a three game skid. With an RPI in the 40s and a very strong strength of schedule, Texas is probably a safe bet to make the tourny…as long as they finish .500 in league play. Still, it’s a story to look out for.

And color me red…Nebraska? Basketball? It might be a stretch, but a couple of upsets by Nebraska, paired with a couple wins in the Big 12 tourny, and they’re dancing.

Bill Self has got to be your Big 12 coach of the year…While he wasn’t completely starting from scratch, he lost the core of his 2008 National Championship team. Kansas, in turn, has gone 9-1 in league play and is going to get a 4 seed or better in the big dance.

In the reverse, while five years ago it probably would have never happened, Mark Turgeon is on the hot seat. Billy Gillispie brought winning basketball to College Station. And fair or not, it’s taken a dent the last two seasons. The recruiting classes coming in are great; but, after tasting the Sweet 16, can Texas A&M fans really sit on losing seasons and risk being irrelevant again?

No surprise, Oklahoma keeps rolling. Final Four? Too early, but they look national championship good.

In: Oklahoma, Kansas, Mizzou, Texas.

Fighting for a spot: Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas A&M.

“The Dream is over; shut ‘er down boys”…woooooo: Baylor.

PAC 10: Sparty – One has to hope that the selection committee realizes how terrible the Pac 10 is. The bottom half of that conference is allowing teams like Arizona State to have bloated conference records. The previously reeling Sun Devils were able to make their record look more enticing with wins over Oregon and Oregon State last week. The Devils only managed to score 49pts in their win against the Beavers. Luckily for them, OSU is futile on offense. The Oregon’s have a combined 4-18 record in the pathetic Pac 10. In fact, the entire state of Arizona benefitted from playing the state of Oregon, as the Wildcats were able to jump over .500 with wins of their own against the Ducks and Beavers.

USC showed how fraudulent they were in getting stomped by UCLA on the road. With bad losses to Seton Hall and Oregon State on their resume, the Trojans will need a lot more to convince that committee that they are worth a spot in March.

One would think that the Cal Bears did themselves some favors by knocking off # 24 Washington, but again, this is the Pac 10, where bad basketball is played.

Who is dancing today? UCLA, Washington, Cal, Arizona State.

Close to getting an invite? USC and Arizona.

SEC: Miz/Trey – In order to earn the big victories, the small victories are necessary. The SEC had several small victories this week in its weekly struggle to remain relevant with the big dogs. First, no coaches were fired mid-season. Speaking of that, did you know Tommy Izzo was offered the Bammer job and accepted it!? That’s news to the boss-man! Anywho, second, several of the top teams won their games last week and distanced themselves in an effort to take control of their respective conference division. Tennessee had the chance to stay at the top of the East but lost at Auburn on a go-ahead basket with just about 4 seconds to play. You heard that correctly…Auburn, who happened to be 2-5 in the West prior to Saturday’s win over Tennessee. Instead, Florida took care of their business to pull a half game ahead of South Cackalacky in the East standings. LSU has pulled even farther away from Mississippi State by seperating itself by a game atop of the West standings.

No SEC team is ranked…again. But, Florida and LSU are both lurking just outised the polls in the upper echelon of the “Others receiving votes” categories. Look for a SEC team to break into the exclusive club of the top 25 next week!

Florida @ Kentucky tonight! – That’s about as relevant as the SEC is getting this year.

Dancing: Florida, LSU, Mississippi State.

Tweaked ankle on dance floor: Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina.

Fat kid in the corner: Vandy, Ole Miss, Auburn.

GITC’s Mid-Majors Power Poll Week #3:
1. Xavier (Atlantic 10) – (20-3) Remember how last week they sat atop the poll by a good margin? Not anymore. After losing their first conference games at Duquense by four, they are in danger of dropping the top spot.
2. Memphis (Conference USA) – (20-3) Ran Gonzaga off the floor in Spokane this week. That was an impressive win. They are very close to taking the top spot. (Miz note: Frosh “superstar-in-waiting” Matt Simpkins has been dismissed indefinitely.)
3. Butler (Horizon) – (21-2) Took both road games this week but still have to be looking over their shoulder at Wisconsin-Green Bay who is only a game behind.
4. Gonzaga (West Coast) – (17-5) They may have lost to Memphis, but they did goo on the road to Portland this week and win by 15. They look to have almost locked up their #1 conference seed.
5. Utah State (Western Athletic) – (23-1) Won both games this week and now haven’t lost in two months. Two road games this month including against 2nd place Boise State. If they are going to lose a conference game, this probably has to be it.
6. Dayton (Atlantic 10) – (21-3) Falls one spot after a loss to Charlotte. They still look like the second best team easily. Showdown with Xavier on Wednesday.
7. Utah (Mountain West) – (16-7) Back to back double-digit wins on the road will move you up in the polls. But from #11 to #7? Well, other teams struggled…
8. Davidson (Southern) – (20-4) Not dropping even though they lost to Charleston because they had some of the craziest win streaks ever and they eventually had to end.
9. San Diego State (Mountain West) – (17-5) I said they’d get a big bump if they beat UNLV and they did. They also held Air Force to 34 points. Four spot bump!
10. BYU (Mountain West) – (17-5) Well, they only had one game so this is pretty much a momentum/other-teams-lost move.
11. Siena (Metro Atlantic) – (19-6) They lost a conference (their first) game at Rider this week so they drop a bit. That doesn’t mean that they won’t easily win this conference.
12. UNLV (Mountain West) – (17-6) They are moving down only two spots even though they lost both of their games last week. Both were in OT and one was to a pretty good San Diego State team. They are in 5th place in the Mountain West though.
13. St. Mary’s (West Coast) – (19-4) Falling three more spots after an 18-point loss to mediocre Santa Clara. Obviously this ranking is completely different if Patty Mills is around and should change when he returns.
14. Northeastern (Colonial) – (16-7) They split with the bottom two teams in the league, but still lead both VCU and Mason in the Colonial. They play Mason this week.
15. Creighton (Missouri Valley) – (19-6) They are new to the list this week. Even though they are in second place in the conference, they won on the road at the leader (Northern Iowa) this week.
16. Wisconsin-Green Bay (Horizon) – (19-6) Also new to the list, they are second behind Butler in the Horizon League. They belong here though seeing as their only loss in the last month was at Butler. Five of their last six are on the road though…

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