It looked to us like UConn had decided they’d like to extend their stay atop the polls to a third straight week last week, so they did. Unfortunately for the Huskies, it most likely won’t extend to a fourth week as they lost to Pitt last night. We should probably mention the stellar performances of three dominant big men over the past few days: UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, and Pitt’s DeJuan Blair. Thabeet led his Huskies team to victory Saturday against Seton Hall, subsequently matching their best record in school history through 25 games (24-1), with 25 points, 20 rebounds, and 9 blocks. Griffin bested Thabeet’s performance by pounding Texas Tech with 40 points and 23 rebounds while helping the Sooners to their best record in conference play through 11 games (11-0). Blair did his best Thabeet impression by scoring 22 points and grabbing 23 rebounds; but, his was most impressive because he did it in a win over Thabeet and the top ranked Huskies last night.

Those three are duking it out for Player of the Year honors while their respective teams are fighting it out for the top ranking honors. For the rest of this week though, the Huskies seems to have a hold on the #1 spot. We’ll have to see how Oklahoma, UNC, and Pitt all fare in their respective disagreements this week before handing out the next #1 ranking.

Polls and movement from the past week’s college roundball action:

And now, onto the conference reviews from the S&F “experts”…

Big East: Patphish – The FNCUH finally lost their second game of the year last night. There is no shame in losing to Pitt, however the way the Huskies were manhandled down low has to have Jim Calhoun concerned. DeJuan Blair dominated Hasheem Thabeet like no one ever has, over powering him into submission. Of course, Blair probably should have been tossed for body slamming Thabeet early on, but this is how Big East basketball is played in late February. It isn’t soft like the ACC.

Of bigger concern to the Huskies was the loss of Jerome Dyson for the year after he blew his knee out Wednesday during the traditional Syracuse beat down. He is UConn’s best perimeter defender and deep threat. The Huskies will still win the National Title without him, but they will have to settle for a couple of single digit tournament victories do to his injury.

I am not really sure what happened to Louisville in South Bend last weekend, shooting 23% in the first half and getting absolutley hammered by 33. The Irish were looking like they were left for dead after losing 7 in a row, but suddenly with 2 victories in a row, they actually could finish 8-8 in the conference and make a little noise in the Big East tourney. The selection commitee would love to have them, as the Irish fill arenas and are a good television draw. I don’t think it’ll happen, just sayin’.

West Virginia is another team that was pretty much playing like crap, then they show up and bomb the hottest team in the conference Villanova by 21. Whats up with that? There schedule is soft the rest of the way, they will finish 10-6 in the conference and earn an 8 or 9 seed in the big dance.

Right now, the best conference in the country has 7 teams that will be dancing. If Providence can finish srtrong and make a run in the conference tourney it will be 8. It may be tough for the league to secure 2 # 1 seeds as Pitt and the FNCUH meet one and possibly two more times. That could leave of them with 4 loses. Seeds of course don’t mean much, as I expect both of those teams to be in Detroit come April.

Rising: Pitt, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Seton Hall

Falling: Syracuse, Providence,

Chilling: FNCUH, Louisville, ‘Nova, Marquette

Still Sucking: Rutgers, USF, and DePaul

ACC: GITC – The ACC is still a complete free for all. The standing are a mess because teams keep holding their home court. Since you play half your games on the road, this pulls most teams back to the middle. The exception so far has been North Carolina. This week they won road games at Duke (handily) and at Miami (by 4). They might not be so lucky this week. They have NC State at home which should normally be easy but they also go to Maryland. You know, the team that pulls more upsets of high ranked teams than any school ever? They better watch out. Duke is behind them and (to my glee) lost both games last week. The loss to Carolinas is somewhat understandable but they should have beaten BC on the road. I said last week that BC can try to prove that they aren’t the only team in the ACC that doesn’t have tremendous home court advantage. After watching that game, that may need to be reconsidered. The fans were going crazy, they were loud, they stormed the court… Maybe it’s all the trash everybody talks about their lack of, but of BC gets the kind of HCA indigenous to the ACC, it’ll be damn near impossible to win road games in this conference. They can bounce back against some trash Big East team this week but then they host Wake. Speaking of HCA, Clemson went down at Virginia this week. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Virginia is generally good. This is an off year after a few guys graduated, their schedule is impossible, and their home court advantage still looms large. I didn’t think they’d take down Clemson though. They get Maryland this week and have to travel to Georgia Tech. Those won’t be fun. Wake went down at NC State this week but held their home court well against the ‘Noles. They have an easy home game with Georgia Tech this week before heading over to Duke to do battle. FSU gets Miami at home (more on that later) goes to Virginia Tech. That’s a tough week but they have no choice if they want to be playing in late March. Virginia Tech lost at Maryland this week but can’t afford to lose at Virginia this week. They also get a home visit from FSU that could turn ugly.

After consecutive losses to Clemson and Wake, BC slew Duke in a coming out party for their fans. If they can follow it up with a win at Miami this week they lock up a tourney spot. Maryland held their court against Virginia Tech which keeps them in the hunt for a tourney spot themselves. They go to Clemson and host Carolina this week and might need to win one of those to stay in the hunt. NC State followed up their win against Wake with an impressive blowout at Georgia Tech. This week is essentially an off week as they only host Virginia. Ah, the ever interesting case of the ‘Canes. Their conference record is 4-7 but they are listed as in on Bracketology. Of their 7 losses… 4 are against top 10 teams, 4 are on the road, and 3 are in OT. Their remaining schedule is pretty easy by ACC standards, but this week they go to Florida State and host BC. I think they might win both. Virginia’s schedule is so hard that I think they might be an OK team. They might be 2-8 in conference, but they have some fight. They host Virginia Tech and go to NC State. This is considered an easy week on their schedule. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a monster. Finally, Georgia Tech. They have to go to Wake for a rematch after they beat them the first time and then they play Clemson at home. Yeah, that sounds fun.

All in all, the best conference in the nation.

Big 10: Sparty – This exactly why you don’t call a team done at the beginning of February (whoops). Wisconsin is now headed back to the tourney if it was starting today. The Badgers dropped 6 in a row at one point, but have stormed back with 4 straight victories, including wins against tournament bound Illinois and Ohio State. Bo Ryan has found that boring magical elixir again in Madison and his leading Bucky back into the Dance.

Another week has gone by, and Michigan State remains alone on top of the Big 10. The Spartans jumped up to 5th in the polls, while only playing one game last week, knocking off the Wolverines at Crisler Arena. The Spartans had previously played 5 games in about 13 days up to that point and needed the week off before they meet up with Purdue tonight. The Raymar Morgan watch continues, as he still listed as questionable while he recovers from what is now mononucleosis.(Miz note: who’s he been kissin’!?)

The most intriguing game of this past week took place in Happy Valley, as the Nittany Lions knocked off Minnesota. It was a win that Penn State needed to keep their NCAA hopes alive, but they face a tough week ahead as they go into the Orange Crush in Illinois. Minnesota has been struggling lately but they have a favorable schedule ahead of themselves, and should keep their head above the tournament waters.

The team that is in most need of big wins is Michigan. They are teetering on the brink of extinction from the tournament if they don’t win at least 2 more games in conference. They may be the only team within the Big 10 that can make it to March without a .500 conference record, as the selection committee values out of conference wins much more than anything else. That means the possibility of 7 teams from the Big 10 is still on life support.

Going Dancing: Michigan St, Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Bubbling Up: Penn State, Michigan.

Looking forward to spring break: Indiana, Northwestern, Iowa

Big 12: Miz/Trey – Kansas State tried to pull the upset in Manhatten, but Kansas reigned supreme again. While Oklahoma is running down opponents left and right, Kansas is keeping themselves very relevant in the Big 12 picture and somewhat flying under the radar. That Febuary 23rd matchup at Oklahoma could decide the Big 12 regular season.

And where is Blake Griffin on everyone’s radar…he should be your player of the year. No question, with 40 points and 23 boards on Saturday the guy has set himself so far ahead of everyone else in the game that it’s no contest anymore. Oh yeah, Oklahoma is now the only 1-loss team left in the country.

Shockingly this is looking more and more like Texas’s first year in the NIT since 1985-86. It’s tough when you’ve had the turnover the Longhorns have had.

Dancin’: Oklahoma, Kansas, Mizzou, Texas (for now)

Work to do: Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Baylor

PAC 10: Trey - Who’s the top team in the Pac10? Three straight Final fourist UCLA?! No…They lost twice this week. Arizona State led by all world super scorer James Harden? Try again. It’s Washington. That’s right; Washington is back, and at 10-3 they have a stranglehold on the top spot in the league.

That being said, they still have a brutal two weeks ahead with UCLA, USC, Arizona State, and Arizona as their next four opponents.

Look out for the Cal Bears, who have won three in a row and are lurking just outside the polls. With Oregon and Oregon State left before the big four they could solidify a birth in the Big Dance with an upset or two.

Who’s Dancin’: Arizona State, UCLA, Washington, Arizona, and Cal.

Work left: USC, Stanford

SEC: Miz/Trey – Well, well, well! Look who’s got a team ranked in a poll or two this week! The entire conference would like to give LSU a golf clap for taking care of business and breaking into BOTH the AP and Coaches polls this week! Now, don’t screw it up.

Can you believe that puke that the Gators threw on the court in Athens, GA!? Three letters…N-I-T. (Miz note: not so fast, Trey. Georgia had to win sometime and Florida’s still pretty young. Your Gators will likely put a run together the rest of the season and win a game or two in the SEC tourney.) The logjam still exists at the top of the SEC East standings, just with one fewer team after Florida’s loss. South Cackalacky, Kentucky, and Tennessee are all tied at the top of the East and between those three, at least Tennessee or Kentucky will finish up the week with a loss against the other.

LSU has a firm hold on the SEC West with a 3 game lead, not to mention a firm hold on the regular season conference title with a 2 game lead. The Tigeauxrs play Arkansas and Auburn this week (the worst western team and a mediocre western team, respectively) so expect them to maintain or increase their division lead.

Dancing: LSU, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee

Practicing their dance moves: Florida, Mississippi St.

GITC’s Mid Majors:
1. Memphis (Conference USA) – (22-3) Didn’t lose a conference game, probably won’t lose a conference game.  And, hanging around the top 5!
2. Xavier (Atlantic 10) – (21-4) Falling to #2 for the first time after a loss to Dayton. They should be able to rebound but have to keep an eye on Dayton.
3. Butler (Horizon) – (22-3) Stays #3 despite the loss to Loyola (Chicago). They now have their conference done because of a bad week from Wisconsin-Green Bay.
4. Gonzaga (West Coast) – (19-5) Didn’t move up because of close calls on the road this week. They have to dominate while Patty Mills is off the floor.
5. Utah State (Western Athletic) – (24-2) Staying the same after finally losing a 2nd game. They go to St. Mary’s this week.
6. Dayton (Atlantic 10) – (23-3) Beat Xavier this week but doesn’t move up because they still aren’t actually better than the top 5. The A-10 is now a competition though.
7. Utah (Mountain West) – (18-7) Two 15-point wins last week and only one game this week. In good shape.
8. Davidson (Southern) – (22-4) Two easy road wins for the Wildcats but they came at a price. Steph has a hand injury that might effect their game against Butler this week.
9. BYU (Mountain West) – (19-5) Moved up one spot because they did well this week but faces UNLV this week in a Mormons vs. Las Vegas battle that is always fun.
10. Siena (Metro Atlantic) – (21-6) Two more conference wins this week, but that’s expected. They have a hige match-up with Northern Iowa in Bracket Busters this week.
11. San Diego State (Mountain West) – (18-6) Falls a couple pf spots after losing to Utah this week. Only one easy game this week though.
12. UNLV (Mountain West) – (19-6) Two easy wins last week, but they play BYU this week. That game is close to a must win for them because of the conference standings.
13. St. Mary’s (West Coast) – (20-5) Almost proved themselves this week as they came close to upsetting Gonzaga. Still without Patty Mills, they have the game against Utah State this week as another opportunity.
14. Robert Morris (Northeast) – (19-8) Why are they here? Well they haven’t lost since 2008 other than their loss at Pitt. They should sweep through the rest of their conference.
15. Creighton (Missouri Valley) – (21-6) They are better than Northern Iowa even if the standings don’t show it. They have a Bracket Buster against George Mason this week.
16. Illinois State (Missouri Valley) – (21-6) Might be the best Valley team this year. They have games left against both teams ahead of them so they can prove it.

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