This Week in the Top 25: 2/28-3/6

[Bob Green]

The last two weeks have been bloody for the Top 25 with teams being beaten left and right. Will this week be more of the same? Or, will some order be restored? There are a slew of good match-ups this week starting with the ones I list below. Moreover, the Mid Major Conferences start their tournaments this week so the field of 68 will start to take shape by week's end.

Monday:

Kansas St at Texas (8) - the Wildcats seem to be reenergized. Can they beat the Longhorns in Austin? A KSU victory helps Duke's resume so I'm pulling for Frank Martin to kick Rick Barnes in the teeth.

Villanova (19) at Notre Dame (7) - after losing twice last week these Wildcats need a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Things will not get any easier with a trip to South Bend.

Tuesday:

Alabama at Florida (14) – Alabama has three conference losses and they have all been on the road.

Vanderbilt (20) at Kentucky (23) – Vanderbilt won the first meeting. Can the Commodores sweep the season series?

Wednesday:

Texas A&M (22) at Kansas (2) - it’s the time of year to root for the other potential #1 seeds to lose so Go Aggies!

Utah State (21) at New Mexico State – Utah St. needs to finish strong so they can secure a good tournament seed.

Thursday:

Oregon State at Arizona (18) - how will Arizona respond after the beat down they received from UCLA?

UCLA at Washington - these two teams are fighting it out for the 2 Seed in the PAC 10 Tournament.

Saturday:

Duke (4) at North Carolina (13) - I have to list it because it is the most important game of the week in our World; however, we will discuss it in the game thread.

Princeton at Harvard - a must win situation for Tommy Amaker.

Kansas (2) at Missouri (24) – it’s the time of year to root for the other potential #1 seeds to lose so Go Tigers!

Notre Dame (7) at Connecticut (16) – another game featuring two ranked Big East teams. Can we pull for both to lose?

Florida (14) at Vanderbilt (20) – I like the Commodores to protect their home court.

Sunday:

Wisconsin (10) at Ohio St (1) – the Buckeyes look to revenge their first loss of the season. Once again, it helps Duke’s chances for a #1 seed if Ohio St. loses so Go Badgers!

We are down to the last week of the regular season so I encourage everyone to jump into the conversation as we discuss movement amongst the Top 25 teams. The Mid Major Tournaments should generate a bunch of discussion as well. Wow! The season has flown by.

[gw67]

Bob,

Some other games that might have some importance for seeding:

Saturday:

Georgetown @ Cinncinati - The Hoyas are hurting with Wright on the sideline and Cinncinati needs another statement win to improve its' seeding in BET and NCAAT.

Nova @ Pitt - Nova has lost 6 of its' last 10 games and two away games this week may continue their downward spiral.

Marquette @ Seton Hall - Marquette needs two victories this week to solidify its' NCAAT seeding. A loss at the Hall might hurt.

gw67

[tommy]

The last two weeks have been bloody for the Top 25 with teams being beaten left and right. Will this week be more of the same? Or, will some order be restored? There are a slew of good match-ups this week starting with the ones I list below. Moreover, the Mid Major Conferences start their tournaments this week so the field of 68 will start to take shape by week's end.

UCLA at Washington - these two teams are fighting it out for the 2 Seed in the PAC 10 Tournament.

Actually, UCLA and Arizona are currently tied for first place in the Pac-10, with Washington two games back with two to go. UCLA is very much alive for the top seed in the Pac-10 tournament.

[Bob Green]

Actually, UCLA and Arizona are currently tied for first place in the Pac-10, with Washington two games back with two to go. UCLA is very much alive for the top seed in the Pac-10 tournament.

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. For some reason, I thought Arizona had a one game lead over UCLA.

[tommy]

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. For some reason, I thought Arizona had a one game lead over UCLA.

Actually, I was right and wrong. While UCLA and Zona are tied, UCLA has only a slim chance of getting the #1 seed in the conference tournament. They have to go to the Washington schools for the last weekend, while Arizona hosts the Oregon schools. Advantage Arizona, clearly. And Arizona holds the tiebreaker.

[dukelifer]

Watching Notre Dame dismantling Villanova. They are a very solid team- with no NBA-level superstars - although Hansbrough is having a great year. They are looking like a team that can beat anyone in March.

[ClosetHurleyFan]

Watching Notre Dame dismantling Villanova. They are a very solid team- with no NBA-level superstars - although Hansbrough is having a great year. They are looking like a team that can beat anyone in March.


Yeah, I mere 20 threes made in this game......by Notre Dame alone!!!

29 if you count the 9 that Nova has made! Hansborough with 30 and 10 assists

[dukelifer]

Yeah, I mere 20 threes made in this game......by Notre Dame alone!!!

29 if you count the 9 that Nova has made! Hansborough with 30 and 10 assists

Hansbrough could be Big East player of the year. Wonder if two brothers were player of the year in two different conferences.

[ncexnyc]

Watching Notre Dame dismantling Villanova. They are a very solid team- with no NBA-level superstars - although Hansbrough is having a great year. They are looking like a team that can beat anyone in March.
It shouldn't surprise anyone about how good ND is. They are a very experienced team that starts upperclassmen. We saw how that worked out for us last year.

[1 24 90]

It shouldn't surprise anyone about how good ND is. They are a very experienced team that starts upperclassmen. We saw how that worked out for us last year.

Bilas even compared them to Duke's 2010 team during the broadcast.

[DukeDiva]

K-State up on Texas 74-70 with 24.6 left. They are just about to wrap it up.

[burns15]

K-State up on Texas 74-70 with 24.6 left. They are just about to wrap it up.

down goes texas

[duke4ever19]

Thank you K-State! Every little bit helps.

[sporthenry]

K-state looks similar to the team that Duke played earlier this year. Obviously, they are playing better but K-state should become a top 25 RPI win. Not to mention, Duke will stay away from them if Duke drops to a 3 and K-state rises to at most a 6, although it looks like K-state will get a higher seed than that.
Regardless, it seems Texas is on their traditional end of season collapse and I don't expect them to be in the #1 conversation. So I guess we become SD State fans at this point.

[-jk]

I just hope Pullen is ok. That wrist didn't look good. Reminiscent of Tink's injury...

-jk

[texas]

it's like that seinfeld episode . . . (texas walks into the room and plunks down their $100 bill on the table) . . . WE'RE OUT! of the race for #1 seed

good luck to duke. texas looking at a first round game in siberia

[Olympic Fan]

K-state looks similar to the team that Duke played earlier this year. Obviously, they are playing better but K-state should become a top 25 RPI win.

FWIW, K-State was No. 25 in the RPI this morning -- before the Texas win. They'll move up a spot or two tomorrow. Their rise gives Duke two top 25 wins (UNC and K-State).

Agree that Texas is pretty much out of the No. 1 discussion at this point. Funny how 10 days ago, they were the hottest team in the country and the "sexy" pick as the national champ. Now they've lost two in a row and three of their last four. They're in danger of making it three in a row and four of five as they finish up this weekend at Baylor -- a dsperate bubble team that is a lot like the Va Tech team that just upset Duke.

Just a good reminder of the dangers of reading too much too soon.

[dukelifer]

It shouldn't surprise anyone about how good ND is. They are a very experienced team that starts upperclassmen. We saw how that worked out for us last year.

Well they certainly were not predicted to be at the top of the Big East- maybe no even in the top 6. They have played a lot better than people thought. Hansbrough who could be 28 for all we know- is playing with a certain toughness and purpose and his teammates are responding. We will see if they can carry it through the tourney.

[gw67]

Well they certainly were not predicted to be at the top of the Big East- maybe no even in the top 6. They have played a lot better than people thought. Hansbrough who could be 28 for all we know- is playing with a certain toughness and purpose and his teammates are responding. We will see if they can carry it through the tourney.

The Irish can pass and shoot and they share the ball. That makes for a fun team to watch. Their lack of inside strength may hurt them when the games are slowed down in the NCAAT. A few weeks ago, I thought that Nova had all the ingredients for a run at the Big East title. Now they have lost 7 of 11 and are spiralling downward.

By the way, Hansbrough is just a few months older than Singler and Smith and he has the excuse of sitting out a year for transfer. All three will graduate at or near 23 years old.

gw67

[MChambers]

FWIW, K-State was No. 25 in the RPI this morning -- before the Texas win. They'll move up a spot or two tomorrow. Their rise gives Duke two top 25 wins (UNC and K-State).

Agree that Texas is pretty much out of the No. 1 discussion at this point. Funny how 10 days ago, they were the hottest team in the country and the "sexy" pick as the national champ. Now they've lost two in a row and three of their last four. They're in danger of making it three in a row and four of five as they finish up this weekend at Baylor -- a dsperate bubble team that is a lot like the Va Tech team that just upset Duke.

Just a good reminder of the dangers of reading too much too soon.

Texas's troubles just made the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/sports/ncaabasketball/02texas.html?_r=1&hp

[gw67]

I enjoy looking at Massey's College Basketball Ranking Comparison Table. As of today, he has compiled and compared the current results from 47 human polls, computer rankings and publicly well-known systems (see link). To no one's surprise, the top 4 teams are Ohio State, Kansas, BYU and Duke. This, I believe, is the same as the two main human polls. The ranking of teams begins to diverge once you get past the 6th ranked team in the polls.

http://www.masseyratings.com/cb/compare.htm

gw67

[JasonEvans]

Texas's troubles just made the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/sports/ncaabasketball/02texas.html?_r=1&hp

Rick Barnes is just the 2000s version of Bobby Cremins -- stud recruiter but pretty darn lousy when it comes to game planning and execution. Barnes is less successful than Cremins because the rush to the NBA is greater today (one and done) than it was in the 80s and 90s when most kids stayed 2 or 3 years.

One more thing, Cremins is more charming and likeable.

--Jason "dissent?" Evans

[Chitowndevil]

Rick Barnes is just the 2000s version of Bobby Cremins --

I don't know, I'd say Rick Barnes is the 2000s version of Rick Barnes. See if this sounds familiar:


...jumped off to a 16-1 record this year and had a 16-1 record to open the season... led by an All-Conference forward who would be an NBA starter... stumbled at the end of the regular season, losing three of the last four regular season games before losing in the first round of the conference Tournament to a team it had defeated twice during the regular season... reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament behind Coach Rick Barnes

The above refers to the 1996-97 Clemson Tigers (http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031509aad.html). Barnes actually got pretty good talent at Clemson and left mostly because, like Dave Odom, he got tired of recruiting against Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith. I find it ironic that he indeed has been able to stockpile five-star talent at Texas, but still has only gotten one round further in the NCAAs than he did with that Clemson team.