The Unbeaten: 12/3 - 12/9

[gam7]

Around the time that the calendar turns from November to December every year, I start paying a bit more attention to the remaining undefeated D1 teams. Admittedly, I pay much closer attention when Duke is among them, and, of course, despite gauntlet we just ran through, we are still on the list. So, I thought I’d help everyone follow along.

On Sunday, Wisconsin crushed Cal at the Kohl Center, leaving the world of college basketball with an even 20 undefeated D1 teams. Here they are, along with their Pomeroy rankings, AP rankings (if any), conferences and schedule for the upcoming week.


Team Pom AP Record Conf Schedule
Indiana 1 1 8-0 B10 12/8 - C. Conn St. (182)
Florida 2 6 6-0 SEC 12/5 - @FSU (60)
Duke 3 2 8-0 ACC 12/8 - Temple (57)
Gonzaga 5 10 8-0 WCC 12/5 - @WSU (104) ; 12/8 - Illinois (35)
Cuse 6 4 5-0 BE 12/3 - EMU (266) ; 12/6 - LBSU (125); 12/8 - Monmouth (218)
Michigan 8 3 7-0 B10 12/4 - W. Mich. (195) ; 12/8 - Arkansas (100)
Arizona 15 8 5-0 P12 12/4 - S. Miss (93) ; 12/8 - @Clemson (52)
Cincy 17 11 7-0 BE 12/6 - AR Little Rock (197); 12/8 - MD Eastern Shore (345)
Ole Miss 26 6-0 SEC 12/8 - @Mid. Tenn. St. (50)
UNM 28 18 8-0 MWC 12/5 - USC (149) ; 12/8 - Valpo (95)
Wich St 31 24 8-0 MVC 12/8 - N. Colorado (210)
Illinois 35 13 8-0 B10 12/4 - W. Carolina (216) ; 12/8 - @Gonzaga (5)
Temple 57 5-0 A10 12/5 - @Nova (89) ; 12/8 - @Duke (3)
CSU 62 6-0 MWC 12/5 - @Colorado (65) ; 12/8 - @Ill.-Chicago (145)
Va Tech 64 7-0 ACC 12/8 - @WVA (58)
Wyo 77 8-0 MWC 12/4 - @Illinois St. (41) ; 12/8 - Panhandle St. (NA)
Char 92 7-0 A10 12/5 - @Davidson (47); 12/8 - Cent. Michigan (309)
LSU 108 5-0 SEC NA
SFA 124 5-0 Southland 12/5 - @Texas A&M (99); 12/8 - LSU Shreveport (NA)
EKU 223 7-0 OVC 12/4 - @NC Central (239) ; 12/8 - @Chattanooga (290)

The conference breakdown for the Unbeaten is as follows:

B10 – 3
SEC – 3
MWC – 3
ACC – 2
BE – 2
A10 – 2
P12, WCC, MVC, Southland and OVC – 1 each

As we head into the exam period and holidays, many of the AP-ranked undefeated squads are approaching the cruise control portions of their schedules. This week’s schedule generally reflects the weak opposition, with a few exceptions. Here are this week’s highlights for the Unbeaten:

We are guaranteed to see two fewer undefeated teams a week from today, as there are two matchups this week pitting unbeatens against each other. Of course, Duke hosts Temple at Cameron on Saturday, looking to avenge last season’s 5-point loss to the Owls at the Wells Fargo Center. There will be plenty of talk about this one on other threads. The other matchup of unbeatens is an intriguing one and also takes place next Saturday night when Illinois travels to Gonzaga. Last year, an unranked Illini team knocked off then-18th-ranked Gonzaga at Assembly Hall. This time around, both teams will be ranked higher than they were last year. Should be an interesting matchup.

There are a couple of decent in-state rivalry matchups involving undefeated teams this week. On Wednesday, Florida travels to Florida State. This matchup looked better on paper a week ago, before FSU was handled comfortably at home by Minnesota in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge and then lost again at home to Mercer. Yes, Mercer. Also on Wednesday, Colorado State visits Colorado in what will be a tough road game for CSU.

A couple of other matchups of note: VPI is coming off of an impressive win at home against a ranked Oklahoma State team and plays at West Virginia on Saturday. On Tuesday, Wyoming will likely be the underdog at Illinois State, which very nearly knocked off Louisville last weekend and is ranked 41 by Pomeroy. On Wednesday, Charlotte will visit Davidson (ranked 47 by Pomeroy).

Finally, congratulations to Eastern Kentucky, which has somehow managed to achieve a 7-0 record, while remaining ranked #224 by Pomeroy. That’s pretty impressive.

[gumbomoop]

Duke hosts Temple at Cameron on Saturday, looking to avenge last season’s 5-point loss to the Owls at the Wells Fargo Center.

Sat game is at Meadowlands/Izod Center, I think.

[johnb]

Finally, congratulations to Eastern Kentucky, which has somehow managed to achieve a 7-0 record, while remaining ranked #224 by Pomeroy. That’s pretty impressive.

even more impressive: their 2 opponents this week are somehow rated below them.

[Dev11]

even more impressive: their 2 opponents this week are somehow rated below them.

Seth Greenberg coaches at Eastern Kentucky?

[Olympic Fan]

SF Austin lost to Texas A&M and Colorado State lost to Colorado Wednesday night ...

By my count, that lowers the number of unbeatens to 18.

We've got a few tough ones Saturday, including twomachups of unbeatens - Duke-Temple and Gonzaga-lllinois. And VPI is going to have a tough test at West Virginia.

[gam7]

SF Austin lost to Texas A&M and Colorado State lost to Colorado Wednesday night ...

By my count, that lowers the number of unbeatens to 18.

We've got a few tough ones Saturday, including twomachups of unbeatens - Duke-Temple and Gonzaga-lllinois. And VPI is going to have a tough test at West Virginia.

Indeed, we lost 10% of the remaining unbeatens last night. That leaves 5.2% (18 of 347) of D1 programs without a loss. The Big 10 and SEC each still have 3 teams undefeated.

16 of the 18 remaining unbeatens are in action Saturday. Re: Gonzaga-Illinois, that's the matchup of the week - between the 10th and 13th AP-ranked teams. That's a pretty nice early-mid-December game. If Illinois survives that game, it will likely be a part of another matchup of unbeatens next week - against #207 Pom-ranked Eastern Kentucky.

[gam7]

With 16 of 18 of the unbeaten teams in action today, we’ve had some unexpected results. So far, in addition to Temple’s loss, VPI fell to West Virginia and Ole Miss was edged out by Middle Tennessee St., each in last-minute squeakers.

Several unbeatens are still (or soon-to-be) in action. One game in progress of note: Arizona and Clemson are nip and tuck at Littlejohn. Arizona is up just 2 with under 7 minutes to play there.

And of course, Gonzaga and Illinois tip in about 10 minutes.

[flyingdutchdevil]

In the top 25, there have been no upsets so far with 2 games to go. Minnesota is destroying USC and the Illinois / Gonzaga game has Illinois up by 5 with 11 minutes to go. I'd say that either team winning isn't an upset considering how close they are to one another.

Given, most teams are playing cupcakes (Duke not included), so I guess this isn't a surprise. But, given the number of teams playing today, the odds should say that at least one team falls.

[Saratoga2]

When conference play starts in the Big 10, there will be a lot of teams that take losses playing in conference. I doubt if Indiana, Michigan or Illinois will survive without a couple of losses. While there is an advantage playing in a strong conference when seeding for the tournament comes along, there is still the issue of taking multiple losses.

[Olympic Fan]

After Saturday's carnage, we're down to 14 unbeatens:

Charlotte
Duke
Cinccinnati
Syracuse
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan
Wichita State
Mew Mexico
Wyoming
Arizona
Florida
LSU
Eastern Kentucky

I don't know why, but it annoys me to see Eastern Kentucky (No. 191 on Pomeroy) on this list. They are 9-0 but haven't played anybody. Oh well, their time is limited. They play at Illinois Sunday and that should take care of them. The next weakest team on the list is 5-0 LSU (No. 106 in Pomeroy). They face a likely loss Friday night at Boise State.

[pfrduke]

After Saturday's carnage, we're down to 14 unbeatens:

Charlotte
Duke
Cinccinnati
Syracuse
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan
Wichita State
Mew Mexico
Wyoming
Arizona
Florida
LSU
Eastern Kentucky

I don't know why, but it annoys me to see Eastern Kentucky (No. 191 on Pomeroy) on this list. They are 9-0 but haven't played anybody. Oh well, their time is limited. They play at Illinois Sunday and that should take care of them. The next weakest team on the list is 5-0 LSU (No. 106 in Pomeroy). They face a likely loss Friday night at Boise State.

On the other side of that spectrum, Saturday's Florida-Arizona game should be a really good one (and will take care of one more unbeaten).

[subzero02]

On the other side of that spectrum, Saturday's Florida-Arizona game should be a really good one (and will take care of one more unbeaten).

I like the Gators in that matchup... clemson put up a good fight against arizona last night in Littlejohn.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I like the Gators in that matchup... clemson put up a good fight against arizona last night in Littlejohn.

I really like the Gators this year. They are solid, deep, and play as a team. I think they have one of the most complete teams in the country. As of right now, I'm more worried about the Gators than any team in the country.

[tommy]

After Saturday's carnage, we're down to 14 unbeatens:

Charlotte
Duke
Cinccinnati
Syracuse
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan
Wichita State
Mew Mexico
Wyoming
Arizona
Florida
LSU
Eastern Kentucky

I don't know why, but it annoys me to see Eastern Kentucky (No. 191 on Pomeroy) on this list. They are 9-0 but haven't played anybody. Oh well, their time is limited. They play at Illinois Sunday and that should take care of them. The next weakest team on the list is 5-0 LSU (No. 106 in Pomeroy). They face a likely loss Friday night at Boise State.

As for the rest:
Charlotte's next game is at Miami on Friday night. That's a likely loss too.

Cincinnati's only got a game against a middling Marshall squad this week before the big one with Xavier next week.

Syracuse only has 2 games in the next two weeks, at home against Canisius and Detroit, before playing Temple, also at home.

Indiana is off until next Saturday, when they play Butler. I wouldn't mind catching a little of that one. Should be a good test for the Hoosiers

Michigan has Binghamton during the week followed by West Virginia, Coach Beilein's old school, next Saturday. The Mountaineers have not been impressive thus far though.

Wichita's only upcoming game is this week against a lousy Tennessee team.

New Mexico, which owns wins over both Davidson and UConn, plays its next two games both against New Mexico State. Weird. Should win em both.

Wyoming, which has a win over a ranked Colorado team, gets Denver and UC Santa Barbara and that's it for December for them. Both opponents are pretty bad.

Arizona and Florida clash next Saturday.