Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Ohio State (1) | 3-0 | The Buckeyes will be humming along at 6-0 when the (current) No. 5 Duke Blue Devils visit Columbus a week from Tuesday. |
2. North Carolina (2) | 3-0 | Games this week (Tennessee State/South Carolina) are tune-ups for next week’s high-powered tilts (Wisconsin/Kentucky) |
3. Kentucky (3) | 4-0 | The assists to turnovers ratio (12 to 18) is something freshman Marquis Teague will have to at least reverse by the time the Wildcats get into the meat of their schedule (beginning on Dec. 3 in Lexington against a team from Chapel Hill, N.C.). |
4. Connecticut (4) | 4-0 | There is no way team goes only 9-9 in Big East play this season, ala the 2011 national champions. |
5. Duke (5) | 4-0 | Hopefully, by the time Mike Krzyzewski becomes the all-time winningest coach, ESPN will give the occasion its proper respects. What? Oh! |
6. Syracuse (6) | 4-0 | Virginia Tech provides the first serious test (Wednesday night) for a team that has beaten four opponents by an average margin of 42.5 points. |
7. Michigan (8) | 2-0 | After appetizers of Ferris State, Towson and Western Illinois, the Wolverines are in Lahaina for the first entrée-level opponent: No. 10 Memphis in the Maui Invitational Monday. |
| 8. California (10) | 1-0 | Taking nothing away from the combined 15-2 start of Stanford and Oregon State (4-0 apiece), Arizona (4-1) and Washington (3-1), the Golden Bears are far and away the best team in the Pac-12 right now. |
9. Baylor (11) | 3-0 | That 10-point decision over San Diego State in Waco last week will add some heft to the Bears’ RPI, largely because the Aztecs later edged Long Beach State (which handled host Pittsburgh three nights earlier) in overtime in San Diego. |
10. Memphis (12) | 1-0 | Are the Tigers much more than just “the best team in Conference USA”? What happens in the Maui Invitational should give us a strong hint. |
11. Gonzaga (13) | 3-0 | Freshman guard Kevin Pangos introduced himself to the nation last week during a nationally televised game with Washington State (33 points while hitting nine of 13 shots behind the arc). |
12. Florida (9) | 2-1 | Tough to find much fault in a team that played pretty well, all things considered, in Columbus (Ohio) last week before losing to the top-ranked Buckeyes by seven points. |
13. Louisville (14) | 3-0 | All things considered (“things”=injuries), a 16-point decision at Butler on Saturday bordered on the startling. |
14. Vanderbilt (16) | 3-1 | Wow – who could have imagined a Monday game with Oregon State (4-0!) would prove to be one that a lot of non-OSU/Vanderbilt followers would be intrigued by? |
15. Xavier (NR) | 3-0 | Justification for this rating will come in the next few weeks (with games vs. Georgia, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Butler and Cincinnati. |
16. Creighton (NR) | 4-0 | If you watched the Blue Jays dominate Iowa on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, you may agree with me: This is a team built to make a very deep run in NCAA Tournament run this spring. |
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior forward Tony Mitchell of Alabama, who accumulated 57 points, 29 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots during the Crimson Tide’s wins over Maryland, Wichita State and Purdue in San Juan for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title.
THIS WEEK’S TOP GAMES: Check out the Maui Invitational (where Top 10 clubs Duke, Michigan and Memphis are in action).
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].
OSU is good but , Craft is
OSU is good but , Craft is overrated and bigger or more athletic guards give him fits. He will be the downfall of this team again defensively.