Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Syracuse (1) | 17-0 | So far, no road woes – beat three opponents (North Carolina State, DePaul and Seton Hall) by an average of 16 points on their home courts. Villanova next up in Philly Wednesday night. |
2. Kentucky (2) | 15-1 | The Wildcats have allowed as much as 70 points just twice (in the 73-72 win against North Carolina and loss to Indiana by the same score). |
3. Ohio State (3) | 15-2 | NBA types-galore will be in the building to watch the Buckeyes play at Illinois Tuesday night for battle of sophomore post studs (Jared Sullinger vs. Meyers Leonard). |
4. North Carolina (5) | 14-2 | The Tar Heels play first road game in about six weeks when they face struggling Florida State in Tallahassee on Saturday. |
5. Baylor (6) | 15-0 | The Bears’ toughest test of the season? They’re about to get it Tuesday night in Manhattan, KS. |
6. Indiana (9) | 15-1 | It’s safe to assume Tom Crean won’t allow his club to look past the home game with Minnesota (0 for 4 in conference) Thursday to the Sunday game in Columbus vs. Ohio State. |
7. Duke (7) | 13-2 | The Virginia Cavaliers visiting Cameron Indoor Stadium Thursday night is suddenly much more significant – within the ACC and nationally – than a lot of people probably would have guessed in October. |
8. Michigan State (10) | 14-2 | What a way to start Big 10 play – hand Indiana its only loss and then get wins at Nebraska and Wisconsin. |
9.Missouri (8) | 14-1 | How will the Tigers react to their first loss (a shellacking via Kansas State)? It better be “well” or it will be a long evening for them at Iowa State (12-3 and 2-0) Wednesday. |
10. Kansas (12) | 12-3 | The Jayhawks have allowed just 49.8 ppg during their five-game winning streak. |
11. Connecticut (4) | 12-3 | Don’t leap off the bandwagon quite yet. Remember, the 2-2 Huskies split their 18 Big East regular-season games en route to a national title last spring. |
12. Creighton (13) | 13-2 | Doug McDermott isn’t the only Iowa import having a tremendous season – guard Grant Gibbs (7.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 6.1 apg; .515 FG percentage). |
13. UNLV (14) | 16-2 | There is no easing into Mountain West Conference play this season – the Rebels open at San Diego State Saturday. |
14.Virginia (16) | 14-1 | That 20-point win over George Mason (five wins in a row) on Dec. 6 is looking more impressive every day. |
15. Murray State (NR) | 16-0 | It seems like yesterday – or 76 years ago – that the Racers last got off to a 16-0 start. |
16. San Diego St. (NR) | 13-2 | Does junior Chase Tapley (.513 on 3s; 16.9 ppg) have a sweet jump shot or what? |
On the cusp: Georgetown 13-2, Kansas State 12-2, Michigan 13-3, Gonzaga 13-2, Harvard 13-2, Louisville 13-3, Seton Hall 14-2, Florida 12-4, Purdue 13-4, West Virginia 12-4, Alabama 12-3, Illinois 14-3, Saint Mary’s 14-2, Cal 13-4 and Wichita State 12-3.
TOP PERFORMANCES OF JAN. 2-8
TEAMS: Dayton (opened A-10 play with a home victory over Saint Louis and a win at Temple – three nights after the Owls beat Duke), West Virginia (won by 21 points at Rutgers and then beat Georgetown in Morgantown), Colorado (improved to 3-0 in the Pac-12 with 18- and 11-point decisions over Washington and Washington State, respectively) and Nevada (had road wins at Idaho and Utah State – snapping the Aggies’ 33-game home winning streak in conference to open WAC action).
TEAM OF THE WEEK: West Virginia
PLAYERS: Deonte Burton (Nevada/Averaged 25.5 points with 5.5 assists, 3 rebounds and only 1.5 assists in two WAC road wins), Isaiah Canaan (Murray State/ Averaged 25.5 points in OVC wins over Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay, hitting nine of 13 shots from behind the arc in the process), Kevin Jones (West Virginia/averaged 18 points and 15 rebounds in Big East wins over Rutgers and Georgetown), Damian Lillard (Weber State/averaged 34.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in Big Sky road wins against Eastern Washington and Portland State), Doug McDermott (Creighton/hit 27 of 35 shots from the field while scoring 24 and 44 points, respectively, in MVC victories over Drake and Bradley) Dominique Morrison (Oral Roberts/27.3 avg in Summit League wins over Oakland, North Dakota State and South Dakota State).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kevin Jones
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
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