Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Kentucky (1) | 30-1 | Someone will give the Wildcats a “test” in the SEC Tourney . . . won’t they? |
2. Syracuse (2) | 30-1 | The Orange could face the team that showed it the NCAA Tourney exit (Marquette) last spring in the Big East final Saturday night in NYC. |
3. Kansas (3) | 26-5 | All in all, a third game with Missouri seems inevitable in Big 12 tourney finale. |
4. Missouri (5) | 27-4 | In wins over Iowa State and Texas Tech, the Tigers showed no ill effects from loss to Kansas. |
5. North Carolina (7) | 27-4 | The Tar Heels got some revenge – and then some – in Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday night. |
6. Duke (6) | 26-5 | One way to look at ACC Tourney – the Blue Devils seem to play better away from Durham, anyway, this season. |
7. Ohio State (8) | 25-6 | The Buckeyes are the 3 seed but should be considered solid favorites to win Big 10 Tourney title. |
| 8. Michigan State (4) | 25-7 | The season-ending injury to freshman Branden Dawson was the biggest loss suffered Sunday against Ohio State. |
9. Marquette (9) | 25-6 | Knocking off Georgetown by 14 points was an impressive way to roll into the Big East Tournament. |
10. Creighton (11) | 28-5 | As good as Doug McDermott was, the Bluejays were able to hold off Illinois State Sunday because of the shooting of Grant Gibbs. |
11. Wichita State (8) | 27-5 | The NCAA Committee shouldn’t punish (via seedings) the Shockers too much for that semifinal hiccup vs. Illinois State Saturday. |
12. Murray State (12) | 30-1 | The Racers will have plenty of time to fine-tune the engine while waiting to find out who they play in the NCAA Tourney. |
13. Indiana (13) | 24-7 | The Hoosiers won their final four games by an average margin of 16 points. |
14. Iowa State (14) | 22-9 | Six-eight, 270-pound Royce White (5.2 assists per game) is one of the best passing posts in the country. |
15. Florida State (15) | 19-9 | Trivia Time – the Seminoles scored as many as 70 points just once in eight February games. |
16. Wisconsin (NR) | 23-8 | Winning final three games (vs. Ohio State, Minnesota and Illinois) has to bode well for conference tourney momentum. |
On the Cusp: Michigan 23-8, Georgetown 22-7, Kansas State 21-9, Drexel 27-5, VCU 27-6, San Diego State 24-6, UNLV 25-7, Notre Dame 21-10, Baylor 25-6, Memphis 23-8, Cincinnati 22-9, New Mexico 24-6, Saint Mary’s 26-5, Louisville 22-9, Gonzaga 25-5, Temple 24-6, Virginia 22-8, Harvard 26-4, Florida 22-9, Vanderbilt 21-10 and Nevada 25-5.
THE TOP PERFORMANCES OF FEB. 27-MARCH 4
TEAMS: Ohio State (rallied from 15 points down to win at Michigan State in Big Ten finale); Creighton (won MVC tourney title); Kentucky (wrapped up SEC regular season with home win over Georgia and win at Florida); San Diego State (closed with four consecutive wins to share MWC regular-season title with New Mexico but gain the No. 1 seed in conference tourney); Penn (has won seven in a row going into regular-season finale at Princeton on Tuesday; a Quakers’ win means a one-game playoff with Harvard for the right to represent the Ivy League in the NCAA Tournament); UCLA (closed regular seasons with wins over Washington State and Washington to secure No. 5 seed in Pac-12 tourney); North Carolina (cruised to win at Duke Saturday night to clinch ACC title; hammered Maryland by 24 points earlier in the week); Memphis (knocked off Central Florida and Tulsa to win Conference USA by two games).
TEAM OF THE WEEK: North Carolina
PLAYERS: Anthony Davis (Kentucky/15.5 ppg, 10 rpg and eight blocked shots in wins over Georgia and Florida); Will Barton (Memphis/Had 24 ppg, 10 rpg, four apg, 2 bpg in wins over Central Florida and Tulsa); Mike Scott (Virginia/Scored career-best 35 points with 11 rebounds in 75-72 win at Maryland on Sunday; had 28 points and 10 rebounds in three-point loss at Florida State on Thursday); Tyler Zeller (North Carolina/had 24.5 ppg and 9 rpg in games with Maryland and Duke, including career-high 30 vs. Terps).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Barton
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
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Nice to see Barton getting
Nice to see Barton getting some love, looking forward to seeing what they can do in the tournament, could surprise some people. I wonder if his draft stock will ever start reflecting his great play.