Indiana hung onto the top spot in these ratings in fine fashion last week.
The Hoosiers played just once but it was a dandy performance while pulling away down the stretch to topple host Michigan State in a gut-twisting Big Ten Conference showdown.
But, over in the Big East, Georgetown pulled off a road win that was every bit as impressive as the Hoosiers’ effort while beating Syracuse.
And the same could be said of Kansas, which made amends for a home loss to Oklahoma State by beating the Cowboys in Stillwater.
Yeah, it was quite a week . . .
Here are some of the games that could make this one pretty sweet, too:
Monday – Kansas at Iowa State; Syracuse at Marquette. Tuesday – Indiana at Minnesota; Florida at Tennessee. Wednesday – Georgetown at Connecticut; San Diego State at New Mexico. Thursday – Gonzaga at BYU; Duke at Virginia. Saturday – Arizona at UCLA; Miami at Duke; Louisville at Syracuse; Butler at VCU; Notre Dame at Marquette; Sunday—Michigan State at Michigan; Villanova at Pittsburgh.
Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Indiana (1) | 24-3 | The Hoosiers are playing for more than just a regular season Big Ten title – they’re in line for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. |
2. Gonzaga (2) | 27-2 | The Bulldogs need just to win out to secure a first-ever No. 1 tourney seed. |
3. Duke (6) | 24-3 | With a trip to Virginia on tap for Thursday night there is no danger that the Blue Devils will be looking ahead to that Saturday home rematch against Miami. |
4. Miami (4) | 21-3 | Raise your right hand if you anticipated the Canes losing by 15 points at Wake Forest? I thought so. |
5. Florida (5) | 22-4 | The Gators hope to avoid the Knoxville Nightmare Tuesday that befell the Kentucky Wildcats. |
6. Michigan State (3) | 22-6 | How does a team slip only three slots in these ratings after losing both games it played in a week? That’s the cases when the losses come in the meg-powerful Big Ten and the games are against Indiana and Ohio State. |
7. Michigan (7) | 23-4 | The Wolverines took care of home Big Ten business against Penn State and Illinois. |
| 8. Louisville (9) | 22-5 | Just a thought – how entertaining is that last Big East Tournament (in its current structure) going to be? |
9. Kansas (10) | 23-4 | The Jayhawks are in Ames Monday night and they had to go into overtime to beat the Cyclones when they played in Lawrence on Jan. 9. |
10. Kansas State (13) | 22-5 | The change of scenery has suited Bruce Weber well. |
11. Georgetown (14) | 21-4 | What else can you say about the Hoyas’ performance at Syracuse that “wow” doesn’t already cover succinctly? |
12. Syracuse (8) | 22-5 | Jim Boeheim’s team doesn’t have any time to fret over home loss to Georgetown – it visits Marquette Monday night. |
13. Oklahoma State (12) | 20-6 | The Cowboys bounced back from the sting of the OT home loss to Kansas with a nice performance in Morgantown. |
14. Memphis (15) | 24-3 | The Tigers, 13-0 in C-USA, step outside of conference for a trip to Cincinnati for a game with Xavier that could be tough. |
15. Saint Louis (NR) | 21-5 | All things considered, Jim Crews deserves serious consideration for National Coach of the Year and a long-term contract with the Billikens. |
16. New Mexico (NR) | 23-4 | The Lobos are looking like the MWC’s best team after the bulk of the pre- and early-season national hyperbole was directed toward Las Vegas and San Diego. |
On the cusp (listed alphabetically): Akron 22-4, Arizona 23-4, Butler 22-6, Cal 18-9, Colorado State 21-6, Connecticut 19-7, Creighton 22-7, Illinois 20-9, Iowa State 19-8, Kentucky 19-8, Louisiana Tech 24-3, Marquette 19-7, Maryland 19-8, North Carolina 19-8, North Carolina State 19-8, Notre Dame 22-6, Ohio State 20-7, Oklahoma 18-8, Oregon 22-6, Pittsburgh 21-7, San Diego State 20-7, Saint Mary’s 24-5, UCLA 20-7, UNLV 21-7, Villanova 18-10, Virginia 19-8, Virginia Commonwealth 22-6, Wichita State 24-5 and Wisconsin 19-8.
TOP PERFORMANCES OF FEB. 18-24
TEAMS
Cal: Continued to play as if it is now the best team in the Pac 12, picking up victories at Oregon and Oregon State to stretch its winning streak to five.
Georgetown: The Hoyas are alone atop the Big East standings after a 57-46 victory at Syracuse on Saturday that ran its winning streak to nine.
Indiana: The 72-68 victory against a sizzling Michigan State squad Tuesday has to rate as arguably the most impressive Hoosier victory of the season.
New Mexico: The Lobos moved two games in front in the MWC by knocking off Boise State in Albuquerque and then tripping up Colorado State in Ft. Collins.
Saint Louis: The Billikens pushed a couple of steps closer to an A-10 title with impressive victories at home against Virginia Commonwealth and at Butler.
PLAYERS
Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary’s): The WCC Player of the Year as a junior, Dellavedova didn’t come off the floor in either game while scoring 39 points with 10 rebounds and nine assists in wins over BYU and Creighton all but locked up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the Gaels.
Victor Oladipo (Indiana): The 6-5 junior played just one game but his 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals helped the Hoosiers pull out a critical Big Ten victory at Michigan State.
Marcus Paige (North Carolina): The freshman point guard scored 22 points (hitting 12 of 13 free throws) with 13 assists, seven steals and just two turnovers during the 61 minutes he playing during ACC victories over Georgia Tech and North Carolina State.
Otto Porter (Georgetown): The 6-8 sophomore and top candidate for Big East Player of the Year scored 33 points with eight rebounds, two assists and five steals during the Hoyas’ win at Syracuse
Kendall Williams (New Mexico): The 6-4 junior guard scored 46 points during the Lobos’ win at Colorado State, hitting 12 of 16 from the field (including 10 of 13 behind the arc) to go with 12 of 17 free throws. He also had five rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in 33 minutes.
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
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Creighton on the cusp?
I know they were a hot pick earlier this season but they have lost 6 of their last 11. Borderline bubble team at best.