The top eight stayed the same with some changing of positions. As for 9-25? They are like a Jerry Lee Lewis song: “Come on over baby. Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on.”
1. Texas – The Horns are holding opponents to 36.3 percent from the field (2nd in the nation) and 28.1 percent from behind the arc (5th).
2. Kansas – Tonight’s game with K-State looked like a dandy in the pre-season. The Jayhawks should stroll through it now. Emphasis is on the word should.
3. Pittsburgh – The Panthers rebound margin of 12.5 (#1) keeps them in every game.
4. Ohio State – Sparty comes to Columbus on Tuesday, and the Buckeyes head to Purdue on Sunday.
5. BYU – 12 days until the Cougars head to San Diego.
6. Duke – Denizens of Cameron can breathe easier now that it was determined that Nolan Smith was poked in the eye. As opposed to a potential concussion.
7. San Diego State – See BYU.
8. Notre Dame – The Irish take their show out on the road this week with a stop at West Virginia.
9. Georgetown – Rumors of the Hoyas demise have been clearly exaggerated.
10. Arizona – If it means anything, the Wildcats have won six Pac 10 games in a row. If it means anything.
11. Florida – The Gators have taken four in a row.
12. U Conn – The Huskies play truth and consequences with Georgetown and Lu-vul this week.
13. Kentucky – Despite losing three of four, the Wildcats are at #13. Why? I really couldn’t say except that a lot of teams below keep losing.
14. Villanova – Case in point. Jay Wright’s gang fell twice last week, and Villanova goes out on the road for games at Seton Hall and DePaul this week.
15. Wisconsin Can the Badgers consistently win away from Madison?
16. Louisville – All four of the Cardinals’ Big East losses have come on the road. They play at Cincinnati tomorrow.
17. Texas A&M – The Aggies rebound margin of 8.9 is fifth in the country.
18. Purdue – Just when the Boilermakers started looking like an Animal House character “floundering” through the Big Ten slate, they go out and beat Illinois at Assembly Hall.
19. Washington – The Huskies saved themselves for a week with wins over Cal and Stanford.
20. Missouri – The Tigers don’t have to deal with the Horns or the Jayhawks for the next couple of weeks.
21. Syracuse – Have the Orange been watching a little too much of The Wizard Of Oz. Heart? Courage? Brains? Which is it?
22. North Carolina – Why did it take the Heels so long to put Kendall Marshall in the starting lineup?
23. Utah State – The Aggies’ rebounded from their first loss since December fourth by beating Fresno State.
24. Wichita State – The Shockers had an impressive road win at Northern Iowa.
25. Xavier – What can I say.
Well … you can start by putting Wisconsin & Louisville ahead of Kentucky and Nova. But certainly Wisconsin.
“25. Xavier — What can I say?” Here’s what you should say: “Despite Wally saying ‘Since when is a win over Duquesne a springboard to ANYTHING?’ about a week ago, I (Casey) decided that a win over the Dukes, yes, the Dukes, not Duke University, would indeed serve as a springboard into the Top 25 … cuz well … everyone knows what a tough team Duquesne is. Afterall, I’ll bet you 1 dollar that there’s not a better guard tandem in the game than Randolph and Mortimer Duke!!
But … it is YOUR Top 25 … do what you will.
ND with 3 straight road wins in BE for the first time ever. The words “ND takes its show on the road” aren’t as ominous as they used to be. Can they win in Morgantown like they did in Pittsburgh? I think the Irish have found a way to work through their coaching; call it Breyvery if you will! GO IRISH!
Will homecourt work for SDSU? Here’s one guy picking the Aztecs.
Pete —
ND really needs to do whatever they can to get at least a #3 seed for the NCAA tournament. That way, they avoid the region’s #1 seed until the region finals. I think they will get a #3 clinched if they can finish 2nd for the BigEast regular season … a position they currently hold. A “W” in Morgantown would go a long way to making sure that happens.
Of course, a high seeding doesn’t guarantee anything, but it’s been a very long time since ND fans could even have this discussion. I vividly remember the last time they made the Final Four (’78) … but still was 33 years ago!
Question: who was the only person who could hold Kelly Tripucka under 25 points?
Digger Phelps? Or was it Kenny Dennard?
Digger is the best answer … “unofficially”.
$#@$!% Duke beat ND by a few points, but then they were “jacked” by Givens of KY. Ha!
I hate to call ND’s ’78 team “underachieving”, but look at this roster:
Dave Batton, Rich Branning, Jeff Carpenter, Chris Fabian, Bruce Flowers, Randy Haefner, Bill Hanzlik, Tim Healy, Tracy Jackson, Bill Laimbeer, Gilbert Salinas, Kelly Tripucka, Stan Wilcox, Don Williams, Orlando Woolridge, Head Coach Digger Phelps.
Five players — Hanzlik, Jackson, Laimbeer, Tripucka and Woolridge — all had decent to very good NBA careers. Flowers, Batton, Williams and Branning woulda played in the NBA if they had as many teams as they have now.
Not winning that ’78 title cost Digger his chance to be as popular and revered as Lou Holtz is. (But he’s still very fondly remembered of course).
K-State big over Kansas right after Ohio State goes down … wondering if we’re going through one of those periods where the crown is too heavy for the #1 team …. kinda like we saw in the football season just passed. Of course, Casey was smart enough to put Kansas at #2, unlike the rest of the polls. Will Texas suffer an “L” here in the near term???
Interesting that Texas had more #1 votes than any other team in the AP but is ranked third. Kansas had one more first place vote in the coaches’ poll. It seemed like a no-brainer to me that the Horns are #1 for now considering that they won at the Phog.
The Horns COULD have some smooth sailing for the next two weeks, but you never know. They host OKST tonight before traveling to Nebraska this weekend. Next week they have Iowa St and at Colorado. BUT K-State on 2/28 and finish @ Baylor.