T3R College Hoops Style Week 4

Although the ranks were posted on Friday this week, they were completed Thursday but I was unable to post them until today. Keep in mind that these were finished before the Louisville and UCLA losses and the Gonzaga and Arizona State wins.

1. UCONN Huskies (23-1, 11-1)
40 votes (2 first place votes)
Last week: W vs Michigan 69-61, W vs Syracuse 63-49
This week: Saturday @ Seton Hall, Monday vs #3 Pitt
UCONN has yet to see a big physical team challenge their defense this season. Hasheem Thabeet has been able to dominate the inside on defense, scaring teams into taking bad shots and allowing the Huskies to stay out of foul trouble almost all season. Pitt will attack UCONN and be physical with the Huskies on Monday. It will be a fun one to watch. Also, UCONN has lost its 2nd leading scorer, Jerome Dyson, for the season. It will be interesting to see how Calhoun adjusts his line-up to replace him.

2. Oklahoma Sooners (24-1, 10-0)
38 votes
Last week: W vs Colorado 77-72, W Baylor 78-63
This week: Saturday vs Texas TechThis team is a lot like the St. Joe’s team from 2004. Both teams had one huge star (Blake Griffin of OU, Jameer Nelson for St.J) and some role players that would almost always step up if needed. The problem that OU has is the same that St. Joe’s had, their conference is very weak. I know that the Big XII is better than the A-10, but the Big XII is WAY down this year and it is tough to tell how good OU will be come March.

3. Pitt Panthers (22-2, 7-2)
36 votes
Last week: W @ DePaul 92-69, W vs West Virginia 70-59
This week: Saturday vs Cincinnati, Monday @ #1 UCONN
Pitt is the only team in the country that only have losses to Top 10 teams. No other team can claim that they have no bad losses. However, Pitt also needs to add a marquee win to their resume. UCONN on Monday night would be a great way to boost that resume as the Panthers shoot for their first 1-seed in school history.

4. North Carolina Tarheels (22-2, 8-2)
34 votes
Last week: W vs Virginia 76-61, W @ #15 Duke 101-87
This week: Sunday @ Miami, Wednesday vs North Carolina State
A very impressive win at Duke Wednesday night. Ty Lawson is the glue to this team. They will go as far as he takes them. Regardless of all the hype about Tyler Hansbrough, Lawson is the best player on the team. His sub-par performances against both BC & Wake Forest resulted in losses for the Heels. Hansbrough has sub-par games against Clemson and Duke yet UNC wins. Why? Lawson!

5. Louisville Cardinals (18-4, 9-1)
32 votes
Last week: W @ St. John’s 60-47
This week: Thursday, L @ Notre Dame 90-57, Sunday vs DePaul, Wednesday vs Providence
This has been a long road this season for Louisville. They started the season in the top 3, then after losses to Minnesota and UNLV almost fell out of the rankings altogether. Now they are back in the top 5. The big glaring weakness for this team is leadership. David Padgett had been that guy for the past 8 or 9 years at Louisville, but the NCAA finally cut off his eligibility and the team is lost without him. If someone finally steps up as the leader of this team they will be a tough out in March.

6. Memphis Tigers (21-3, 9-0)
30 votes
Last week: W @ #13 Gonzaga 68-50, W vs Tulsa 63-37
This week: Saturday @ Southern Miss, Wednesday @ Southern Methodist
Let’s take a closer look at who Memphis has on tap this week. SMU and USM, life in Conference USA must be nice. Keep this in mind; Memphis is 1-2 in Big East play this year. They beat Seton Hall and lost to both Syracuse and Georgetown. That Syracuse loss was at home; the only other wins Syracuse has on the road this year are Rutgers and South Florida. Let that sink in a little.

7. Villanova Wildcats (20-4, 8-3)
28 votes
Last week: W vs Syracuse 102-85, W @ #11 Marquette 102-84
This week: Friday @ West Virginia
Nova has won six straight and has only one loss in the past month, and that loss was in Storrs vs the #1 team in the country in a game they were winning in the second half. Their defense has been suspect during this stretch, but it hasn’t mattered much because the offense has been on fire. The Wildcats have averaged 99.3 over their past three games and haven’t shot worse than 54% in either of their last two.

8. UCLA Bruins (19-4, 8-2)
24 votes
Last week: W vs Notre Dame 89-63
This week: Thursday, L @ #16 Arizona State, Saturday @ Arizona
UCLA destroyed Notre Dame last week and get back to conference play with rather difficult stretch. The Bruins have Arizona State, Arizona and Washington all coming up. UW and ASU already beat UCLA once each this season and if the Bruins have any hopes of winning the Pac-10 and maybe squeaking into a 1 or 2 seed they can’t let it happen again.

9. Michigan State Spartans (20-4, 10-2)
22 votes
Last week: W vs Indiana 75-47, W @ Michigan 54-42
This week: Tuesday @ Purdue
I normally have a rule that states, “IF YOU LOSE TO PENN STATE IN BASKETBALL YOU CAN NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE RANKED AGAIN THAT SEASON.” Michigan State is the first team to break that rule. Although I still think it is entirely inexcusable that they lost at home to Penn State, they have bounced back very nicely and are clearly the class of the Big Ten this season (if that means anything).

9. Clemson Tigers (20-3, 6-3)
22 votes
Last week: L vs Florida State 65-61, W vs @ Boston College 87-77
This week: Sunday @ Virginia, Tuesday vs Maryland
For once Clemson is actually hanging around the top ten AFTER conference play starts. Losing at home to Florida State after that big Duke win is a little disappointing, but the Seminoles are not a bad team. Clemson only has three losses, UNC, Wake and FSU, not a shabby group of teams there.

11. Butler Bulldogs (21-2, 12-1)
15 votes
Last week: W @ Detroit 66-61, W @ Wright State 69-51
This week: Friday vs Illinois-Chicago, Sunday vs Loyola (IL)
Butler is clearly the class of the Horizon League even after they tripped up against UW-GB. Maybe Butler just gets bored with those teams. They did go out of conference and beat Xavier earlier in the year, but I can’t wait for the match-up with Davidson on Feb 21st.

11. Marquette Golden Eagles (20-4, 9-2)
15 votes
Last week: L @ South Florida 57-56, L @ #7 Villanova 102-84
This week: Saturday vs St. John’s, Tuesday vs Seton Hall
Last week we asked, “How far can 3 guards take you?” and this week we found out the answer is until the first week in February. Losing to Villanova, okay I see that, but South Florida? The Golden Eagles have 2 gimmes before a brutal 5-game stretch to finish the year of @ G’Town, UCONN, @ L’ville, @ Pitt and they finish home vs Syracuse. They better take care of business this week or Marquette may be the first team in history to follow a nine game winning streak with nine straight L’s.

13. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (18-4, 5-4)
14 votes
Last week: W vs Boston College 93-76, L @ NC State 82-76
This week: Saturday vs Florida State, Wednesday vs Georgia Tech
This team has to be the biggest question mark of anyone in the rankings. The same team that has lost to, arguably, the two worst teams in the ACC (Georgia Tech and NC State) has also beaten UNC, Clemson and Duke. Go figure.

13. Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-5, 8-0)
14 votes
Last week: W @ Portland 93-78, L vs #6 Memphis 68-50
This week: Thursday, W @ St. Mary’s 72-70, Saturday @ San Francisco
Saturday, against Memphis, Gonzaga showed that they either are no where close to the team that have been in the past or when they have off nights they are really off. I’m going with they off night theory.

15. Duke Blue Devils (20-4, 7-3)
12 votes
Last week: W vs Miami 78-75, L vs #4 North Carolina 101-87
This week: Sunday @ Boston College
Duke is in a major rut right now. The Blue Devils are doing just enough to win games or being completely blown out of the gym. UNC nearly blew Duke out early on Wednesday, but Duke showed a lot of heart in battling back to make it a game. It was only a matter of time before UNC and their superior athletes overwhelmed Duke.

16. Arizona State Sun Devils (18-5, 8-3)
10 votes
Last week: W @ Oregon 66-57, W @ Oregon State 49-38
This week: Thursday, W vs #8 UCLA, Sunday vs USC
No, that is not a typo, Arizona State scored just 49 points in a win last week. So maybe their offense lacks a little punch, but imagine how great their defense must be. The Sun Devils are right in the middle of the wide open Pac-10 race.

Others receiving votes:Missouri 8, Washington 3, Florida State 3, Illinois 2, Xavier 2, Dayton 1