College Basketball Top 25

By Matt Smith

This was a tough week to pick the rankings. I’ll be keeping my eye on St. Mary’s, Gonzaga, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Notre Dame, Connecticut, Seton Hall and West Virginia in the upcoming week.

1. Memphis (19-0): Got past a pretty good test against Gonzaga.

2. Kansas (20-0): They sure are good. Should be a good game against KSU.

3. Duke (17-1): I’m not going to get to high on the Dukies, but they are taking care of business.

4. North Carolina (19-1): February 6 should be one hell of a game.

5. UCLA (18-2): A nice little Oregon sweep for the Bruins.

6. Georgetown (16-2): Still standing atop a brutal Big East.

7. Michigan State (18-2): Spartie just keeps getting it done.

8. Tennessee (17-2): The Vols fell victim to a Kentucky team that can only beat top ranked opponents.

9. Texas (16-3): Texas has won some close games lately, showing toughness down the stretch.

10. Washington State (17-2): Wazzu nearly got caught napping against ASU, which would have led to a third Pac-10 loss.

11. Indiana (17-2): They didn’t come to play against UConn, but the Hoosiers are still undefeated in the Big Ten.

12. Drake (18-1): Still unscathed in everybody’s favorite mid-major conference.

13. Florida (18-3): Watch out, because the Gators don’t appear to just be pretty good.

14. Butler (19-2): They kinda moved up by default.

15. Stanford (16-3): The Cardinal are quietly in contention the Pac-10.

16. Wisconsin (16-3): Everyone is bound to lose a conference road game.

17. Xavier (17-4): The Muskateers like to win big; and lose big when they do lose.

18. Pittsburgh (16-4): The Big East is brutal and is the best conference in basketball, but you can’t get blown out in the second half by Rutgers.

19. Louisville (15-5): I think they are about to rattle off a nice little string of wins.

20. Mississippi State (14-5): Unbeaten in the SEC and a team everyone is taking notice of.

21. Kansas State (14-4): Michael Beasley and Billy Walker are so good. Now the Cougs get a chance to beat a Kansas team they’ve beat once in the last 36 tries.

22. Purdue (15-5): Five straight wins and a victory against Wisconsin will get you ranked.

23. Marquette (14-4): This could have been one of a few other Big East squads. For now, it’s the Golden Eagles.

24. Vanderbilt (17-3): I am giving them one week to show that being down to 34-6 to Florida isn’t the type of team they are.

25. Baylor (16-3): I know they went 1-1 and moved into the rankings, but this is kind of a makeup move for me leaving them off last week. A thrilling win against A&M and a very close loss to Oklahoma show they are a quality team and should have been ranked.