Compared to last week there was almost no action in college basketball, with the holidays and all, but there was still some movement at the top.
SportsRatings Top 25 - Week 7 (thru 12/28/2008) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
lw |
# |
Team |
Rec |
Big wins/losses |
1 |
1. |
North Carolina | 12-0 |
|
2 |
2. |
Connecticut | 11-0 |
w@GonzagaOT |
3 |
3. |
Wake Forest | 11-0 |
w=Baylor+9 |
4 |
4. |
Oklahoma | 12-0 |
|
5 |
5. |
Pittsburgh | 12-0 |
w@FSU+8 |
8 |
6. |
Clemson | 12-0 |
wIllinois+2 |
7 |
7. |
Baylor | 10-1 |
L=Wake-13;w=ArizSt+9 |
6 |
8. |
Ohio State | 9-1 |
L WVA-28;wButler+3 |
9 |
9. |
Butler | 10-1 |
L@OSU-3;wNwest+4,@Xavier+9 |
10 |
10. |
Duke | 10-1 |
L@Mich-8;w=Xavier+18 |
11 |
11. |
Villanova | 11-1 |
L=Texas-9 |
15 |
12. |
Stanford | 9-0 |
wNwestern+6 |
13 |
13. |
Dayton | 11-1 |
L Creighton-18;w=Marq+14 |
14 |
14. |
Syracuse | 12-1 |
L ClevelandSt-3 |
17 |
15. |
Minnesota | 12-0 |
|
16 |
16. |
Georgetown | 9-1 |
L=Tenn-12 |
18 |
17. |
Arizona State | 10-1 |
L=Baylor-9;wBYU+1 |
19 |
18. |
BYU | 10-1 |
L@ASU-1 |
20 |
19. |
Illinois State | 12-0 |
|
22 |
20. |
Tennessee | 8-2 |
L@Tem-16,=Gon-9;w=Gt+12,Mar+12 |
23 |
21. |
Northwestern | 8-2 |
L@Butler-4,@Stan-6;wFSU+14 |
12 |
22. |
Xavier | 9-2 |
L=Duke-18,Butler-9 |
24 |
23. |
Marquette | 11-2 |
L=Dayton-14,@Tenn-12 |
25 |
24. |
Florida State | 12-2 |
L@Nwestern-14,Pitt-8 |
-- |
25. |
Illinois | 12-1 |
L Clemson-2 |
| out: | ||||
21 |
-- |
Gonzaga | 8-3 |
L@AZ-5,PortSt-7,UConnOT;w=TN+9 |
The top five remained the same, but Ohio State had their first loss. It was a big one, to West Virginia at home by almost 30 points, so they should fall a lot farther than to #8. But I'm keeping them ahead of #9 Butler for now. If they lose again they'll fall quite a bit.
Butler, of course, beat Xavier, giving them two top 25 victories to go with the loss to the Buckeyes. The Musketeers have lost to two top ten teams and stay in at 22, allowing several teams to move up to one degree or another. Undefeated Stanford and Minnesota hop a couple of 1-loss teams eachThe other loser this week was Gonzaga, who lost to Portland State and falls out at 8-3. This takes #2 UConn's biggest win off the table (of course UConn lost to Georgetown Monday night, but these rankings go through Sunday). Replacing them is 12-1 Illinois, who beat Missouri earlier in the week. The Tigers would have earned the slot otherwise.
Why didn't West Virginia crack the top 25 after beating Ohio State? There simply wasn't room this week, as they're behind Davidson (who beat them) and Purdue (who beat Davidson). All three teams belong in the top 25, though, and will get there ASAP if they don't lose in the next few weeks. As of right now, there are more deserving unranked 2-loss teams than unranked 1-loss teams. Here is a listing of the best 2-loss unranked teams, in order; think of it as an "others receiving votes" section:
Purdue, Davidson, West Virginia, Missouri, Maryland, Michigan, California, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Texas, UCLA.
As mentioned, Purdue, Davidson, and West Virginia fall in that order. Davidson lost also to Oklahoma, while Purdue was defeated by Oklahoma and Duke.
Michigan actually beat Duke as well as losing to them, but they're behind Maryland, who fell only to Georgetown and Gonzaga, while beating Michigan State, who lost also to North Carolina while beating Texas. Yes, it gets complicated. Texas lost to Notre Dame (who lost only to UNC and Ohio State) and beat Villanova and UCLA; the Bruins lost also to Michigan.
See how interconnected all this is? That's what's great about the college basketball pre-conference season.
California lost only to FSU and Missouri; the Tigers lost to Illinois and Xavier. In the coming weeks some of these teams will lose again and break up the pack, the deserving ones getting into the rankings. Purdue has the quickest route: beat Illinois on Tuesday. Davidson plays Duke on the road on January 7th. West Virgina plays UConn the previous day.
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