It's not controversial to call the Miami Heat the best basketball team in the nation. But when talking college hoops, the Miami basketball program hasn't quite reached the heights of the football team. That's starting to change this season.
A friend passed along this video, where former Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg is asked who is playing the best basketball in the country right now:
If you think about it, his choice isn't too far-fetched. Who is hotter than Miami right now? Since waking up the nation with a 90-63 beatdown of Duke the Hurricanes haven't slowed down at all, racking up wins over Florida State, Virginia Tech, NC State, Boston College, and most recently an 87-61 win over North Carolina. Miami is 10-0 in the SEC, #2 in the RPI, and on an 11-game winning streak. They're up to #3 in the latest AP poll.
The Hurricanes are also #1 in our most recent Zeitgeist rankings, an algorithm which heavily emphasizes recent accomplishment. Here's the current top 25:
prev Rnk Team Rec Points Last game ( . = 1 game day ago)
2 1. Miami FL 19-3 61.08 .W 87-61 #41 North Carolina
1 2. Indiana 21-3 51.82 W 81-68 @#16 Ohio St.
5 3. Duke 21-2 49.16 W 62-61 @#154 Boston College
12 4. Syracuse 20-3 46.11 W 77-58 #53 St. John's
7 5. Gonzaga 22-2 44.09 .W 74-55 #268 Loyola Marymount
6 6. Michigan 20-3 40.02 .L 65-62OT @#43 Wisconsin
15 7. Michigan St. 19-4 39.79 .W 78-65 @#125 Purdue
14 8. Memphis 20-3 38.11 .W 89-76 @#51 Southern Mississipp
8 9. New Mexico 20-4 37.54 .L 64-55 @#39 Nevada Las Vegas
9 10. Arizona 20-3 37.21 L 77-69 #65 California
17 11. Butler 19-4 36.63 .W 59-56 @#105 George Washington
11 12. Georgetown 17-4 36.43 .W 69-63 @#146 Rutgers
4 13. Florida 19-3 35.71 .W 83-58 #265 Mississippi St.
23 14. Pittsburgh 20-5 35.54 .W 62-52 @#18 Cincinnati
20 15. St. Louis 18-5 35.21 .W 56-46 @#76 Richmond
43 16. Wisconsin 17-7 34.56 .W 65-62OT #6 Michigan
21 17. Oklahoma St. 17-5 34.18 .W 72-59 @#199 Texas
3 18. Kansas 19-4 32.76 .L 72-66 @#70 Oklahoma
22 19. Notre Dame 19-5 32.04 .W 104-101OT #10 Louisville
29 20. Kansas St. 18-4 31.73 .W 79-70 #56 Iowa St.
28 21. St. Mary's 20-4 30.26 .W 74-64 @#217 San Diego
10 22. Louisville 19-5 30.09 .L 104-101OT @#22 Notre Dame
33 23. Virginia 17-6 30.04 W 80-69 @#62 Maryland
27 24. Middle Tennessee 22-4 29.92 .W 93-41 #189 Troy
26 25. Colorado St. 17-4 29.34 ....W 73-69 @#149 Nevada
Miami's two wins put them ahead of Indiana, who lost to Illinois but bounced back to top Ohio State 81-68 on the road to slide only to #2. Duke edges up to #3 with two wins, while Syracuse leaps to #4 after beating Notre Dame and St. John's. And the Gonzaga Bulldogs finally reach the top five after beating two WCC opponents.
The Big Ten continues to rank high during infighting. Michigan holds at #6 after beating Ohio State in overtime, then losing to Wisconsin in overtime on Saturday. Michigan State beat Minnesota and Purdue to jump to #7; they face the Wolverines on Tuesday. Memphis has quietly gone 20-3, and after 14 wins in a row ranks #8, though the Tigers are only #47 in our Strength rankings. New Mexico and Arizona round out the top ten, both teams dropping a notch after going 1-1 this week.
Florida's 3rd loss drops the Gators to #13; it will be interesting to see if they can regain their dominant form as injuries add up. The biggest mover in the top 25 is Wisconsin, who beat Iowa in double overtime, then Michigan in overtime to jump to #16. On the flipside of that luck is Louisville, who lost to Notre Dame 104-101 in 5 overtimes, falling to #22. The Irish rose to #19 after losing to Syracuse earlier in the week.
Former Zeitgeist #1 Kansas may be a cautionary tale for the Hurricanes. The Jayhawks were riding high at 19-1 and on an 18-game winning streak but have lost three in a row since and dropped to #18. These weren't all hard-fought contests against tough opponents, either: Texas Christian was #304 last week but beat Kansas 62-55. Before that, the Jayhawks lost to Oklahoma, and after lost to Oklahoma State.
Miami faces a fairly tough road in the next few weeks, with games at Florida State and Clemson followed by a visit from Virginia, so if they lose focus they could come tumbling down like Kansas. But right now they're on the short list of teams vying for a #1 seed come Selection Sunday.