SportsRatings: College Basketball: SportsRating Top 25

SportsRating Top 25

November 12, 2014

2014-2015 Pre-season rankings: #1 to #351

The SportsRatings 2014-15 pre-season College Basketball Top 351 is live.

The purpose of these pre-season rankings is mostly to have something to average with the early weeks of the Strength power rating to make more reasonable early-season ratings. It's also because making a pre-season top 351 can be a lot of fun, if you use a method that doesn't take too much work. If you want rankings that took a lot more work, see Hanner's or Pomeroy's in the links below.

These rankings are based on the team's performance last year (Strength power rating), their returning roster, and new recruits/transfers. The simplicity of this system, and any errors in the application of those three heuristics, will be responsible for the inevitable misrankings you find. Again, if you don't like where your team is, see Hanner (SI) or Pomeroy's ratings. Note: TeamRankings.com just posted their top 351, too.

Key: These are the data points presented with each team:

LY Str: Last year's Strength power rating rank
Return Talent: A calculation of the team's returning roster, based on how well the team did last year—weighted toward play in the 2nd half of the season—and who is back. In some cases, a much more "talented" returning roster might rank below a less purely talented one that performed better last season.
New Talent: An estimation of the quality of this year's incoming freshmen and transfers. This becomes less exacting as the ranking goes up; that is, the difference between the #1 class and #50 class is much greater than #201 and #250. In fact, after #300 every team is listed as "#301+"
SI: Dan Hanner's pre-season rankings for Sports Illustrated. For comparison only, not used in calculation
POM: Ken Pomeroy's pre-season rankings. Again, not used in calculations
AP, USA: The pre-season AP and Coaches' polls, where applicable

SportsRatings' pre-season College Basketball Top 351 for the 2014-2015 season:

Arizona (P12 #1) LY Str:#2 Talent: [Return:#3 New:#6] SI:#2 POM:#5 AP:#2 USA:#2
The Wildcats were a basket away from the Final Four and were #1 in Strength for much of last year before losing F Brandon Ashley for the season in February. He's back along with starting F Kaleb Tarczewski, F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and senior PG T.J. McConnell. The 'Cats do lose their top two scorers, G Nick Johnson and F Aaron Gordon, but they bring in a top ten recruiting class led by 5-star G Stanley Johnson. It's enough to make Arizona our pre-season #1, while several others (Sports Illustrated, the sportswriters, and coaches) have them coming up just a notch short.
Louisville (ACC #1) LY Str:#1 Talent: [Return:#5 New:#7] SI:#7 POM:#3 AP:#8 USA:#9
They didn't make it past the Sweet Sixteen but the Cardinals were #1 in Strength on average for the 2013-14 season, but they switch places with Arizona as they lose just a bit more off last year's squad than the Wildcats do. Gone are first team All-American and leading scorer Russ Smith, #3 scorer G Luke Hancock, and #2 rebounder Stephan Van Treese. But Louisville gave 9 players significant time in the rotation last year, and with a base of F Montrezl Harrell (#2 scorer, #1 rebounder) and guards Chris Jones and Wayne Blackshear joined by a strong 6-player recruiting class the Cardinals will have enviably depth, to say the least.
Kentucky (SEC #1) LY Str:#15 Talent: [Return:#11 New:#1] SI:#1 POM:#2 AP:#1 USA:#1
After Kentucky finished 2nd in the NCAA tournament this might look like a downgrade, but for most of the year UK wasn't that great, and finished just #15 in Strength. They lose their two leading scorers, Julius Randle and James Young, from that team but the Harrison twins, Aaron and Andrew, are back and both averaged double figures for the 'Cats. Forwards Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Pythress, and Dakari Johnson will help make up for Randle's lost rebounds. And of course the Wildcats bring in another insane recruiting class with 5-stars Karl-Anthony Towns (C), Trey Lyles (PF), Tyler Ulis (PG), and Devin Booker (SG). They're #1 or #2 with everyone else and it's easy to see why as even their 2nd "platoon" might be national contenders this year.
Virginia (ACC #2) LY Str:#10 Talent: [Return:#2 New:#47] SI:#9 POM:#8 AP:#9 USA:#8
The Cavaliers earned a 1-seed with very strong play in the 2nd half of the season before bowing out of the tournament early. It's that late, pre-tourney play that pushes Virginia near the top of our forecast. The Cavs lose #2 scorer Joe Harris and top rebounder Akil Mitchell but the other 5 players in their main 7-man rotation are back including leading scorer G Malcolm Brodgon and PG London Perrantes. Their recruiting class contains only one consensus 4-star but new talent isn't expected to carry the load for the Cavaliers this season. They play one of the slowest tempos in the country but they do it well and are rated in the top ten across the board.
Wisconsin (B10 #1) LY Str:#5 Talent: [Return:#1 New:#154] SI:#3 POM:#6 AP:#3 USA:#4
Virginia is #2 in returning talent but Wisconsin is far ahead, returning almost everyone from last year's Final Four squad. It's a good thing as the Badgers hardly have a recruiting class to show this year (one player). Back are 7-foot senior F Frank Kaminski, who led the team in scoring and rebounds; F Sam Dekker and G Traevon Jackson, who also averaged double figures; sophomore F Nigel Hayes; and defensive and 3-pt specialist John Gasser. In fact the only one gone from last year is G Ben Brust, who was 2nd on the team in scoring. Is Wisconsin good enough to make a return trip to the Final Four? SI, AP, and the coaches think so, and we think they'll be the top team in the Big Ten at least.
Kansas (B12 #1) LY Str:#4 Talent: [Return:#10 New:#9] SI:#5 POM:#4 AP:#5 USA:#5
KU had Final Four talent last year but loses a good-sized chunk of that with the departure of Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, the #1 and #3 NBA draft picks. They also lose starting PG Naadir Tharpe. Forwards Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden (#2 and #4 scorers) are back, however, and the Jayhawks add a strong class that includes 5-star recruits Cliff Alexander (PF) and Kelly Oubre (SG). As usual, Kansas will be the favorite in the Big Twelve and compete for the national title as well.
North Carolina (ACC #3) LY Str:#29 Talent: [Return:#8 New:#19] SI:#11 POM:#20 AP:#6 USA:#6
The Tar Heels had a strong 2nd half of the season and return the bulk of their roster, led by PG Marcus Paige who averaged 17.5 ppg., and forwards J.P. Tokoto, Brice Johnson, and Kennedy Meeks, the team's #4, 5, and 6 scorers and the #2 thru #4 rebounders. Though they lose #2 and #3 scorers James Michael McAdoo and Leslie McDonald, McAdoo was a 54% free throw shooter and McDonald hit just 31% of his threes. The Tar Heels signed three solid recruits, including consensus 5-stars Justin Jackson and Theo Pinson, both forwards.
Villanova (BigE #1) LY Str:#11 Talent: [Return:#4 New:#70] SI:#8 POM:#9 AP:#12 USA:#12
The Wildcats are replete with returning starters, boasting four from last year's 2-seed squad. Back are G Darrun Hilliard and F JayVaughn Pinkston, who both averaged 14 points and change, and G Ryan Arcidiacono and F Daniel Ochefu. Guard Jay Hart played as much as a starter and was the #5 scorer; he's back, too. The big loss is G James Bell, who was #1 scorer and #2 rebounder, both by a sliver. But there's a lot of talent back, and the 'Cats add a few 4-star recruits for good measure; they should again be the cream of the new-wave Big East and compete for a high seed.
Duke (ACC #4) LY Str:#6 Talent: [Return:#17 New:#2] SI:#4 POM:#1 AP:#4 USA:#3
The Blue Devils are #1 in Ken Pomeroy's projection, and a Final Four pick with the others. We have them a bit lower but still in the top ten. The main reason is that they lose quite a bit of firepower from last year, including leading scorer and rebounder Jabari Parker (19.1 ppg, 8.7 rebounds). Parker was The League's #2 pick, and #2 scorer Rodney Hood (16.1 ppg) also went in the first round. That's 35 ppg gone, even as Duke returns scorers 3 thru 5 in Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, and Andre Dawkins. But the real hope for a title-contending team (both ACC and National) is the recruiting class which is 2nd only to Kentucky's, with three consensus 5-star players. 6-11 C Jahlil Okafor is the projected #1 draft pick on some sites, and PG Tyus Jones and F Justise Winslow are probable first-rounders.
Texas (B12 #2) LY Str:#41 Talent: [Return:#6 New:#51] SI:#12 POM:#19 AP:#10 USA:#10
Texas wasn't great last year but they finished strong and they have almost everyone back for the 2014-15 season. Four double-figure scorers—forward Jonathan Holmes, guards Isaiah Taylor and Javan Felix, and center Cameron Ridley—are back on a team that loses just one reserve. With the returning talent there's not much need—nor space—for new faces, but the Longhorns add 5-star recruit Myles Turner at center and another 4-star to boot. And that sums up why Texas is a near-consensus top 10 pick after underachieving so much of last year.
Oklahoma (B12 #3) LY Str:#25 Talent: [Return:#7 New:#52] SI:#27 POM:#28 AP:#19 USA:#19
If Kansas doesn't win the Big Twelve this year then look for Oklahoma to be right up there with Texas in contention for the title. The Sooners came on strong late last year before faltering in the post-season tournaments, and with most of the team back they approach our top ten. They lose starting guard Cameron Clark, the #2 scorer, but all four other starters return. Guards Buddy Heild, Isiah Cousins, and Jordan Woodard all averaged double figures and forward Ryan Spangler was just shy of it while averaging 9.3 rebounds. Oklahoma's recruiting class includes a couple of 4-star picks, and they also have Houston transfer TaShawn Thomas, whom we're assuming will not be eligible; if he is, they probably move ahead of Texas in the Big Twelve.
Florida (SEC #2) LY Str:#3 Talent: [Return:#14 New:#24] SI:#6 POM:#7 AP:#7 USA:#7
We've knocked the Gators down a bit from last year's lofty perch as they've lost four starters, all seniors, from the Final Four squad. Casey Prather and Scottie Wilbekin were the top scorers, and Patrick Young averaged double figures, too, while Will Yeguete was an all-purpose contributor. That leaves #3 scorer Michael Frazier II, who shot 45% from the 3-line, to build the team around. But Florida's roster is loaded with high-profile recruits and more came in this year, including 5-star pick Devin Robinson, two 4-star recruits, plus Duke transfer Alex Murphy and Michigan transfer Jon Horford. Can the Gators hold off Kentucky and repeat as SEC champs?
Wichita St. (MVC #1) LY Str:#17 Talent: [Return:#9 New:#76] SI:#16 POM:#10 AP:#11 USA:#11
The loss of Cleanthony Early can't be overstated; he averaged 16.4 ppg and 5.9 rebounds, leading the team in both measures, and in the Round of 32 loss to Kentucky he was easily the best player on the court. The Shockers' guard situation is solid, however, with Ron Baker, Fred VanVleet, and Tekele Cotton back; all averaged double figures and rebounded well. They round out the roster with a reasonably strong recruiting class, certainly for the Missouri Valley which they should once again have no trouble winning even if going 18-0 will be much harder. The Shockers actually rank higher than last year's #17 Strength finish and might be favored in every game on their schedule, but without Early they won't have the consistency to approach a 35-0 start.
VCU (A10 #1) LY Str:#26 Talent: [Return:#13 New:#48] SI:#18 POM:#17 AP:#15 USA:#16
Right behind Wichita State, our #2 mid-major team is Virginia Commonwealth (the Atlantic 10 is more correctly a "near-major" conference). The Rams have a solid returning group and recruited well for '14, too. They lose #2 scorer and top rebounder Junvonte Reddic and #4 scorer Rob Brandenberg, but return their top scorer (and #2 rebounder), senior forward Treveon Graham (15.8 ppg). Guards Melvin Johnson and Briante Weber both averaged around 10 points per game. The Rams bring in four solid recruits including one consensus 4-star player, and could be better than last year overall. The other polls/ratings surveyed put VCU at #15, 16, 17, and 18, and we have them at #14, and far and away #1 in the Atlantic 10.
Michigan (B10 #2) LY Str:#12 Talent: [Return:#15 New:#35] SI:#24 POM:#15 AP:#24 USA:#23
The Wolverines didn't quite match 2013's Final Four run last March but they have the talent to make another attempt. They'll have to do it without last year's Big Ten Player of the Year, Nik Stauskas (17.5 ppg) as well as Glenn Robinson III (#2 scorer) and leading rebounder Jordan Morgan (5.0/game). Mitch McGary is also gone, but he played only 8 games last year. Guards Caris Levert and Derrick Walton are back along with G/F Zac Irvin, so 3 of the top 5 scorers return and they add a solid crop of newcomers that includes two consensus 4-start small forwards. While the Wolverines don't figure to be quite as strong as last year without Stauskas and co., they will be a force in the wide-open Big Ten.
Iowa (B10 #3) LY Str:#8 Talent: [Return:#12 New:#75] SI:#20 POM:#31 AP:#28 USA:#25
It may look like we're upgrading the Hawkeyes, but last year's team was around #3 in Strength for much of the year before a late-season slide dropped them to a still-inflated #8 and relegated them to the NCAA play-in game which they lost to Tennessee. They lose top scorer Devyn Marble and starting forward Melsahn Basabe, but return #2 scorer and top rebounder Aaron White, PG Mike Gesell, and C Adam Woodbury; in all, 9 players averaged more than 15 minutes and 6 of them are back. The Hawks added a trio of decent recruits and should be just as deep this year. If they can overcome the loss of Marble—and avoid another collapse—this year will be more successful than the last one.
Gonzaga (WCC #1) LY Str:#22 Talent: [Return:#22 New:#23] SI:#10 POM:#18 AP:#13 USA:#13
The 'Zags are another candidate for top non-Major-conference team in 2014. Kevin Pangos and Sam Dower led the team with 14.4 points each, and while Dower is gone PG Pangos is back and reportedly injury-free for the first time since 2013. Dower led the team in rebounding, too, but Przemek Karnowski was a close #2 and he returns along with #3 scorer Gary Bell, Jr. Backup point guard David Stockton must be replaced, and the Bulldogs' top recruit is 4-star PG Josh Perkins. But the real story with Gonzaga is transfers who are eligible this year, including F Kyle Wiltjer from Kentucky and and Byron Wesley from USC; both averaged in double figures, Wesley for 2 years (17.6 last year). Gonzaga's winning tradition will continue.
Connecticut (Amer #1) LY Str:#20 Talent: [Return:#20 New:#40] SI:#19 POM:#16 AP:#17 USA:#15
UConn might be as good this year as they were last year—that is, before their NCAA title run. Before that, they were a typical top 25 team, and they can live up to that. They drop quite a bit from #1 in the nation, however. Shabazz Napier is gone along with DeAndre Daniels; the two were the top scorers and rebounders on the team. They lose #4 and #5 scorers Neils Giffey and Lasan Kromah. That leaves #3 Ryan Boatwright as the only main scorer back, along with several key reservers. The Huskies bring in a decent recruiting class led by 5-star G Daniel Hamilton, and NC State transfer Rodney Purvis got accolades from coach Kevin Ollie as one of the team's best player last year as he sat on the bench. Though solid, UConn doesn't look like a top national title contender, but who picked them as a 7-seed last year?
San Diego St. (MWC #1) LY Str:#24 Talent: [Return:#23 New:#30] SI:#14 POM:#29 AP:#16 USA:#17
Steven Fisher has made SDSU a perenial power and we pick them as a heavy favorite to win the Mountain West again. They lose point guard Xavier Thames, who led with 17.6 points per game, and forward Josh Davis (10.1 rebounds) is gone, too. But forwards Winston Shepard, JJ O'Brien, Skylar Spencer, and Dwayne Polee II all return, and they've picked up some decent guards including 4-star Trey Kell, and two more 4-star forwards, as well as Arizona transfer Aqeel Quinn. Should be another successful season in San Diego.
Pittsburgh (ACC #5) LY Str:#21 Talent: [Return:#16 New:#72] SI:#29 POM:#23 AP:#34 USA:#29
The Panthers are our first top 25 team that isn't in either of the polls, but Pomeroy slips them in at #23. Pitt returns almost all of last year's squad but the losses are key—top scorers and rebounders Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna, who combined for 30 points and 13 1/2 rebounds. Starting guards Cameron Wright and James Robinson are back along with forward Michael Young, and they get back #3 scorer Durand Johnson who missed the 2nd half of last season with an ACL tear (Pitt ranked 14th in Strength and was 15-1 with Johnson in the lineup). The Panthers bring in a trio of decent frosh recruits and a potential impact player is Vanderbilt transfer Sheldon Jeter.
Michigan St. (B10 #4) LY Str:#9 Talent: [Return:#19 New:#60] SI:#21 POM:#12 AP:#18 USA:#18
The Spartans busted many a bracket by not occupying their typical Final Four slot last year, and this looks like a down year—meaning they'll probably surprise in March. Michigan State loses starters Gary Harris and Adreian Payne, both of whom averaged over 16 ppg, as well as Keith Appling (11.2 ppg). They do have #3 scorer and leading rebounder Branden Dawson (11.2 ppg, 8.3 reb) and guard Denzel Valentine (8 ppg) back. None of MSU's three recruits are 5-star prospects but any of them might be the next great Spartan player, or it could be transfer Bryn Forbes (15.6 ppg at Cleveland State).
Utah (P12 #2) LY Str:#34 Talent: [Return:#18 New:#67] SI:#25 POM:#42 AP:#25t USA:#30
Utah makes our top 25 by virtue of returning most of last year's 21-12 squad, including the crucial trio of Delon Wright, Jordan Loveridge, and Brandon Taylor. They were the top three scorers and played 30+ minutes each while no one else played > 20 for the team. The #4 and #5 scorers (Dallin Bachynshki and Dakarai Tucker) return but the Utes lost several key reserves to transfer. The incoming class consists of a solid trio including one consenses 4-star. With Wright and Loveridge coming back they have their two top scorers and rebounders and are a strong candidate for Pac-12 runner-up.
UCLA (P12 #3) LY Str:#13 Talent: [Return:#25 New:#39] SI:#35 POM:#13 AP:#30 USA:#33
Here's another divergence from the polls as we have UCLA in the top 25; again only Pomeroy goes along with us. Last year's team was particularly strong at the end of its Sweet Sixteen run, but they lose the bulk of that squad: gone are Jordan Adams (17.4 ppg, 5.3 rebounds), Kyle Anderson (14.6, 8.8), and #4 scorer Zach LaVine. Of last year's 8-man rotation, three players return, including #3 scorer Norman Powell and PG (and coach's son) Bryce Alford. But UCLA's incoming talent should adequately replace some of those missing. The Bruins bring in 5-star forward Kevin Looney, and although 4-star recruit Jonah Bolden is ineligible, 5-star 2013 recruit Isaac Hamilton is now eligible after sitting last year.
Oklahoma St. (B12 #4) LY Str:#7 Talent: [Return:#29 New:#21] SI:#47 POM:#21 AP:#41 USA:#NR
From a success perspective, we're upgrading the Cowboys a lot, but considering they finished #7 in Strength, a fall to #24 is quite a downgrade. Once again only Ken Pomeroy's projection is close to ours, and he's distanced himself from his system's conclusion there. OK State loses a lot of talent from last year, chiefly Marcus Smart (18.0 ppg), a volatile star for the team. The #2, #4, and #5 scorers—Markel Brown, Phil Forte III, and Brian Williams depart, too, as well as leading rebounder Kamari Murphy. That arguably leaves only one of the team's top six players—LeBryan Nash—to build the new team around. Fortunately the Cowboys recruited very well, with 5 strong recruits including two 4-star prospects coming in, plus transfer point guard Anthony Hickey from LSU. The talent might not be as good but they might work together better than last year.
Iowa St. (B12 #5) LY Str:#14 Talent: [Return:#21 New:#90] SI:#15 POM:#25 AP:#14 USA:#14
Last year's transfer-laden crew almost had a breakthrough year, and much of that team is back. They get some more transfers, too, making the team hard to predict as usual, but they're probably not quite as strong as last year. The Cyclones loses two of last year's transfers, Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane, who averaged 17.8 and 17.1 ppg and 8.4 and 6.8 rebounds. That hurts. Georges Niang (16.7 ppg) returns, however, along with Dustin Hogue (11.6, 8.4) and Monte Morris. They only bring in one freshman of note, but as usual, Fred Hoiberg reels in three quality transfers, led by Bryce Dejean-Jones from UNLV. NIU transfer Abdel Nader might also shine, but it's hard to guess how well they'll thrive in Ames this season.
Baylor (B12 #6) LY Str:#30 Talent: [Return:#27 New:#49] SI:#56 POM:#24
The Bears fall just outside our top 25 due to losing much of last year's talent including leading scorer and rebounder Corey Jefferson. They finished strong last year and the Bears bring in 4 solid recruits, but the Big Twelve is tough again this year.
Tennessee (SEC #3) LY Str:#19 Talent: [Return:#31 New:#26] SI:#77 POM:#61
Another team that loses a lot from last year after almost performing at a top 10 level late last year. The Vols are decimated, losing 4 starters including Jordan McRae (18.7 ppg). The Vols will depend on a large recruiting class and 2 transfers, chiefly Memphis center Dominic Woodson.
Stanford (P12 #4) LY Str:#35 Talent: [Return:#32 New:#34] SI:#26 POM:#54
The Cardinal suffer many losses but senior guard Chasson Randle (18.8 ppg) is back to form the core of the new team, and it could be good, as their recruiting class includes a trio of 4-star players.
BYU (WCC #2) LY Str:#40 Talent: [Return:#33 New:#35] SI:#43 POM:#43
The Cougars have much of last year's team back including star Tyler Haws who averaged a stellar 23.2 point per game. They also recruited well (4 players at 3+ stars) and add transfers from UNLV, Wake Forest, and Utah State.
Ohio St. (B10 #5) LY Str:#18 Talent: [Return:#37 New:#13] SI:#13 POM:#14 AP:#20 USA:#20
We're alone in leaving the Buckeyes out of the top 25. They didn't fare well in the latter part of the season and lose many key players, including leading scorer/rebounded LaQuinton Ross. They do bring in one of the nation's best classes led by 5-star guard D'Angelo Russell.
Nebraska (B10 #6) LY Str:#62 Talent: [Return:#26 New:#99] SI:#36 POM:#33 AP:#21 USA:#21
The Cornhuskers were much better in the 2nd half of last year and return a good chunk of talent including forward Terran Petteway (18.1 ppg). Their freshman class is underwhelming but they add transfers from Georgetown and Kansas.
SMU (Amer #2) LY Str:#33 Talent: [Return:#24 New:#194] SI:#17 POM:#36 AP:#22 USA:#22
Last year's NIT runner-up returns a lot of good players; Nik Moore and Marcus Kennedy led the team in points and rebounds, respectively. But the freshman class lost top recruit Emmanuel Mudiay to the China pro league, so Xavier grad transfer Justin Martin is their new blood.
Creighton (BigE #2) LY Str:#16 Talent: [Return:#28 New:#78] SI:#82 POM:#47
The 'Jays obvious loss is player of the year Doug McDermott, and we're pretty sure our system didn't quite capture the enormity of losing him and several other starters. It will be a challenge for the program, but the Bluejays can depend on Austin Chatman, 4-star frosh Ronnie Harrell, and three Division I transfers.
Syracuse (ACC #6) LY Str:#23 Talent: [Return:#35 New:#53] SI:#23 POM:#11 AP:#23 USA:#24
In everyone else's top 25, the Orange drop out of our top 25 due to heavy personnel losses. CJ Fair and two other double-digit scorers depart. They bring in 5-star forward Chris McCullough and 4-star point Kaleb Joseph, but they'd better live up to their billing.
Arkansas (SEC #4) LY Str:#32 Talent: [Return:#38 New:#43] SI:#28 POM:#44
The Razorbacks return a decent chunk of last year's NIT team, with the top three scorers all back. They lose one starter and three key reserves, but with four solid recruits coming in and a West Virginia transfer eligible, the Hogs look to make the main tournament this season.
Kansas St. (B12 #7) LY Str:#44 Talent: [Return:#34 New:#68] SI:#22 POM:#35
The Wildcats return leading scorer Marcus Foster and rebounder Thomas Gipson, but lose two starters. A couple of solid recruits will help, along with Division I transfers Justin Edwards from Maine and Brandon Bolden from Georgetown.
Oregon (P12 #5) LY Str:#28 Talent: [Return:#48 New:#10] SI:#63 POM:#34
Few top teams lost as much as Oregon, who is without 7 of their top 9 scorers. But their leader, Joseph Young (18.9ppg) is back and they a very strong recruiting class—six players, three of them consensus 4-star players. They'll need all of them to contribute but should be good by year's end.
St. John's (BigE #3) LY Str:#49 Talent: [Return:#30 New:#111] SI:#58 POM:#39
The Red Storm return six of last year's top eight scorers including #1 D'Angelo Harrison (17.5 ppg), and that could help them improve on last year's first-round NIT exit. There's not enough new blood in this year's recruiting class to guarantee an upgrade to the NCAA, but it's possible.
New Mexico (MWC #2) LY Str:#37 Talent: [Return:#43 New:#43] SI:#94 POM:#52
The Lobos were nearly a top 25-level team in the 2nd half of last year, so even as they lose a lot from last year's team our system gives them a good chance for another Big Dance trip. But the loss of their top three scorers, led by Cameron Bairstow (20.6 ppg) might be too much to overcome. Hope lies with a solid recruiting class plus a few eligible transfers.
Minnesota (B10 #7) LY Str:#45 Talent: [Return:#40 New:#45] SI:#40 POM:#37
The Gophers look about the same as last year—a team that, if it doesn't make the NCAA, should have another deep NIT run. Leading scorer Andre Hollins is back, but his brother, #2 scorer and top rebounder Austin, graduated. Five solid newcomers add hope for improvement.
Cincinnati (Amer #3) LY Str:#27 Talent: [Return:#42 New:#46] SI:#45 POM:#46
Cincy loses top scorer Sean Kilpatrick (20.6 ppg) and their two top rebounders from last year's 27-7 team. The Bearcats retain two starters and bring in a good recruiting class led by 4-star forward Gary Clark.
Maryland (B10 #8) LY Str:#51 Talent: [Return:#45 New:#28] SI:#33 POM:#32
The Terps lose just two starters but also their three top reserves. Leading scorer Dez Wells is back and Maryland recruited well, landing four solid prospects—three of them 4-star caliber—and welcomes grad transfer Richaud Pack (G, 17.0 ppg) from North Carolina A&T.
Providence (BigE #4) LY Str:#47 Talent: [Return:#49 New:#31] SI:#61 POM:#53
The Friars lose three starters including top scorer Bryce Cotton (21.8 ppg). Their incoming class looks a lot like Maryland's, above: three consensus 4-star recruits and one 3-star. They also have a Division I transfer in Junior Lomomba, originally at Cleveland State.
Harvard (Ivy #1) LY Str:#43 Talent: [Return:#39 New:#112] SI:#30 POM:#30 AP:#25t USA:#27
Here our system diverges a bit from the consensus: Hanner and Pomeroy both put the Crimson at #30, while the pollsters make them a borderline top 25 team (but TeamRankings.com has them at #49). They return 3 starters (the top 3 scorers) and add a couple of 3-star recruits. Let's agree that it makes them at least as good as last year and there should be another NCAA berth.
Tulsa (Amer #4) LY Str:#83 Talent: [Return:#36 New:#144] SI:#52 POM:#45
How does Tulsa jump from #83 to #45? Their play from January to March was already top 50 level, and they return five of their top six scorers, losing only #4 Pat Swilling who missed the latter part of last season anyway. No big recruits, but the Golden Hurricane should be just fine.
Georgia (SEC #5) LY Str:#82 Talent: [Return:#41 New:#113] SI:#64 POM:#48
Much like Tulsa above, Georgia makes a big jump based on their level of play in the 2nd half of the season and the fact that most of their best players are back. The Bulldogs return four of their top five scorers and recruit a bit stronger than Tulsa but end up one spot behind.
George Washington (A10 #2) LY Str:#53 Talent: [Return:#46 New:#76] SI:#62 POM:#62
The Colonials are a very distant 2nd in the Atlantic 10 in our projections but are within striking distance of a repeat NCAA berth. They return 4 of their 6 most-used players from last year but lose their top scorer and top rebounder, adding in a handful of solid recruits.
Louisiana Tech (CUSA #1) LY Str:#31 Talent: [Return:#44 New:#95] SI:#60 POM:#49
The Bulldogs lose about half of last year's production, including three of the top five scorers. Leader Alex Hamilton is back, however, and they add a couple of 3-star prospects. It might be enough to keep Tech the best team in a weaker C-USA and lead to an NCAA berth.
Florida St. (ACC #7) LY Str:#38 Talent: [Return:#50 New:#62] SI:#48 POM:#41
The Seminoles return three starters including leading scorer Aaron Thomas, but lose the next two scorers and their leading rebounder. Recruiting adds a clutch of 3-star-level recruits who probably won't lift the Seminoles out of NCAA bubble territory; they went to the NIT Final Four last season.
Clemson (ACC #8) LY Str:#55 Talent: [Return:#47 New:#91] SI:#84 POM:#75
Speaking of Final Four NIT teams trapped in bubble territory, Clemson is the definition this year, or so it seems. The Tigers return four starters but lose KJ McDaniels, far and away the team's leading scorer at 17.1 ppg and leading rebounder too. They'll battle FSU for a Big Dance berth.
Indiana (B10 #9) LY Str:#52 Talent: [Return:#56 New:#14] SI:#46 POM:#26
Indiana loses a lot but returns Yogi Ferrell and adds a solid class led by 5-star James Blackmon, Jr.
Illinois (B10 #10) LY Str:#58 Talent: [Return:#51 New:#63] SI:#37 POM:#38
Their top three scorers are back and two solid transfers should lift the Illini near an NCAA bid.
Georgetown (BigE #5) LY Str:#56 Talent: [Return:#62 New:#11] SI:#31 POM:#22
Poor play down the stretch and losing Markel Starks offsets strong recruiting, keeping the Hoyas a lot further down than SI or Pomeroy has them.
Saint Joseph's (A10 #3) LY Str:#63 Talent: [Return:#52 New:#69] SI:#173 POM:#80
Strong late-season play gives us some confidence in the Hawks despite losing 3 starters. They add 3 decent recruits and WVA transfer Aaron Brown. SI doesn't see it this way (#173!)
Xavier (BigE #6) LY Str:#50 Talent: [Return:#68 New:#5] SI:#42 POM:#67
The Musketeers lose their top two scorers and 3 starters, but add 4 solid recruits and Indiana transfer Remy Abell. Their poor stretch play is what keeps them below St. Joe's.
North Carolina St. (ACC #9) LY Str:#67 Talent: [Return:#61 New:#23] SI:#55 POM:#60
Losing TJ Warren (24.9 ppg) hurts but transfer Trevor Lacey from Alabama will ease the pain.
Memphis (Amer #5) LY Str:#36 Talent: [Return:#58 New:#38] SI:#32 POM:#27
The Tigers lose 4 of their main 6 rotation but add Vandy transfer Kedren Johnson.
West Virginia (B12 #8) LY Str:#46 Talent: [Return:#55 New:#54] SI:#71 POM:#55
The Mountaineers faded last year but top scorer Juwan Staten is back along with some good recruits.
Arizona St. (P12 #6) LY Str:#39 Talent: [Return:#66 New:#29] SI:#90 POM:#85
ASU loses most of last year's squad but incoming talent keeps them near bubble territory.
Colorado (P12 #7) LY Str:#60 Talent: [Return:#53 New:#92] SI:#41 POM:#63
The Buffs collapsed when Spencer Dinwiddie was hurt last year, and he isn't back. Everyone else is, however.
Seton Hall (BigE #7) LY Str:#85 Talent: [Return:#70 New:#9] SI:#79 POM:#86
The Pirates finished strong but lose more than half their production; however, they add 5-star Isaiah Whitehead as part of a great recruiting class.
LSU (SEC #6) LY Str:#61 Talent: [Return:#63 New:#41] SI:#44 POM:#73
The Tigers lose most of last year's talent, and despite solid newcomers they might not escape the NIT's clutches.
Georgia St. (Sun #1) LY Str:#71 Talent: [Return:#54 New:#136] SI:#57 POM:#66
After last year's upset overtime loss in the Sun Belt tourney, the Panthers should make the Big Dance.
Penn St. (B10 #11) LY Str:#79 Talent: [Return:#57 New:#107] SI:#73 POM:#56
With leading scorer DJ Newbill (17.8 ppg) back the Lions should see the postseason.
San Francisco (WCC #3) LY Str:#95 Talent: [Return:#59 New:#127] SI:#106 POM:#100
The Dons played well from January on so we have higher expectations than SI and Pomeroy.
Texas Tech (B12 #9) LY Str:#69 Talent: [Return:#73 New:#32] SI:#108 POM:#125
The Red Raiders lose much of last year's squad but bring in six 3-star recruits which should keep them around last year's Strength level, and improve their 14-18 record.
Saint Louis (A10 #4) LY Str:#42 Talent: [Return:#69 New:#55] SI:#129 POM:#82
The Billikens lose four starters; 10 new players, including a Villanova transfer, can only slow the bleeding as they drop from a 5-seed.
Northwestern (B10 #12) LY Str:#119 Talent: [Return:#71 New:#37] SI:#87 POM:#77
The Wildcats return most of last year's talent and add six solid new players.
Dayton (A10 #5) LY Str:#54 Talent: [Return:#60 New:#137] SI:#38 POM:#50
The Flyers lose 3 starters and add few new players; we can only assume another Elite Eight run isn't in the works.
California (P12 #8) LY Str:#57 Talent: [Return:#64 New:#103] SI:#50 POM:#65
Cal loses top scorer Justin Cobbs (15.6 ppg) and incoming talent might not offset outgoing.
Miami FL (ACC #10) LY Str:#74 Talent: [Return:#88 New:#4] SI:#39 POM:#57
The 'Canes lose most of last year's team, but transfers from Texas, K-State, and Niagara could make Miami this season's Iowa State.
Purdue (B10 #13) LY Str:#78 Talent: [Return:#80 New:#27] SI:#85 POM:#40
Solid recruiting—5 3-4 stars—and Colorado State transfer Jon Octeus help the Boilers improve.
Iona (MAAC #1) LY Str:#77 Talent: [Return:#65 New:#168] SI:#91 POM:#72
The Gaels should win this year's MAAC tournament—but that was true last year, too.
Marquette (BigE #8) LY Str:#59 Talent: [Return:#74 New:#59] SI:#67 POM:#87
The Golden Eagles lose their 4 top scorers; a 4-star recruit and transfers from BYU and Indiana probably can't make up for it.
North Dakota St. (Sum #1) LY Str:#73 Talent: [Return:#67 New:#164] SI:#184 POM:#146
The Bison were so strong at the end of last year that losing 3 starters doesn't drop them much in our formula. Hanner and Pomeroy's formulas are much more pessimistic.
Alabama (SEC #7) LY Str:#75 Talent: [Return:#87 New:#17] SI:#54 POM:#58
The Tide dwindled in the 2nd half of the year, but solid recruiting should give them a pickup.
Boise St. (MWC #3) LY Str:#66 Talent: [Return:#76 New:#65] SI:#81 POM:#64
Boise also finished weak last year hence the drop from last year's full-season #66, despite decent recruiting.
Washington (P12 #9) LY Str:#98 Talent: [Return:#72 New:#93] SI:#69 POM:#59
The Huskies return 3 starters from a team that played better than their 17-15 record late.
Mississippi (SEC #8) LY Str:#80 Talent: [Return:#81 New:#39] SI:#51 POM:#89
Ole Miss skidded in February but good recruiting could mean a stronger finish to 2015.
UTEP (CUSA #2) LY Str:#114 Talent: [Return:#78 New:#100] SI:#107 POM:#78
The Miners return 5 of their top 6 in total scoring for the season.
Massachusetts (A10 #6) LY Str:#48 Talent: [Return:#75 New:#121] SI:#59 POM:#74
UMass loses two of their top three scorers off a team that faded last spring.
Missouri (SEC #9) LY Str:#65 Talent: [Return:#100 New:#12] SI:#95 POM:#98
The Tigers' losses are heavy but great recruiting softens the blow, as Mizzou adds 3 4-stars and two D-I transfers.
Fresno St. (MWC #4) LY Str:#120 Talent: [Return:#86 New:#56] SI:#83 POM:#114
Three of four top scorers are back and the Bulldogs add Texas transfer Julien Lewis.
UNLV (MWC #5) LY Str:#72 Talent: [Return:#108 New:#6] SI:#66 POM:#83
The Rebels are decimated by departures—all 5 starters are gone—but bring in a whole new—and possibly very good—team, led by 5-star recruit Rashad Vaughn and three D-I transfers.
Manhattan (MAAC #2) LY Str:#84 Talent: [Return:#77 New:#162] SI:#88 POM:#116
Tepid recruiting might foil the Jaspers' bid for an NCAA repeat.
Rhode Island (A10 #7) LY Str:#123 Talent: [Return:#85 New:#79] SI:#78 POM:#105
Eight of the Rams' top nine scorers are back and they add a 4-star recruit.
Vermont (AE #1) LY Str:#91 Talent: [Return:#79 New:#169] SI:#162 POM:#111
The Catamounts were playing like a top 60 team late last year, but most of that team is gone—making the America East wide open.
Murray St. (OVC #1) LY Str:#143 Talent: [Return:#82 New:#123] SI:#100 POM:#94
Six of the top seven Racers are back; last year's CIT winner might upgrade to the Big Dance.
Texas A&M (SEC #10) LY Str:#102 Talent: [Return:#109 New:#22] SI:#75 POM:#69
Last year's Aggies were nothing special, but good recruiting—and SMU transfer Jalen Jones—could change that.
South Carolina (SEC #11) LY Str:#107 Talent: [Return:#99 New:#50] SI:#72 POM:#88
SC returns the bulk of last year's squad but the newcomers will help just as much.
Stephen F. Austin (SLand #1) LY Str:#90 Talent: [Return:#83 New:#271] SI:#101 POM:#97
The Lumberjacks look about the same as last year—when they went to the NCAA 2nd round.
UC Irvine (BW #1) LY Str:#99 Talent: [Return:#84 New:#301++] SI:#65 POM:#118
A loaded Irvine is our favorite in the Big West after missing their chance last year.
Davidson (A10 #8) LY Str:#136 Talent: [Return:#89 New:#128] SI:#133 POM:#139
Hot last spring, the Wildcats could maintain that same level of play into this season.
Green Bay (Horz #1) LY Str:#70 Talent: [Return:#93 New:#114] SI:#80 POM:#76
The Phoenix weakened late, but return enough to vie for the Horizon title they should have claimed last year.
New Mexico St. (WAC #1) LY Str:#76 Talent: [Return:#90 New:#155] SI:#96 POM:#79
Despite big personnel losses, it should be a repeat bid for the Aggies as the WAC is weak.
Middle Tennessee (CUSA #3) LY Str:#88 Talent: [Return:#96 New:#94] SI:#156 POM:#115
MTSU is decimated, losing their 4 top scorers, but a few good recruits go a long way in the CUSA.
Richmond (A10 #9) LY Str:#94 Talent: [Return:#91 New:#145] SI:#74 POM:#51
The Spiders return key personnel and add a load of newcomers; is it enough to make headway in the competitive Atlantic 10?
Belmont (OVC #2) LY Str:#106 Talent: [Return:#94 New:#108] SI:#112 POM:#106
The Bruins return just enough old talent, and add just enough new talent, to make an Ohio Valley run.
Saint Mary's (WCC #4) LY Str:#64 Talent: [Return:#95 New:#118] SI:#68 POM:#81
The Gaels lose three starters and three key backups; transfers from Minnesota, Washington, and Stanford will try to save the day.
Butler (BigE #9) LY Str:#89 Talent: [Return:#103 New:#80] SI:#102 POM:#68
The Bulldogs' post-Brad Stevens reality may be the Big East cellar.
Buffalo (MAC #1) LY Str:#103 Talent: [Return:#97 New:#119] SI:#160 POM:#141
Northern Iowa (MVC #2) LY Str:#87 Talent: [Return:#92 New:#195] SI:#70 POM:#71
San Diego (WCC #5) LY Str:#128 Talent: [Return:#98 New:#146] SI:#134 POM:#117
Southern Miss (CUSA #4) LY Str:#68 Talent: [Return:#102 New:#124] SI:#178 POM:#122
Georgia Tech (ACC #11) LY Str:#109 Talent: [Return:#112 New:#45] SI:#139 POM:#96
Boston College (ACC #12) LY Str:#132 Talent: [Return:#104 New:#129] SI:#116 POM:#134
Portland (WCC #6) LY Str:#101 Talent: [Return:#101 New:#239] SI:#118 POM:#121
Notre Dame (ACC #13) LY Str:#81 Talent: [Return:#110 New:#84] SI:#34 POM:#70
Colorado St. (MWC #6) LY Str:#125 Talent: [Return:#114 New:#57] SI:#53 POM:#93
NC Central (MEAC #1) LY Str:#100 Talent: [Return:#106 New:#196] SI:#114 POM:#147
St. Bonaventure (A10 #10) LY Str:#86 Talent: [Return:#105 New:#217] SI:#110 POM:#107
Wyoming (MWC #7) LY Str:#118 Talent: [Return:#111 New:#109] SI:#49 POM:#99
Cleveland St. (Horz #2) LY Str:#92 Talent: [Return:#107 New:#240] SI:#103 POM:#90
Auburn (SEC #12) LY Str:#117 Talent: [Return:#117 New:#32] SI:#76 POM:#137
Oregon St. (P12 #10) LY Str:#97 Talent: [Return:#113 New:#85] SI:#257 POM:#226
Vanderbilt (SEC #13) LY Str:#105 Talent: [Return:#130 New:#18] SI:#117 POM:#91
La Salle (A10 #11) LY Str:#104 Talent: [Return:#119 New:#87] SI:#98 POM:#101
Western Michigan (MAC #2) LY Str:#131 Talent: [Return:#116 New:#170] SI:#135 POM:#172
American (Pat #1) LY Str:#130 Talent: [Return:#115 New:#241] SI:#119 POM:#165
George Mason (A10 #12) LY Str:#133 Talent: [Return:#124 New:#66] SI:#120 POM:#138
Toledo (MAC #3) LY Str:#111 Talent: [Return:#118 New:#218] SI:#105 POM:#120
Mercer (SC #1) LY Str:#93 Talent: [Return:#120 New:#171] SI:#191 POM:#168
Akron (MAC #4) LY Str:#142 Talent: [Return:#122 New:#142] SI:#128 POM:#186
Princeton (Ivy #2) LY Str:#108 Talent: [Return:#126 New:#115] SI:#104 POM:#123
Southern Illinois (MVC #3) LY Str:#166 Talent: [Return:#123 New:#130] SI:#140 POM:#170
Long Beach St. (BW #2) LY Str:#145 Talent: [Return:#121 New:#179] SI:#115 POM:#127
Louisiana Lafayette (Sun #2) LY Str:#116 Talent: [Return:#127 New:#147] SI:#153 POM:#128
Santa Clara (WCC #7) LY Str:#147 Talent: [Return:#125 New:#301+] SI:#154 POM:#129
Siena (MAAC #3) LY Str:#172 Talent: [Return:#128 New:#219] SI:#89 POM:#156
UC Santa Barbara (BW #3) LY Str:#96 Talent: [Return:#129 New:#156] SI:#99 POM:#92
South Dakota St. (Sum #2) LY Str:#152 Talent: [Return:#131 New:#172] SI:#176 POM:#178
Wake Forest (ACC #14) LY Str:#115 Talent: [Return:#136 New:#122] SI:#132 POM:#104
Wright St. (Horz #3) LY Str:#148 Talent: [Return:#135 New:#131] SI:#197 POM:#153
Duquesne (A10 #13) LY Str:#155 Talent: [Return:#134 New:#148] SI:#138 POM:#124
Delaware (CAA #1) LY Str:#110 Talent: [Return:#132 New:#272] SI:#263 POM:#191
Yale (Ivy #3) LY Str:#167 Talent: [Return:#133 New:#301+] SI:#109 POM:#119
Eastern Kentucky (OVC #3) LY Str:#126 Talent: [Return:#137 New:#220] SI:#155 POM:#151
Illinois St. (MVC #4) LY Str:#144 Talent: [Return:#138 New:#273] SI:#86 POM:#109
Brown (Ivy #4) LY Str:#168 Talent: [Return:#139 New:#301+] SI:#148 POM:#182
Holy Cross (Pat #2) LY Str:#165 Talent: [Return:#140 New:#301+] SI:#149 POM:#173
USC (P12 #11) LY Str:#141 Talent: [Return:#161 New:#15] SI:#121 POM:#136
Evansville (MVC #5) LY Str:#210 Talent: [Return:#141 New:#274] SI:#124 POM:#158
Temple (Amer #6) LY Str:#139 Talent: [Return:#148 New:#78] SI:#93 POM:#110
Canisius (MAAC #4) LY Str:#140 Talent: [Return:#142 New:#242] SI:#271 POM:#198
Columbia (Ivy #5) LY Str:#127 Talent: [Return:#143 New:#275] SI:#111 POM:#166
Boston University (Pat #3) LY Str:#121 Talent: [Return:#144 New:#243] SI:#150 POM:#164
Missouri St. (MVC #6) LY Str:#158 Talent: [Return:#145 New:#221] SI:#141 POM:#143
Nevada (MWC #8) LY Str:#150 Talent: [Return:#150 New:#116] SI:#166 POM:#197
Denver (Sum #3) LY Str:#138 Talent: [Return:#146 New:#244] SI:#144 POM:#113
Houston (Amer #7) LY Str:#135 Talent: [Return:#154 New:#96] SI:#97 POM:#201
Wofford (SC #2) LY Str:#203 Talent: [Return:#149 New:#149] SI:#123 POM:#112
Old Dominion (CUSA #5) LY Str:#173 Talent: [Return:#147 New:#180] SI:#92 POM:#108
Hawaii (BW #4) LY Str:#122 Talent: [Return:#153 New:#138] SI:#171 POM:#241
Eastern Michigan (MAC #5) LY Str:#129 Talent: [Return:#151 New:#181] SI:#164 POM:#148
Towson (CAA #2) LY Str:#149 Talent: [Return:#152 New:#197] SI:#238 POM:#203
Virginia Tech (ACC #15) LY Str:#151 Talent: [Return:#172 New:#16] SI:#126 POM:#167
Florida Gulf Coast (ASun #1) LY Str:#187 Talent: [Return:#157 New:#132] SI:#127 POM:#149
Mississippi St. (SEC #14) LY Str:#197 Talent: [Return:#165 New:#64] SI:#137 POM:#84
Arkansas St. (Sun #3) LY Str:#156 Talent: [Return:#162 New:#88] SI:#256 POM:#212
IPFW (Sum #4) LY Str:#154 Talent: [Return:#155 New:#276] SI:#180 POM:#219
Pepperdine (WCC #8) LY Str:#160 Talent: [Return:#156 New:#245] SI:#199 POM:#175
Indiana St. (MVC #7) LY Str:#112 Talent: [Return:#158 New:#222] SI:#136 POM:#132
Weber St. (BSky #1) LY Str:#170 Talent: [Return:#159 New:#301+] SI:#217 POM:#140
UCF (Amer #8) LY Str:#146 Talent: [Return:#166 New:#86] SI:#168 POM:#188
Northern Illinois (MAC #6) LY Str:#209 Talent: [Return:#160 New:#277] SI:#205 POM:#223
Ohio (MAC #7) LY Str:#124 Talent: [Return:#164 New:#143] SI:#122 POM:#145
Valparaiso (Horz #4) LY Str:#157 Talent: [Return:#163 New:#223] SI:#152 POM:#160
Bradley (MVC #8) LY Str:#204 Talent: [Return:#170 New:#97] SI:#214 POM:#210
Western Kentucky (CUSA #6) LY Str:#176 Talent: [Return:#175 New:#58] SI:#113 POM:#126
Washington St. (P12 #12) LY Str:#162 Talent: [Return:#169 New:#117] SI:#130 POM:#144
Utah St. (MWC #9) LY Str:#113 Talent: [Return:#171 New:#98] SI:#229 POM:#152
USC Upstate (ASun #2) LY Str:#182 Talent: [Return:#167 New:#246] SI:#226 POM:#237
William & Mary (CAA #3) LY Str:#181 Talent: [Return:#168 New:#198] SI:#189 POM:#161
Colgate (Pat #4) LY Str:#177 Talent: [Return:#173 New:#247] SI:#239 POM:#206
Milwaukee (Horz #5) LY Str:#183 Talent: [Return:#174 New:#248] SI:#167 POM:#189
Bucknell (Pat #5) LY Str:#163 Talent: [Return:#176 New:#249] SI:#174 POM:#163
High Point (BSth #1) LY Str:#273 Talent: [Return:#177 New:#278] SI:#157 POM:#187
Pacific (WCC #9) LY Str:#134 Talent: [Return:#178 New:#173] SI:#236 POM:#199
Rutgers (B10 #14) LY Str:#185 Talent: [Return:#187 New:#73] SI:#159 POM:#102
Robert Morris (NEC #1) LY Str:#193 Talent: [Return:#179 New:#250] SI:#204 POM:#177
VMI (SC #3) LY Str:#215 Talent: [Return:#183 New:#199] SI:#293 POM:#281
Drexel (CAA #4) LY Str:#137 Talent: [Return:#182 New:#251] SI:#187 POM:#135
Bowling Green (MAC #8) LY Str:#199 Talent: [Return:#185 New:#174] SI:#185 POM:#179
Army (Pat #6) LY Str:#230 Talent: [Return:#180 New:#301+] SI:#151 POM:#202
Northwestern St. (SLand #2) LY Str:#191 Talent: [Return:#181 New:#301+] SI:#194 POM:#196
DePaul (BigE #10) LY Str:#164 Talent: [Return:#192 New:#74] SI:#182 POM:#176
Cal Poly (BW #5) LY Str:#178 Talent: [Return:#184 New:#279] SI:#142 POM:#216
UAB (CUSA #7) LY Str:#153 Talent: [Return:#191 New:#82] SI:#232 POM:#162
Quinnipiac (MAAC #5) LY Str:#159 Talent: [Return:#188 New:#200] SI:#158 POM:#131
Northeastern (CAA #5) LY Str:#202 Talent: [Return:#186 New:#301+] SI:#172 POM:#103
Marist (MAAC #6) LY Str:#224 Talent: [Return:#189 New:#252] SI:#298 POM:#225
Detroit (Horz #6) LY Str:#196 Talent: [Return:#193 New:#182] SI:#179 POM:#142
College of Charleston (CAA #6) LY Str:#184 Talent: [Return:#190 New:#301+] SI:#193 POM:#155
Kent St. (MAC #9) LY Str:#186 Talent: [Return:#197 New:#133] SI:#143 POM:#185
Coastal Carolina (BSth #2) LY Str:#235 Talent: [Return:#194 New:#301+] SI:#147 POM:#174
Saint Peter's (MAAC #7) LY Str:#241 Talent: [Return:#196 New:#157] SI:#225 POM:#215
Florida Atlantic (CUSA #8) LY Str:#233 Talent: [Return:#198 New:#150] SI:#242 POM:#252
Cal St. Northridge (BW #6) LY Str:#232 Talent: [Return:#195 New:#301+] SI:#186 POM:#159
Stony Brook (AE #2) LY Str:#175 Talent: [Return:#199 New:#165] SI:#145 POM:#133
TCU (B12 #10) LY Str:#200 Talent: [Return:#204 New:#101] SI:#125 POM:#130
Air Force (MWC #10) LY Str:#218 Talent: [Return:#203 New:#125] SI:#210 POM:#246
Lafayette (Pat #7) LY Str:#251 Talent: [Return:#200 New:#301+] SI:#190 POM:#211
Miami OH (MAC #10) LY Str:#216 Talent: [Return:#209 New:#102] SI:#177 POM:#224
Mount St. Mary's (NEC #2) LY Str:#234 Talent: [Return:#202 New:#253] SI:#235 POM:#234
Sacramento St. (BSky #2) LY Str:#272 Talent: [Return:#201 New:#301+] SI:#246 POM:#253
Loyola Chicago (MVC #9) LY Str:#226 Talent: [Return:#208 New:#139] SI:#220 POM:#169
Youngstown St. (Horz #7) LY Str:#189 Talent: [Return:#207 New:#175] SI:#221 POM:#231
Sam Houston St. (SLand #3) LY Str:#213 Talent: [Return:#205 New:#301+] SI:#165 POM:#194
Utah Valley (WAC #2) LY Str:#223 Talent: [Return:#206 New:#301+] SI:#267 POM:#249
South Florida (Amer #9) LY Str:#188 Talent: [Return:#218 New:#83] SI:#249 POM:#157
Oakland (Horz #8) LY Str:#192 Talent: [Return:#211 New:#201] SI:#201 POM:#192
Wagner (NEC #3) LY Str:#198 Talent: [Return:#210 New:#301+] SI:#291 POM:#230
Arkansas Little Rock (Sun #4) LY Str:#222 Talent: [Return:#213 New:#140] SI:#195 POM:#235
Fordham (A10 #14) LY Str:#208 Talent: [Return:#215 New:#158] SI:#253 POM:#154
Albany (AE #3) LY Str:#190 Talent: [Return:#212 New:#301+] SI:#202 POM:#150
Morehead St. (OVC #4) LY Str:#179 Talent: [Return:#214 New:#202] SI:#131 POM:#171
Charlotte (CUSA #9) LY Str:#174 Talent: [Return:#221 New:#104] SI:#161 POM:#95
South Dakota (Sum #5) LY Str:#259 Talent: [Return:#217 New:#166] SI:#212 POM:#262
Southern (SWAC #1) LY Str:#180 Talent: [Return:#216 New:#280] SI:#276 POM:#296
UT Arlington (Sun #5) LY Str:#214 Talent: [Return:#220 New:#183] SI:#237 POM:#238
St. Francis NY (NEC #4) LY Str:#207 Talent: [Return:#219 New:#301+] SI:#222 POM:#190
UNC Asheville (BSth #3) LY Str:#256 Talent: [Return:#222 New:#281] SI:#259 POM:#244
Hampton (MEAC #2) LY Str:#227 Talent: [Return:#223 New:#254] SI:#244 POM:#204
Oral Roberts (Sum #6) LY Str:#195 Talent: [Return:#224 New:#282] SI:#175 POM:#184
Hartford (AE #4) LY Str:#245 Talent: [Return:#225 New:#203] SI:#198 POM:#180
Bryant (NEC #5) LY Str:#205 Talent: [Return:#226 New:#184] SI:#264 POM:#227
Eastern Washington (BSky #3) LY Str:#238 Talent: [Return:#227 New:#255] SI:#218 POM:#200
Montana (BSky #4) LY Str:#217 Talent: [Return:#228 New:#256] SI:#251 POM:#265
Nebraska Omaha (Sum #7) LY Str:#169 Talent: [Return:#229 New:#204] SI:#196 POM:#239
Southeast Missouri St. (OVC #5) LY Str:#219 Talent: [Return:#230 New:#257] SI:#230 POM:#208
Loyola Marymount (WCC #10) LY Str:#171 Talent: [Return:#231 New:#258] SI:#208 POM:#205
Morgan St. (MEAC #3) LY Str:#240 Talent: [Return:#232 New:#224] SI:#340 POM:#271
Drake (MVC #10) LY Str:#161 Talent: [Return:#237 New:#126] SI:#209 POM:#228
Seattle (WAC #3) LY Str:#243 Talent: [Return:#233 New:#225] SI:#203 POM:#209
Northern Arizona (BSky #5) LY Str:#252 Talent: [Return:#234 New:#301+] SI:#183 POM:#256
East Carolina (Amer #10) LY Str:#206 Talent: [Return:#243 New:#71] SI:#170 POM:#183
Rider (MAAC #8) LY Str:#220 Talent: [Return:#236 New:#185] SI:#163 POM:#229
Tulane (Amer #11) LY Str:#279 Talent: [Return:#238 New:#151] SI:#233 POM:#207
Dartmouth (Ivy #6) LY Str:#225 Talent: [Return:#235 New:#283] SI:#169 POM:#240
Marshall (CUSA #10) LY Str:#212 Talent: [Return:#240 New:#141] SI:#234 POM:#245
FIU (CUSA #11) LY Str:#237 Talent: [Return:#239 New:#259] SI:#288 POM:#258
Winthrop (BSth #4) LY Str:#239 Talent: [Return:#242 New:#284] SI:#213 POM:#214
Cal St. Fullerton (BW #7) LY Str:#229 Talent: [Return:#241 New:#301+] SI:#188 POM:#213
Hofstra (CAA #7) LY Str:#250 Talent: [Return:#252 New:#89] SI:#146 POM:#259
Radford (BSth #5) LY Str:#247 Talent: [Return:#244 New:#301+] SI:#200 POM:#181
Grand Canyon (WAC #4) LY Str:#236 Talent: [Return:#245 New:#260] SI:#245 POM:#269
Elon (CAA #8) LY Str:#201 Talent: [Return:#249 New:#159] SI:#255 POM:#274
East Tennessee St. (SC #4) LY Str:#254 Talent: [Return:#246 New:#226] SI:#211 POM:#195
Charleston Southern (BSth #6) LY Str:#194 Talent: [Return:#248 New:#205] SI:#192 POM:#193
Texas A&M CC (SLand #4) LY Str:#253 Talent: [Return:#247 New:#261] SI:#265 POM:#243
Idaho (BSky #6) LY Str:#258 Talent: [Return:#250 New:#262] SI:#241 POM:#255
Cal St. Bakersfield (WAC #5) LY Str:#221 Talent: [Return:#251 New:#285] SI:#216 POM:#277
Louisiana Monroe (Sun #6) LY Str:#231 Talent: [Return:#261 New:#120] SI:#303 POM:#287
North Dakota (BSky #7) LY Str:#260 Talent: [Return:#254 New:#206] SI:#281 POM:#316
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Gardner Webb (BSth #7) LY Str:#255 Talent: [Return:#256 New:#207] SI:#206 POM:#242
Central Michigan (MAC #11) LY Str:#280 Talent: [Return:#257 New:#186] SI:#224 POM:#236
Troy (Sun #7) LY Str:#244 Talent: [Return:#262 New:#167] SI:#290 POM:#273
Fairfield (MAAC #9) LY Str:#268 Talent: [Return:#259 New:#228] SI:#207 POM:#221
North Texas (CUSA #12) LY Str:#242 Talent: [Return:#260 New:#229] SI:#285 POM:#218
UC Riverside (BW #8) LY Str:#269 Talent: [Return:#258 New:#301+] SI:#278 POM:#297
Western Illinois (Sum #8) LY Str:#264 Talent: [Return:#263 New:#287] SI:#270 POM:#254
Lehigh (Pat #8) LY Str:#246 Talent: [Return:#264 New:#263] SI:#181 POM:#222
Monmouth (MAAC #10) LY Str:#262 Talent: [Return:#267 New:#230] SI:#215 POM:#261
Chattanooga (SC #5) LY Str:#289 Talent: [Return:#266 New:#288] SI:#280 POM:#284
SIU Edwardsville (OVC #6) LY Str:#297 Talent: [Return:#268 New:#187] SI:#287 POM:#289
Portland St. (BSky #8) LY Str:#277 Talent: [Return:#270 New:#289] SI:#223 POM:#275
St. Francis PA (NEC #6) LY Str:#312 Talent: [Return:#269 New:#301+] SI:#275 POM:#257
Northern Colorado (BSky #9) LY Str:#211 Talent: [Return:#271 New:#290] SI:#261 POM:#250
Texas St. (Sun #8) LY Str:#267 Talent: [Return:#272 New:#231] SI:#273 POM:#290
James Madison (CAA #9) LY Str:#263 Talent: [Return:#273 New:#264] SI:#254 POM:#220
UNC Wilmington (CAA #10) LY Str:#275 Talent: [Return:#275 New:#208] SI:#243 POM:#266
Navy (Pat #9) LY Str:#290 Talent: [Return:#274 New:#301+] SI:#247 POM:#303
Eastern Illinois (OVC #7) LY Str:#300 Talent: [Return:#276 New:#301+] SI:#260 POM:#305
Penn (Ivy #7) LY Str:#257 Talent: [Return:#277 New:#160] SI:#240 POM:#232
Idaho St. (BSky #10) LY Str:#249 Talent: [Return:#278 New:#176] SI:#312 POM:#283
North Florida (ASun #4) LY Str:#271 Talent: [Return:#280 New:#291] SI:#266 POM:#247
Alabama St. (SWAC #2) LY Str:#305 Talent: [Return:#279 New:#301+] SI:#228 POM:#291
South Alabama (Sun #9) LY Str:#228 Talent: [Return:#288 New:#61] SI:#295 POM:#298
Loyola MD (Pat #10) LY Str:#295 Talent: [Return:#281 New:#209] SI:#311 POM:#286
Central Connecticut (NEC #7) LY Str:#314 Talent: [Return:#282 New:#292] SI:#250 POM:#233
San Jose St. (MWC #11) LY Str:#278 Talent: [Return:#284 New:#110] SI:#248 POM:#279
Savannah St. (MEAC #4) LY Str:#286 Talent: [Return:#283 New:#301+] SI:#317 POM:#301+
Northern Kentucky (ASun #5) LY Str:#301+ Talent: [Return:#285 New:#265] SI:#274 POM:#310
UC Davis (BW #9) LY Str:#309 Talent: [Return:#286 New:#301+] SI:#227 POM:#260
Western Carolina (SC #6) LY Str:#248 Talent: [Return:#287 New:#301+] SI:#297 POM:#270
Texas Southern (SWAC #3) LY Str:#265 Talent: [Return:#289 New:#232] SI:#283 POM:#267
Norfolk St. (MEAC #5) LY Str:#261 Talent: [Return:#290 New:#293] SI:#339 POM:#280
Fairleigh Dickinson (NEC #8) LY Str:#287 Talent: [Return:#291 New:#233] SI:#328 POM:#311
UTSA (CUSA #13) LY Str:#307 Talent: [Return:#293 New:#210] SI:#269 POM:#293
UMass Lowell (AE #5) LY Str:#318 Talent: [Return:#292 New:#301+] SI:#322 POM:#340
Tennessee Tech (OVC #8) LY Str:#266 Talent: [Return:#295 New:#211] SI:#272 POM:#276
Niagara (MAAC #11) LY Str:#274 Talent: [Return:#294 New:#294] SI:#316 POM:#264
Coppin St. (MEAC #6) LY Str:#299 Talent: [Return:#296 New:#301+] SI:#292 POM:#317
Howard (MEAC #7) LY Str:#338 Talent: [Return:#297 New:#301+] SI:#306 POM:#349
Austin Peay (OVC #9) LY Str:#291 Talent: [Return:#298 New:#301+] SI:#252 POM:#268
Rice (CUSA #14) LY Str:#288 Talent: [Return:#303 New:#152] SI:#286 POM:#302
Bethune Cookman (MEAC #8) LY Str:#333 Talent: [Return:#299 New:#301+] SI:#314 POM:#330
NJIT (ind #1) LY Str:#310 Talent: [Return:#300 New:#295] SI:#258 POM:#308
Jacksonville St. (OVC #10) LY Str:#302 Talent: [Return:#301+ New:#301+] SI:#268 POM:#278
Chicago St. (WAC #6) LY Str:#292 Talent: [Return:#305 New:#234] SI:#331 POM:#319
Tennessee Martin (OVC #11) LY Str:#322 Talent: [Return:#302 New:#296] SI:#289 POM:#334
Georgia Southern (Sun #10) LY Str:#298 Talent: [Return:#310 New:#106] SI:#262 POM:#263
Delaware St. (MEAC #9) LY Str:#311 Talent: [Return:#304 New:#301+] SI:#284 POM:#307
McNeese St. (SLand #6) LY Str:#317 Talent: [Return:#306 New:#301+] SI:#308 POM:#300
Ball St. (MAC #12) LY Str:#282 Talent: [Return:#308 New:#161] SI:#313 POM:#282
UMKC (WAC #7) LY Str:#283 Talent: [Return:#309 New:#134] SI:#296 POM:#251
Texas Pan American (WAC #8) LY Str:#293 Talent: [Return:#307 New:#235] SI:#294 POM:#295
New Hampshire (AE #6) LY Str:#320 Talent: [Return:#312 New:#236] SI:#304 POM:#331
Arkansas Pine Bluff (SWAC #4) LY Str:#324 Talent: [Return:#311 New:#301+] SI:#315 POM:#326
Nicholls St. (SLand #7) LY Str:#316 Talent: [Return:#313 New:#266] SI:#309 POM:#315
Binghamton (AE #7) LY Str:#329 Talent: [Return:#315 New:#212] SI:#300 POM:#304
Sacred Heart (NEC #9) LY Str:#303 Talent: [Return:#314 New:#267] SI:#307 POM:#294
Liberty (BSth #8) LY Str:#285 Talent: [Return:#318 New:#177] SI:#310 POM:#285
Kennesaw St. (ASun #6) LY Str:#337 Talent: [Return:#316 New:#213] SI:#302 POM:#322
Appalachian St. (Sun #11) LY Str:#325 Talent: [Return:#317 New:#214] SI:#305 POM:#313
Jacksonville (ASun #7) LY Str:#313 Talent: [Return:#319 New:#188] SI:#336 POM:#328
Tennessee St. (OVC #12) LY Str:#284 Talent: [Return:#321 New:#237] SI:#346 POM:#312
Cornell (Ivy #8) LY Str:#331 Talent: [Return:#320 New:#301+] SI:#301+ POM:#318
UNC Greensboro (SC #7) LY Str:#308 Talent: [Return:#323 New:#153] SI:#282 POM:#272
Montana St. (BSky #11) LY Str:#296 Talent: [Return:#322 New:#268] SI:#277 POM:#327
SE Louisiana (SLand #8) LY Str:#327 Talent: [Return:#325 New:#189] SI:#299 POM:#309
Jackson St. (SWAC #5) LY Str:#294 Talent: [Return:#326 New:#238] SI:#325 POM:#323
Campbell (BSth #9) LY Str:#328 Talent: [Return:#324 New:#297] SI:#327 POM:#299
Alabama A&M (SWAC #6) LY Str:#306 Talent: [Return:#330 New:#190] SI:#345 POM:#338
Prairie View A&M (SWAC #7) LY Str:#330 Talent: [Return:#331 New:#178] SI:#335 POM:#320
Presbyterian (BSth #10) LY Str:#350 Talent: [Return:#327 New:#301+] SI:#324 POM:#321
The Citadel (SC #8) LY Str:#342 Talent: [Return:#328 New:#301+] SI:#333 POM:#336
Alcorn St. (SWAC #8) LY Str:#323 Talent: [Return:#329 New:#301+] SI:#318 POM:#314
Furman (SC #9) LY Str:#344 Talent: [Return:#332 New:#269] SI:#332 POM:#292
Southern Utah (BSky #12) LY Str:#349 Talent: [Return:#333 New:#301+] SI:#337 POM:#342
Maine (AE #8) LY Str:#343 Talent: [Return:#334 New:#298] SI:#321 POM:#343
Houston Baptist (SLand #9) LY Str:#340 Talent: [Return:#335 New:#299] SI:#334 POM:#344
UMBC (AE #9) LY Str:#319 Talent: [Return:#336 New:#215] SI:#343 POM:#325
Abilene Christian (SLand #10) LY Str:#346 Talent: [Return:#337 New:#301+] SI:#320 POM:#346
LIU Brooklyn (NEC #10) LY Str:#315 Talent: [Return:#338 New:#216] SI:#330 POM:#306
New Orleans (SLand #11) LY Str:#332 Talent: [Return:#339 New:#191] SI:#342 POM:#332
IUPUI (Sum #9) LY Str:#321 Talent: [Return:#341 New:#163] SI:#319 POM:#324
Samford (SC #10) LY Str:#326 Talent: [Return:#340 New:#301+] SI:#341 POM:#333
Stetson (ASun #8) LY Str:#335 Talent: [Return:#343 New:#135] SI:#347 POM:#329
Grambling St. (SWAC #9) LY Str:#351 Talent: [Return:#342 New:#301+] SI:#351 POM:#351
MD Eastern Shore (MEAC #10) LY Str:#339 Talent: [Return:#344 New:#301+] SI:#348 POM:#350
South Carolina St. (MEAC #11) LY Str:#345 Talent: [Return:#345 New:#301+] SI:#323 POM:#339
North Carolina A&T (MEAC #12) LY Str:#334 Talent: [Return:#346 New:#300] SI:#338 POM:#337
Florida A&M (MEAC #13) LY Str:#304 Talent: [Return:#347 New:#270] SI:#349 POM:#335
Lamar (SLand #12) LY Str:#341 Talent: [Return:#348 New:#301+] SI:#329 POM:#347
Longwood (BSth #11) LY Str:#347 Talent: [Return:#349 New:#192] SI:#326 POM:#345
Miss. Valley St. (SWAC #10) LY Str:#348 Talent: [Return:#350 New:#301+] SI:#344 POM:#348
Central Arkansas (SLand #13) LY Str:#336 Talent: [Return:#351 New:#193] SI:#350 POM:#341

Posted on November 12, 2014 at 02:59 PM in analysis, SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 27, 2012

Zeitgeist Top 25 for February 27, 2012: Overtime is kind to #4 Kansas, #5 Duke

Two teams in the top five of this week's Zeitgeist Top 25 owe their rankings to overtime wins at home.

#1 Syracuse (29-1), #2 Kentucky (28-1), and #3 Michigan State (24-5) all have sizeable winning streaks. The Orange added wins over South Florida and Connecticut for their 8th and 9th in a row; the Wildcats downed Mississippi State and Vanderbilt to make it a whopping 20 in a row; and Michigan State has won seven in a row after beating Minnesota and Nebraska.

While #4 Kansas (24-5) and #5 Duke (25-4) have each won six in a row, it almost came to an end for both teams. Kansas was down by as much as 19 points in the second half against Missouri before coming back to force overtime and winning 87-86. Duke needed overtime to overcome Virginia Tech 70-65.

A point here or there and the big story would be how Missouri (25-4) rebounded from their 78-68 upset home loss to Kansas State; instead they lost their 2nd game in a row and fall from #3 to #9. Likewise, Duke would be out of the top ten instead of jumping five spots to #5. But close doesn't matter in the end...at least in the Zeitgeist rankings.

Non-majors Wichita State (26-4) and Murray State (28-1) completed their regular seasons and moved up to #6 and #7. The Shockers beat Illinois State and Drake, while the Racers topped Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech. Not huge victories, but both avoided losses that plagued other top ten teams. North Carolina also took advantage, jumping from #14 to #8 with wins over North Carolina State and Virginia.

Notre Dame (20-9) couldn't avoid the upset bug, and their great 9-game winning streak—that started with a win over Syracuse—finally came to and end at the hand of St. John's, 61-58. The Irish fall five spots to #10.

Zeitgest Top 25 for week ending February 26, 2012
LW Rnk Team                Rec Points Last game (each . = 1 day ago)
1   1. Syracuse               29-1   87.08 .W 71-69 @#139 Connecticut
2   2. Kentucky               28-1   79.07 .W 83-74 #37 Vanderbilt
4   3. Michigan St.           24-5   63.53 .W 62-34 #157 Nebraska
5   4. Kansas                 24-5   61.00 .W 87-86OT #3 Missouri
10   5. Duke                   25-4   49.60 .W 70-65OT #155 Virginia Tech
8   6. Wichita St.            26-4   49.32 .W 81-58 #140 Drake
12   7. Murray St.             28-1   43.02 .W 69-64 @#150 Tennessee Tech
14   8. North Carolina         25-4   42.50 .W 54-51 @#59 Virginia
3   9. Missouri               25-4   41.61 .L 87-86OT @#5 Kansas
6 10. Notre Dame             20-9   40.57 .L 61-58 @#165 St. John's
13 11. Oral Roberts           26-5   38.29 .W 73-71 @#227 Southern Utah
17 12. Marquette              24-5   36.98 ..W 61-60 @#76 West Virginia
9 13. Temple                 22-6   36.58 .L 82-72 @#43 Saint Joseph's
22 14. Creighton              25-5   34.62 .W 61-60 @#145 Indiana St.
20 15. Drexel                 25-5   34.17 .W 73-72 @#131 Old Dominion
30 16. Gonzaga                23-5   31.27 .W 65-57 @#284 San Diego
28 17. Baylor                 24-5   31.12 .W 70-60 #198 Oklahoma
16 18. Michigan               21-8   30.66 .L 75-61 #84 Purdue
15 19. Ohio St.               23-6   30.62 L 63-60 #25 Wisconsin
25 20. Wisconsin              21-8   30.28 W 63-60 @#15 Ohio St.
7 21. New Mexico             22-6   29.60 .L 83-64 @#71 Texas Christian
31 22. Nevada Las Vegas       24-6   29.15 .W 68-58 #113 Air Force
47 23. San Diego St.          22-6   27.79 .W 74-66 #68 Colorado St.
18 24. Florida                22-7   27.69 .L 76-62 @#135 Georgia
38 25. Virginia Commonwealth 25-6   27.65 .W 89-77 #29 George Mason

Former top tens Temple (22-6) and New Mexico (22-6) had rough weeks. The Owls needed overtime to beat La Salle, then lost to St. Joe's 82-72, falling to #13. The Lobos took it on the chin twice, first at Colorado State 71-63, then at TCU 83-64, their worst loss of the year. They drop from #7 to #21.

Golden Eagles soar

Oral Roberts (26-5) slides up a few notches by beating Southern Utah this week; they are 19-1 in their last 20 games. Marquette (24-5) beat Rutgers and West Virginia to leap five spots to #12. The two teams became the Golden Eagles around the same time, Oral Roberts changing from the Titans in 1993, and Marquette dropping the still-beloved Warriors monicker in 1994.

Mid-majors Creighton and Drexel are both 25-5 after capping their regular seasons with two wins. The Blue Jays are up 8 spots to #14 after beating Evansville and Indiana State, while the Dragons defeated James Madison and Old Dominion.

Gonzaga and Baylor made their way back into the top 25 after recent setbacks. The Bulldogs (23-5) beat BYU 74-63 on Thursday and San Diego on Saturday and jumped from #30 to #16. The Bears (24-5) had lost three of four before wins over Texas and Oklahoma put them back on track; they leap 11 spots to #17.

Mixed Week for Big Ten's Top Teams

It was a wild week in the Big Ten, and in the end the conference's #2 through #4 teams ended up in a logjam from #18 to #20.

Michigan (21-8) beat Northwestern 67-55 in overtime but lost to Purdue at home; they ended up down two spots to #18.
Ohio State (23-6) beat Illinois convincingly but lost at home to Wisconsin, falling four spots to #19
Wisconsin (21-8) lost to Iowa on Thursday, 67-66, in a game not as close as that score suggests, but rebounded to beat the Buckeyes 63-60. In their case the big win overcame the disappointing loss and the Badgers move up five spots to #20

Two Mountain West teams forged their way back into the top 25 of our volatile rankings: UNLV (24-6) beat Boise State and Air Force to move up to #22, while San Diego State used an overtime win over Wyoming and a defeat of Colorado State to jump all the way from #47 to #23.

Florida (22-7) beat Auburn but lost to Georgia in the SEC; the Gators fell 6 spots this week. VCU (25-6) won twice in the CAA, including a win over George Mason, to put them at #25.

Five teams enter, five teams leave

Dropping out of the top 25 this week were #11 Florida State, #19 St. Louis, #21 Southern Miss, #23 California, and #24 Harvard.

FSU (19-9) fell the hardest, dropping two games. The Seminoles lost to Duke at home, 74-66, then fell to rival Miami on the road, 78-62. The unforgiving Zeitgeist system dumped them all the way to #34.

St. Louis (22-6) lost to Rhode Island and fell to #30; Southern Miss (23-6) lost to UTEP in double overtime on Wednesday, and beating Rice on Saturday only helped them recover to #31. Cal (23-7) beat 6-22 Utah on Thursday, which did almost nothing positive for them, then lost to Colorado which knocked them down to #41. And Harvard (24-4) blew their Ivy League cushion by losing to Penn at home, 55-54. The Crimson fell to #33.

Posted on February 27, 2012 at 08:13 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 20, 2012

Zeitgeist Top 25 for February 20th: New Mexico into top 10

The top ten of this week's version of the Zeitgeist rankings is mostly unchanged. New Mexico's big win over UNLV put the Lobos in the the Rebels out, while Ohio State's loss to Michigan let Duke slip in.

The top six were unchanged, as all these teams won all their contests but with the separation among the top teams, none could pass the team ahead of them.

#1 Syracuse (27-1) beat Louisville 52-51 and Rutgers 74-64
#2 Kentucky (26-1) played only Mississippi, winning 77-62
#3 Missouri (25-2) beat Oklahoma State 83-65 and Texas A&M 71-62
#4 Michigan State (22-5) beat Wisconsin 69-55 and Purdue 76-62
#5 Kansas (22-5) beat Kansas State 59-53 and Texas Tech 83-50
#6 Notre Dame (19-8) beat Rutgers 71-53 and rallied big to beat Villanova 74-70 in overtime

All of the top five can be found in the top ten of the AP poll, while Notre Dame's high rank here is due to their recent run of success that dates back to their upset of Syracuse on January 21; including that game they've won eight straight.

The top new entry in the top ten is New Mexico (22-4) who crushed former #9 Nevada Las-Vegas, 65-45 on Saturday. Along with a 77-67 win at ex-#17 San Diego State, this allowed the Lobos to establish a 2-game lead in the Mountain West.

Rounding out the top ten, Wichita State (24-4) held at #8 after beating Missouri State 73-58 and winning their Bracketbusters matchup against Davidson 91-74; Temple (21-5) moved up a spot to #9 with wins over St. Bonaventure (76-70) and Duquesne (78-59); and Duke (23-4) slipped back into the top 10 after beating North Carolina State 78-73 after a huge late rally, then crushing Boston College 75-50.

LW Rnk Team                Rec Rating Last game (each . = 1 day ago)
1   1. Syracuse               27-1   80.92 W 74-64 @#152 Rutgers
2   2. Kentucky               26-1   71.24 .W 77-62 #103 Mississippi
3   3. Missouri               25-2   65.02 .W 71-62 @#205 Texas A&M
4   4. Michigan St.           22-5   60.11 W 76-62 @#80 Purdue
5   5. Kansas                 22-5   49.86 .W 83-50 #263 Texas Tech
6   6. Notre Dame             19-8   47.73 .W 74-70OT @#149 Villanova
14   7. New Mexico             22-4   46.25 .W 65-45 #9 Nevada Las Vegas
8   8. Wichita St.            24-4   45.73 .W 91-74 @#74 Davidson
10   9. Temple                 21-5   43.00 .W 78-59 #97 Duquesne
11 10. Duke                   23-4   40.55 W 75-50 @#148 Boston College
12 11. Florida St.            19-7   39.23 .W 76-62 @#67 North Carolina St.
19 12. Murray St.             26-1   37.74 .W 65-51 #23 St. Mary's
16 13. Oral Roberts           25-5   37.68 .W 67-61 #51 Akron
21 14. North Carolina         23-4   36.64 .W 74-52 #197 Clemson
7 15. Ohio St.               22-5   36.61 .L 56-51 @#33 Michigan
33 16. Michigan               20-7   35.03 .W 56-51 #7 Ohio St.
20 17. Marquette              22-5   33.63 .W 79-64 @#121 Connecticut
29 18. Florida                21-6   33.18 .W 98-68 @#58 Arkansas
22 19. St. Louis              22-5   32.97 .W 66-46 #230 Fordham
26 20. Drexel                 23-5   31.88 .W 69-49 @#91 Cleveland St.
13 21. Southern Mississippi   22-5   30.48 .L 73-71 @#239 Houston
36 22. Creighton              23-5   29.67 .W 81-79 #42 Long Beach St.
39 23. California             22-6   29.02 .W 77-63 #150 Oregon St.
31 24. Harvard                23-3   28.96 .W 66-51 #102 Yale
15 25. Wisconsin              20-7   28.28 W 65-55 #182 Penn St.

Right behind Duke is the second ACC team tied for the lead in that conference, Florida State (19-7). The Seminoles kept pace with Duke and #14 North Carolina (23-4), beating Virginia Tech 48-47 as well as N.C. State on Saturday. The Tar Heels jumped seven spots after defeating Miami 73-64 and Clemson 74-52.

Mid-majors, or rather, minor conference powers Murray State (26-1) and Oral Roberts (25-5) moved up with two wins apiece; the Racers beat SE Missouri State 75-66, and in the biggest Bracketbusters battle, downed ex-#23 St. Mary's in dominating fashion 65-51. The Golden Eagles beat IUPU Fort Wayne 75-71 then won their own Bracketbusters contest over Akron 67-61.

In the Big Ten, former #33 Michigan (20-7) leapt to #16 after beating Illinois 70-61 then topping 22-5 Ohio State 56-51. The Buckeyes fell from #7 to #15, remaining one place above the Wolverines.

Marquette (22-5) and St. Louis (22-5) moved up three spots each to #17 and #19. Marquette beat struggling UConn, while St. Louis won twice in Atlantic 10 play. Jumping in at #18 and #20 are Florida (21-6) and Colonial Athletic co-leader Drexel (23-5). The Gators beat Alabama and Arkansas, while the Dragons beat William & Mary and then topped the Horizon's Cleveland State 69-49 in a Bracketbusters contest.

Southern Miss (22-5) may be starting to slump; this week they edged Tulsa in overtime but fell to Houston in a big upset; they fall to #21 from #13. Meanwhile Creighton (23-5) broke their 3-game slump with a win at Southern Illinois, and followed it up with a huge 81-79 Bracketbusters win over Long Beach State. The Bluejays leap back into the top 25 at #22.

California (22-6) and Harvard (23-3) moved back in as well, each with a pair of home wins. The Bears make a big leap from #39 to #23 by sweeping Oregon and Oregon State, while Harvard's Friday-Saturday stint included wins over Brown and Yale.

Wisconsin (20-7) rounds out the top 25, falling ten spots after losing to Michigan State. The Badgers recovered somewhat with a win over Penn State.

The dropouts

This week six teams fell out of the top 25. Most of them are in the midst of a losing streak, something of which the Zeitgeist rankings aren't very forgiving:

#25 Baylor (22-5) started the week well with a 79-64 win over Iowa State, but fell to #28 due to their 57-56 home loss to Kansas State, their 3rd loss in four games.
Gonzaga (21-5) fell from #18 to #30 after being upset by San Francisco 66-65.
UNLV (22-6) lost to TCU 102-97 in overtime, then were drubbed by New Mexico for their 3rd loss in four games. The Rebels drop from #9 all the way to #31.
#24 Louisville (21-6) only lost to Syracuse by a point, then needed overtime to beat DePaul. The Cardinals fell to #34.
After losing to New Mexico, San Diego State (20-6) was upset by Air Force 58-56 on Saturday for their 3rd loss in a row and 4th in six games. Recently in the top ten, the Aztecs tumble from #17 to #47 this week.
Finally, the biggest slump of all may belong to St. Mary's (23-5). The Gaels were 75-60 upset victims to Loyola Marymount, then were crushed in their Bracketbusters contest at Murray State. They've lost 3 of their last 4 games after a 22-2 start and fall from #23 last week to #50 this week.

That's four teams who are 1-3 over the last two weeks, all of whom were in the top ten just a few weeks ago.

The biggest games in the coming week include a key ACC battle between #10 Duke and #11 Florida State on Thursday, as well as a Big Twelve showdown between #3 Missouri and #5 Kansas on Saturday.

Posted on February 20, 2012 at 09:50 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 13, 2012

Zeitgeist Top 25 for Week of Feb 12: MSU, Kansas back in top 5

Big moves in the Big Ten and Big Twelve highlight this week's Zeitgeist Top 25.

Michigan State (20-5) went 3-0 over the past week, beating Michigan 64-54 and Penn State 77-57, then capping it with a huge 58-48 road win at ex-#4 Ohio State (21-4). The latter, mostly, is what pushed the Spartans up to #4 in our Zeitgeist Rankings while the Buckeyes slipped to #7.

Right on MSU's heels at #5 is Kansas (20-5), who jumped from #15 after beating Baylor 68-54 on the road and adding a win over Oklahoma State. 23-2 Missouri, who held at #3, also beat the Bears 72-57 this week, sending Baylor (21-4) tumbling from #5 to #25.

The top two spots were unchanged: Syracuse (25-1) held off Georgetown in overtime, 64-61, then beat UConn convincingly to stay #1. #2 Kentucky (25-1) drubbed ex-#6 Florida 78-58, then beat Vanderbilt on the road on Saturday.

Notre Dame (17-8) climbed another notch with their 5th and 6th wins in a row, defeating West Virginia 55-51 and DePaul 84-76.

Three mid-majors are among the hottest teams in the country and crack this week's top ten: Wichita State (22-4) took pole position in the Missouri Valley Conference by thrashing Northern Iowa 82-57 and ex-#12 Creighton 89-68. The Shockers jump over both 22-4 UNLV—65-63 winners over San Diego State—and 19-5 Temple, who beat George Washington and Xavier in winning 8 straight.

LW  Rnk Team             Record Rating Last game (each . = 1 day ago)
1   1. Syracuse                 25-1   73.73 .W 85-67 #80 Connecticut
2   2. Kentucky                 25-1   69.26 .W 69-63 @#53 Vanderbilt
3   3. Missouri                 23-2   61.55 .W 72-57 #5 Baylor
13   4. Michigan St.             20-5   49.89 .W 58-48 @#4 Ohio St.
15   5. Kansas                   20-5   46.71 .W 81-66 #115 Oklahoma St.
7   6. Notre Dame               17-8   45.01 .W 84-76 #199 DePaul
4   7. Ohio St.                 21-4   42.22 .L 58-48 #13 Michigan St.
22   8. Wichita St.              22-4   39.98 .W 89-68 @#12 Creighton
19   9. Nevada Las Vegas         22-4   39.85 .W 65-63 #8 San Diego St.
16 10. Temple                   19-5   37.54 .W 85-72 #99 Xavier
27 11. Duke                     21-4   36.06 .W 73-55 #152 Maryland
14 12. Florida St.              17-7   34.84 .W 64-59 #60 Miami FL
9 13. Southern Mississippi     21-4   34.83 .W 78-74 #79 Central Florida
24 14. New Mexico               20-4   33.45 .W 48-38 #38 Wyoming
25 15. Wisconsin                19-6   33.38 ...W 68-61OT @#40 Minnesota
20 16. Oral Roberts             23-5   33.32 .W 61-51 #157 Western Illinois
8 17. San Diego St.            20-4   32.13 .L 65-63 @#19 Nevada Las Vegas
41 18. Gonzaga                  20-4   31.96 .W 78-59 #104 Loyola Marymount
10 19. Murray St.               24-1   31.71 .W 82-63 #238 Austin Peay
29 20. Marquette                21-5   31.54 .W 95-78 #67 Cincinnati
17 21. North Carolina           21-4   31.52 .W 70-52 #33 Virginia
31 22. St. Louis                20-5   31.20 .W 59-51 @#81 La Salle
11 23. St. Mary's               23-3   30.97 .W 82-67 #318 Santa Clara
35 24. Louisville               20-5   29.92 .W 77-74 @#58 West Virginia
5 25. Baylor                   21-4   29.59 .L 72-57 @#3 Missouri
Dropped out:
#6 Florida; #12 Creighton; #18 Georgetown; #21 Harvard; #23 Iowa State

ACC Still Up For Grabs

Three teams are now tied for the lead in the ACC, all 8-2 in conference play. #11 Duke (21-4) rockets from #27 to #11 after beating North Carolina on a buzzer-beater and demolishing Maryland. Right behind them at #12, up two spots, is Florida State (17-7), who continues their impressive upward climb despite a mid-week 64-60 loss to Boston College. The Seminoles beat Miami on Saturday. North Carolina (21-4) recovered from the Duke loss with a 70-52 win over Virginia but slips four spots to #21.

New Mexico (20-4) is the 2nd-highest-rated Mountain West team in the rankings, behind UNLV. The Lobos jump 10 spots to #14 after beating Wyoming, while San Diego State (20-4) loss drops to #17 after their loss to the Rebels.

Just behind the Lobos are the Badgers of Wisconsin (19-6), overtime winners over Minnesota on Thursday; they move up 10 spots from #25. Just ahead of New Mexico at #13 is Southern Miss (21-4), who falls 4 spots after losing to UAB 71-61.

There are two bona-fide "minor" conference teams in the top 25: Oral Roberts (23-5) at #16 and Murray State (24-1) at #19. The Golden Eagles move up four spots with wins over IUPUI (76-74 in overtime) and Western Illinois. The Racers lost their first game of the season, 72-68 at home to Tennessee State, before rebounding with an 82-63 win over Austin Peay. They fall 9 spots.

Gonzaga (20-4) leaps back into the fray at #18 with a huge 73-59 win over St. Mary's (23-3), who falls 12 spots to #23. The Gaels still lead the conference at 12-1, with the 'Zags at 10-2. Also new this week are two Big East teams, Marquette (21-5) and Louisville (20-5), both of whom won twice in conference play. They stand at #2 and tied for #5 in the Big East respectively.

The last new team in the rankings is St. Louis (20-5) from the Atlantic 10. They won twice on the road, beating St. Joseph's and La Salle and climb 9 spots to #22.

Of the five teams falling out, Florida fell the hardest, all the way from #6 to #29. The 19-6 Gators lost badly to Kentucky, then fell to Tennessee at home. Creighton (21-5) lost to Evansville 65-57 on Tuesday before being crushed by Wichita State, their third straight loss; the Blue Jays are now #36, falling from #12.

Georgetown (19-5) fell from #18 to #27, recovering from the Syracuse loss with a 71-67 win over St. John's. Harvard's first run at the Top 25 this year came to an end, for now; the 21-3 Crimson had their first Ivy League defeat, falling to Princeton 70-62 on Saturday after beating Penn 56-50 the day before. They're now at #31, six spots ahead of former #23 Iowa State (18-7), who fell to Oklahoma State, 69-67, on Tuesday.

Posted on February 13, 2012 at 07:56 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 06, 2012

Zeitgeist Top 25 for Monday, February 6, 2012: Orange still #1, Notre Dame crashes top ten

Syracuse held onto the #1 spot this week with Kentucky again at #2, while hot teams Notre Dame and Florida State continued their strong play to move up significantly.

The Orange (23-1) beat St. John's in their only outing this week but it was enough to keep them at #1 as they had a big lead over #2 Kentucky (23-1), who beat Tennessee and South Carolina. Missouri (21-2) pushed their way to #3 with a big win over former #8 Kansas, while Ohio State (20-3) remained #4 after beating Michigan and ex-#16 Wisconsin. Baylor (21-2) edged up to #5 with wins over Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.

Most of the rest of the top ten were gate crashers: Florida (19-4) jumped 7 spots to #6 after notching their 6th and 7th wins in a row over South Carolina and former #19 Vanderbilt. Notre Dame (15-8), who was 11-8 just a few weeks ago before upsetting Syracuse, continued their powerful run with wins over UConn and #23 Marquette; they jump 10 spots from #17 to #7.

San Diego State (20-3) slipped back into the top ten with wins over Boise State and TCU. Southern Miss (20-3) beat Memphis and jumped to #9. Rounding out the top ten is undefeated Murray State (23-0), who beat Southeast Missouri and #343 Tennessee Martin, which was enough to tread water and nothing more.

LW Rnk Team             Record Rating Last game (each . = 1 day ago)
1   1. Syracuse                 23-1   64.72 .W 95-70 #125 St. John's
2   2. Kentucky                 23-1   56.09 .W 86-52 #179 South Carolina
5   3. Missouri                 21-2   52.22 .W 74-71 #8 Kansas
4   4. Ohio St.                 20-3   50.07 .W 58-52 #16 Wisconsin
6   5. Baylor                   21-2   46.24 .W 64-60 #98 Oklahoma St.
13   6. Florida                  19-4   42.37 .W 73-65 #19 Vanderbilt
17   7. Notre Dame               15-8   40.35 .W 76-59 #23 Marquette
11   8. San Diego St.            20-3   40.16 .W 83-73 #152 Texas Christian
15   9. Southern Mississippi     20-3   39.27 ....W 75-72 #39 Memphis
10 10. Murray St.               23-0   39.01 .W 65-58 #343 Tennessee Martin
9 11. St. Mary's               22-2   38.54 ...W 84-73 #270 San Diego
3 12. Creighton                21-3   38.49 .L 65-62 #123 Northern Iowa
7 13. Michigan St.             18-5   38.31 W 64-54 #45 Michigan
20 14. Florida St.              16-6   38.29 .W 58-55 #25 Virginia
8 15. Kansas                   18-5   34.28 .L 74-71 #5 Missouri
21 16. Temple                   17-5   34.01 .W 73-56 #174 Rhode Island
22 17. North Carolina           20-3   33.24 .W 83-74 #106 Maryland
30 18. Georgetown               18-4   32.75 .W 75-45 #68 South Florida
14 19. Nevada Las Vegas         21-4   31.82 .L 68-66 #56 Wyoming
12 20. Oral Roberts             21-5   31.31 .W 85-76 #141 North Dakota St.
26 21. Harvard                  20-2   30.80 .W 57-52 #149 Columbia
32 22. Wichita St.              20-4   29.88 .W 71-66 #132 Indiana St.
40 23. Iowa St.                 17-6   29.02 .W 77-70 #77 Oklahoma
27 24. New Mexico               19-4   28.99 .W 65-49 #242 Boise St.
16 25. Wisconsin                18-6   28.95 .L 58-52 #4 Ohio St.

Slipping from the top ten: St. Mary's (22-2) didn't lose—in fact they haven't lost in 11 games—but their sole win this week over San Diego wasn't enough to hold their spot; they slide 2 spots to #11. #12 Creighton (21-3) did lose, to Northern Iowa, breaking their 11-game winning streak and sending the Blue Jays tumbling from #3 to #12. Michigan State (18-5) fell from #7 to #13 after a loss to Illinois, and Kansas (18-5) dropped from #8 to #15 due to their loss to Missouri.

Florida State (16-6), along with Notre Dame one of the great "comeback" teams of the year, continued to win, beating Georgia Tech and Virginia and moving up 6 to #14. Temple (17-5) and North Carolina (20-3) both won twice and moved up 5 spots each to #16 and #17 respectively.

Georgetown (18-4) jumped back in the top 25 from #30, with wins over Connecticut and South Florida. They land at #18, just ahead of UNLV (21-4) and Oral Roberts (21-5), who lost to Wyoming and South Dakota State and drop 5 and 8 spots respectively.

More new entries: Harvard (20-2) finally made our Top 25, moving up 5 spots to #21 after weekend wins over Cornell and Columbia. Wichita State (20-4) is back at #22, up 10 after beating Missouri State and Indiana State this week. Iowa State (17-6) followed up last week's upset of Kansas with wins over Kansas State and Oklahoma, pushing them from #40 to #23. And New Mexico (19-4) slipped back into the top 25 after topping Air Force and Boise State.

Wisconsin (18-6) rounds out the top 25; the Badgers beat Penn State but lost to Ohio State at home on Saturday; they drop from #16.

Five teams dropped out of the top 25 since last Monday:

ex-#18 Duke (19-4) fell to Miami in overtime on Sunday and slipped to #27
#23 Marquette (19-5) lost to Notre Dame and fell to #29
former #24 Nevada (19-4) was upset by Idaho and dropped to #32
Last week's #25, Virginia (18-4), fell to #33 after losing to FSU
#19 Vanderbilt (16-7) lost twice, to Arkansas and Florida, and tumbled to #53

The coming week's biggest games, according to the Zeitgiest rankings, are:

#5 Baylor at #3 Missouri on 2/11 (Sat)
#6 Florida visits #2 Kentucky on 2/7 (Tue)
#13 Michigan State at #4 Ohio State on 2/11 (Sat)
#18 Georgetown at #1 Syracuse on 2/8 (Wed)
#15 Kansas at #5 Baylor on 2/8 (Wed)
#8 San Diego State at #19 UNLV on 2/11 (Sat)
#22 Wichita State at #12 Creighton on 2/11 (Sat)

Posted on February 06, 2012 at 08:30 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 30, 2012

Zeitgeist rankings for week of January 30: Syracuse back at #1

After a 1-week absence, Syracuse reclaimed its near-perpetual spot atop our Top 25, based on our Zeitgeist ratings.

Missouri (19-2) was last week's temporary #1, but the Tigers were upset by Oklahoma State 79-72 on Wednesday. They rebounded with a win over Texas Tech but still fall to #5 this week. Syracuse (22-1) moved up from #2 in style, beating two of last week's Top 25. The Orange defeated #25 Cincinnati 60-53 on the road and #11 West Virginia 63-61.

Kentucky (21-1) slipped into the #2 spot, beating both Georgia and LSU on the road, while Creighton (20-2) moved from #5 to #3 with wins over Drake and Bradley; the Bluejays have now won 10 in a row. Jumping into the top 5 at #4 is Ohio State (19-3), who posted wins over Penn State and Michigan; the Wolverines were #28 after their win over Purdue, so that win gave the Buckeyes a big boost.

Last week's #4, the Kansas Jayhawks (17-4) lost their only game last week to Iowa State and drop to #8. The other top ten Big Twelve team, Baylor (19-2) came back strong after their only two losses of the season—to #8 Kansas and #5 Missouri—beating Oklahoma and Texas and moving up to #6. A second Big Ten team follows at #7 as Michigan State (17-4) slides up a couple notches following a victory over Minnesota this week.

SportsRatings Top 25 (Zeitgeist Rankings) for week of January 30

LW Rnk Team             Record Rating Last game (each . = 1 day ago)
2   1. Syracuse                 22-1   62.53 .W 63-61 #11 West Virginia
3   2. Kentucky                 21-1   53.15 .W 74-50 #87 Louisiana St.
5   3. Creighton                20-2   45.77 .W 73-59 #243 Bradley
12   4. Ohio St.                 19-3   42.83 W 64-49 #38 Michigan
1   5. Missouri                 19-2   41.69 .W 63-50 #280 Texas Tech
8   6. Baylor                   19-2   41.68 .W 76-71 #131 Texas
9   7. Michigan St.             17-4   41.32 ....W 68-52 #26 Minnesota
4   8. Kansas                   17-4   39.83 .L 72-64 #72 Iowa St.
16   9. St. Mary's               21-2   38.12 .W 80-66 #70 Brigham Young
7 10. Murray St.               21-0   37.52 .W 73-58 #236 Eastern Illinois
6 11. San Diego St.            18-3   37.26 .L 77-60 #64 Colorado St.
10 12. Oral Roberts             20-4   36.63 .W 77-67 #218 Missouri Kansas C
29 13. Florida                  17-4   35.98 .W 69-57 #22 Mississippi St.
14 14. Nevada Las Vegas         20-3   35.01 .W 65-63 #166 Air Force
17 15. Southern Mississippi     19-3   34.67 .W 78-65 #41 Central Florida
21 16. Wisconsin                17-5   34.58 ...W 57-50 #34 Indiana
33 17. Notre Dame               14-8   33.69 W 50-48 #55 Connecticut
23 18. Duke                     18-3   32.83 .W 83-76 #207 St. John's
36 19. Vanderbilt               16-5   32.32 .W 84-77 #18 Middle Tennessee
20 20. Florida St.              14-6   31.76 ....W 75-52 #124 Wake Forest
28 21. Temple                   15-5   30.53 .W 78-60 #118 Saint Joseph's
32 22. North Carolina           18-3   30.19 W 93-81 #214 Georgia Tech
35 23. Marquette                18-4   30.03 .W 82-78 #99 Villanova
27 24. Nevada                   18-3   28.79 .W 65-63 #252 Louisiana Tech
40 25. Virginia                 17-3   28.19 .W 61-60 #44 North Carolina St.

From #9 to #12 it's the attack of the mid-majors, or non-majors as a few come from "minor" conferences. St. Mary's (21-2) beat Loyola Marymount and then beat 18-6 BYU, their newest WCC foes, to jump from #16 to #9. Murray State (21-0), the nation's last unbeaten team, slid a few spots as their single win over Eastern Illinois couldn't keep pace. San Diego State (18-3) fell out of the top 10 due to their upset loss to Colorado State, while Oral Roberts (20-4) slides down to #12 despite wins over South Dakota and UMKC and a 13-game win streak. Sometimes having an easy schedule sucks.

Florida (17-4) leads a rash of eight new teams into the Top 25, jumping from #29 to #13 with wins over Mississippi and ex-#22 Mississippi State. Another big mover—and very hot team—is Notre Dame (14-8), who followed up their big upset of Syracuse with road wins over Seton Hall (55-42) and UConn (50-48) and jumps from #33 to #17. Vanderbilt (16-5) hosted and beat both Tennessee and #18 Middle Tennessee, launching the Commodores into the #19 spot, up from #36.

The last five slots were also held by newcomers or returnees:

Temple (15-5) jumped 7 spots, beating Charlotte and St. Joe's
North Carolina (18-3) rebounds into the #22 slot, up 10 with wins over N.C. State and Georgia Tech
Marquette (18-4) won its 6th game in a row, beating USF and Villanova this week
Nevada (18-3) won is 13th in a row; the Wolf Pack beat New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech
Virginia (17-3) beat Boston College and N.C. State to reclaim a top 25 spot.

The other five teams in the rankings were mostly stable. UNLV (20-3) needed overtime twice—beating Boise State and Air Force on the road—to hold at #14. Southern Miss (19-3) also notched a couple of road wins and moves up to #15. Wisconsin (17-5) and Duke (18-3) both move up five spots, to #16 and #18 respectively. The Badgers beat Illinois and Indiana, while the Blue Devils tackled Maryland and St. John's. Finally, Florida State holds at #20 after beating Wake Forest; three weeks ago, the Seminoles were at #127, but five straight wins—including upsets of UNC and Duke—changed that.

Eight teams drop from the top 25. #24 Gonzaga (17-3) did so without losing, as their win over Portland couldn't keep pace with everyone else. #15 Georgetown (16-4) and #18 Wichita State (18-4) were big upset victims, to Pittsburgh and Drake respectively. #22 Mississippi State (17-5) and #18 Middle Tennessee (20-3) lost much tougher challenges; the Bulldogs fell on the road to Florida while the Blue Raiders lost at Vanderbilt.

Three of last week's top 25 lost twice: ex-#11 West Virginia (15-7) dropped games to St. John's and Syracuse; ex-#13 Dayton (14-7) lost to St. Joe's and Rhode Island; and last week's #25, Cincinnati (15-7) fell to Syracuse and Rutgers.

Harvard knocking on the door

The Harvard Crimson are 18-2 and #26 in the current Zeitgeist rankings. They're no fluke, either, as they rank #40 in Strength and #15 in Success (#21 Combined). The Crimson have garnered some respect in the USA/Coaches poll, where they were #23 last week, but the AP still has them in the "others receiving votes" column. What hurts them in the Zeitgeist rankings is the fact that their win over FSU came early in the season when it didn't mean as much; a win right now over the Seminoles would be a huge boost! That's why they're high in the Success rankings, which re-evaluates early wins according to the opponent's current ranking. The Zeitgeist algorithm doesn't do that; once a game is played, there is no "looking back"—you have to beat teams in the "now." Unfortunately for Harvard, their schedule doesn't allow many opportunities for advancement.

While that's bad for their ranking here, it's probably good for their NCAA hopes in winning the Ivy League.

Posted on January 30, 2012 at 08:58 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 23, 2012

Zeitgeist Top 25 for January 23: Missouri jumps to #1

For the first time in weeks, we have a new #1 in the weekly edition of our Zeitgeist rankings. Missouri's win over Baylor—accompanied of course by Syracuse's first loss—puts the Tigers on top of the heap.

The most important action was in the Big Twelve last week. Previously #4, Missouri (18-1) warmed up with a win over Texas A&M but their 89-88 road defeat of Baylor was the pivotal game of their season so far. Their only loss is to Kansas State. Baylor's fall was quick; #2 a week ago, the Bears suffered their first defeat at Kansas, 92-74, on Monday, and after dropping the home game they ended up at #8 at 17-2. Meanwhile the 16-3 Jayhawks soared from #9 to #4, adding a 69-66 win at Texas for good measure.

Previous #1 Syracuse (20-1) beat fading Pittsburgh 71-63 at home before running into a brick wall at Notre Dame and losing 67-58 in a game that wasn't that close at all. They managed to hold the #2 spot well ahead of #3 Kentucky (19-1), who beat Arkansas and Alabama in home wins.

Spots #5 through #7 are held by non-major schools. Creighton (18-2) holds at #5 amid all the Big Twelve teams zipping up and down; the BlueJays got a 1-point road win over Missouri State—who previously beat them at home—before blowing out Indiana State. San Diego State (17-2) jumped from #11 to #6 on the strength of a road win at New Mexico plus a home win vs. Air Force. The Aztecs' two losses are to #5 Creighton and #8 Baylor; the Baylor loss was on November 15th and since recent games count more in these rankings, the Bears' back-to-back losses have them lower now. Murray State, the nation's only undefeated team at 20-0, holds at #7; they beat Moreheads State and SIU Edwardsville in Ohio Valley play.

LW Rnk Team             Record Rating Last game (each . = 1 day ago)
4   1. Missouri                 18-1   51.66 .W 89-88 #2 Baylor
1   2. Syracuse                 20-1   51.53 .L 67-58 #83 Notre Dame
3   3. Kentucky                 19-1   49.76 .W 77-71 #48 Alabama
9   4. Kansas                   16-3   48.02 .W 69-66 #85 Texas
5   5. Creighton                18-2   43.30 .W 75-49 #168 Indiana St.
11   6. San Diego St.            17-2   42.28 .W 57-44 #115 Air Force
7   7. Murray St.               20-0   36.97 .W 82-65 #287 SIU Edwardsville
2   8. Baylor                   17-2   36.68 .L 89-88 #4 Missouri
6   9. Michigan St.             16-4   36.11 .W 83-58 #59 Purdue
14 10. Oral Roberts             18-4   35.52 .W 93-86 #169 Oakland
34 11. West Virginia            15-5   35.41 .W 77-74 #24 Cincinnati
13 12. Ohio St.                 17-3   35.35 .W 79-45 #177 Nebraska
18 13. Dayton                   14-5   33.09 .W 87-72 #55 Xavier
28 14. Nevada Las Vegas         18-3   32.98 .W 80-63 #8 New Mexico
21 15. Georgetown               16-3   32.78 .W 52-50 #92 Rutgers
17 16. St. Mary's               19-2   31.95 .W 93-77 #255 Santa Clara
25 17. Southern Mississippi     17-3   30.25 .W 67-63 #44 Marshall
20 18. Middle Tennessee         19-2   30.21 .W 68-47 #139 South Alabama
27 19. Wichita St.              17-3   29.92 .W 85-42 #213 Southern Illinois
54 20. Florida St.              13-6   29.81 .W 76-73 #12 Duke
47 21. Wisconsin                16-5   29.72 W 67-63 #10 Illinois
22 22. Mississippi St.          16-4   28.42 .W 78-77 #26 Vanderbilt
12 23. Duke                     16-3   28.23 .L 76-73 #54 Florida St.
32 24. Gonzaga                  16-3   26.75 .W 77-60 #271 San Diego
24 25. Cincinnati               15-5   26.65 .L 77-74 #34 West Virginia
Dropped out: #8 New Mexico; #10 Illinois; #15 Seton Hall; #16 UConn; #19 Virginia; #23 Indiana

Michigan State's 1-point loss at Michigan knocks them down three spots to #9, though they recovered with a big win over Purdue. Oral Roberts (18-4) moves into the top 10, netting their 10th and 11th victories in a row, but West Virginia (15-5) makes one of the biggest move of the week after beating former #24 Cincinnati 77-74 in overtime. This came after Cincy's big win over Connecticut, so the Bearcats were nearly in the top ten when the Mountaineers beat them. West Virginia jumped to #11, and Cincinnati fell back to the bottom of the top 25.

Ohio State (17-3) beat Nebraska and moved up one spot; Dayton (14-5) also played only once, but they beat Xavier and jumped 5 spots to #13. UNLV (18-3) soared back into the top 25 at #14 with wins TCU and, more significantly, former #8 New Mexico (15-4), who fell all the way to #43 after two losses this week.

#15 Georgetown (16-3) moved up 6 spots with two Big East wins this week, while St. Mary's, now 19-2, climbed to #16 with two WCC wins. Southern Miss (17-3) beat Marshall, which was enough to move them up 8 notches to #17. They moved past #18 Middle Tennessee (19-2), who notched a couple more Sun Belt victories. Wichita State (17-3) moved in from #27 to #19, joining Creighton in representing the Missouri Valley. The Shockers last loss was to the BlueJays on December 31st.

The hottest team in college basketball? That might be Florida State (13-6) who just weeks ago was languishing in the triple-digits. One huge blowout win over North Carolina put them at #54, and this week's wins—84-70 over Maryland and, more significantly, 76-73 at Duke—put the Seminoles into the top 20. They knock the Blue Devils (16-3) down 11 spots to #23. Right behind FSU is another big mover, Wisconsin (16-5), up from #47 to #21 after beating Northwestern and last week's #10 team, Illinois.

Two teams at the bottom of the top 25 took a long journey to end up in the same place. As we mentioned, Cincinnati (15-5) started at #24 last week, jumped into the top ten briefly by beating UConn, then fell right back down with the West Virginia loss, losing a notch in the process. #22 Mississippi State (16-4) did the opposite: they lost to Mississippi in the middle of in the week, but recovered all their lost ground with a win over Vanderbilt, ending up at #22 again.

Gonzaga (16-3) is another new entrant at #24.

Falling out this week: We noted former #16 Connecticut's loss to Cincinnati, but the Huskies followed that up with a 60-57 loss to Tennessee and dropped all the way to #55 at 14-5. And New Mexico (15-4) was #8 before their back-to-back losses dumped them to #43.

Also dropping out:

#15 Seton Hall (15-4) lost to Villanova and ended up at #30
Indiana (16-4), #23 last week, lost their third game in a row at Nebraska, 70-69, before recovering with a win over Penn State. The Hoosiers dropped to #34
#19 Virginia (15-3) suffered their 2nd loss in three games, a 47-45 home defeat to Virginia Tech, and fell to #40
Illinois (15-5) had risen to #10 on the strength of beating Ohio State, but they were upset at Penn State, then lost to Wisconsin yesterday, falling all the way back down to #46.

Posted on January 23, 2012 at 07:02 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 16, 2012

Zeitgeist Top 25 for January 16, 2012

Using our new Zeitgeist rankings, which attempt to rank a team's performance weighted toward their most recent play, here is this week's Top 25.

Syracuse has been at the top of the rankings for some time, which befits their 19-0 record; wins over Villanova and Providence keep them at #1. Baylor is a fairly close second; the Bears beat former #15 Kansas State 75-73 before handling Oklahoma State with ease.

After that, there's a big gap before #3 Kentucky, who edges up to #3 with wins this week over Auburn and Tennessee. 16-1 Missouri rides wins over Iowa State and Texas to #4, while Creighton becomes the top mid-major after bagging three wins this week.

Michigan State beat Iowa this week but saw their 15-game win streak snapped by Northwestern, dropping them from #3 to #6. Meanwhile Murray State's 18-game win streak is intact; they move up a spot after beating #295 Jacksonville State and #145 Tennessee Tech. Their much weaker schedule prevents the Racers from accumulating many points, but they're moving up slowly and steadily as they continue to win.

prev rnk Team                     rec   rating Last game (each . = 1 day ago)
1   1. Syracuse                 19-0   62.94 .W 78-55 #178 Providence
2   2. Baylor                   17-0   57.31 .W 106-65 #171 Oklahoma St.
5   3. Kentucky                 17-1   42.09 .W 65-62 #115 Tennessee
9   4. Missouri                 16-1   41.07 .W 84-73 #66 Texas
14   5. Creighton                16-2   40.18 W 90-71 #216 Southern Illinois
3   6. Michigan St.             15-3   39.56 .L 81-74 #88 Northwestern
8   7. Murray St.               18-0   35.76 .W 82-74 #145 Tennessee Tech
16   8. New Mexico               15-2   34.46 .W 72-62 #58 Wyoming
18   9. Kansas                   14-3   34.29 .W 82-73 #39 Iowa St.
22 10. Illinois                 15-3   33.71 .....W 79-74 #12 Ohio St.
21 11. San Diego St.            15-2   33.71 .W 69-67 #13 Nevada Las Vegas
27 12. Duke                     15-2   33.16 W 73-66 #116 Clemson
12 13. Ohio St.                 16-3   32.93 W 80-63 #4 Indiana
19 14. Oral Roberts             16-4   32.70 .W 81-71 #174 IUPUI
6 15. Seton Hall               15-3   31.84 ..L 56-55 #113 South Florida
36 16. Connecticut              14-3   31.24 .W 67-53 #67 Notre Dame
33 17. St. Mary's               17-2   30.63 .W 69-61 #232 Portland
17 18. Dayton                   13-5   28.64 .W 79-75 #44 La Salle
7 19. Virginia                 14-2   28.21 ...L 61-58 #27 Duke
23 20. Middle Tennessee         17-2   28.16 .W 67-54 #301 Florida Atlantic
10 21. Georgetown               14-3   28.11 W 69-49 #107 St. John's
43 22. Mississippi St.          15-3   28.01 .W 56-52 #46 Alabama
4 23. Indiana                  15-3   27.25 L 80-63 #12 Ohio St.
52 24. Cincinnati               14-4   27.07 .W 82-78 #159 Villanova
11 25. Southern Mississippi     16-3   26.88 .W 59-55 #225 UAB

Moving up the rankings much more quickly are #8 New Mexico, #9 Kansas, #10 Illinois, #11 San Diego State, and #12 Duke. All five jump at least eight spots this week. The Lobos are on a 13-game win streak, while Kansas is off to a 4-0 start in the Big Twelve. Illinois races up the rankings and hops over SDSU after beating Ohio State, while the Aztecs beat former #13 UNLV on Saturday. The Blue Devils topped ex-#7 Virginia this week.

Ohio State had an up-and-down week, or rather down and up. Starting at #12, they fell to #22 Illinois 79-74 on the road, but beat #4 Indiana 80-63 at home to end up pretty much where they started.

Oral Roberts from the Summit league is up 5 spots to #14; the Golden Eagles' first two losses were in games 1 and 2, and they've won nine straight. They join #17 St. Mary's of the West Coast Conference, #18 Dayton of the Atlantic 10, and #20 Middle Tennessee from the Sun Belt. The Gaels beat former #20 Gonzaga to launch into the top 25.

Several Big East teams are heading in different directions: Connecticut jumps from #36 to #16 after beating ex-#24 West Virginia and Notre Dame last week. Seton Hall, however, falls from #6 to #15 with a loss to South Florida. Georgetown also drops, from #10 to #21, after losing to Cincinnati but most recently beat St. John's to remain in the top 25. Cincinnati is up to #24 from #52 after beating the Hoyas and Villanova.

Indiana drops big, from #4 to #23, after taking their 2nd and 3rd losses of the season back-to-back against Minnesota and Ohio State.

Two Mississippi teams make the top 25; Mississippi State is up big after beating Tennessee and Alabama last week, while Southern Miss drops 14 spots after losing to Memphis.

Falling out this week:

#13 UNLV, who lost to San Diego State
#20 Gonzaga; the Bulldogs lost to St. Mary's
#24 West Virginia (lost to UConn)
#25 North Carolina, drubbed 90-57 at FSU
#15 Kansas State, who fell all the way to #50 after falling to Baylor and Oklahoma. The Wildcats have now lost three of their last four games.

Posted on January 16, 2012 at 07:18 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 21, 2011

SportsRatings Top 25 Week 15 (February 21): Does Anyone Want To Be #1?

What do you do when so many top ten teams lose in the same week? You can try to move teams up and down like the AP, or you can take a step back and decide which teams really belong on top of the rankings. And looked at from the perspective of the entire season, the teams that were #1 and #2 last week deserve to stay there despite losing. It makes sense to look at teams by pairs this week.

Ohio State remains #1 despite losing for the 2nd straight week. Neither loss was awful; both were to top teams on the road. The Buckeyes are still on top of our combined power rating and have the best résumé best among the 2-3 loss teams. Pittsburgh stays at #2; the Panthers have six top 25 wins and would have been #1 if they hadn't lost to St. John's by a point. So why drop them below #2?

Brigham Young is one of the few top teams that didn't lose and has an argument for #1; the Cougars have three top 25 wins but both losses are to unranked teams. They do move up to #3 since they have a win over San Diego State and the 27-1 Aztecs lose their only top 25 win with St. Mary's departure.

At #5 and #6 Duke and Kansas have identical 25-2 records and nearly identical résumés. Duke has a small edge in both our Strength and Success power ratings so we give #5 to the Blue Devils.

#7 Notre Dame lost to West Virginia, a ranked team, while #8 Texas lost to unranked Nebraska. That, and the fact that Texas has only one top 25 win to Notre Dame's six makes the ordering pretty easy.

Georgetown and Connecticut both have six losses but all are to top 25 teams. The Hoyas have 5 top 25 wins to UConn's four. The Huskies beat the Hoyas last week but then they lost to Louisville, so we keep Georgetown #9 and Connecticut #10.

SportsRatings Top 25 - Week 15 (2-21-2011)
lw	#	Team	Rec	Losses to unranked teams in red; Top 25 wins in green
1	1	Ohio St	25-2	L@Wisc-4, @Purdue-13; wPurdue+23, @FLA+18
2	2	Pittsburgh	24-3	L Tenn-7, ND-5, @St.Johns-1 wSyr+8, UConn+15, =Texas+2, @Gtown+15, @Vill+3, @WVa+5
4	3	Brigham Young	25-2	L@UCLA -7, @NMex-9; wSDSU+13, Ariz+22, UtahSt+6
3	4	San Diego St	27-1	L@BYU-13
8	5	Duke	25-2	L@FSU-5, @St.Johns-15; wUNC+6
5	6	Kansas	25-2	L@KState-16, Texas-11; wAriz+8
7	7	Notre Dame	21-5	L@Marq-22, @St.John-18, @UK-14, @Syr-12, @WVa-14 w@Pitt+5, UConn+3, =Wisc+7, Gtown+14, Lou+ot, St.John+15
6	8	Texas	23-4	L@USC-17, @Neb-3, =Pitt-2, UConn-ot; w@Kansas+11
9	9	Georgetown	21-6	L@Temple-3, @St.John-3, @ND-14, WVA-6, Pitt-15, @UConn-8 w@Vill+3, Lou+3, @Syr+8, St.John+25, UtahSt+17
10	10	Connecticut	20-6	[email protected], @Pitt-15, @ND-3, Lou-ot, @Lou-13, Syr-8 w=UK+17, Vill+1, @Texas+ot, Gtown+8
12	11	Villanova	21-6	L@Prov-15, @Rut-1, =Tenn-10, Pitt-4, @UConn-1, Gtown-3 w@Syr+11, Lou+14, WVA+16, Temple+4
18	12	Purdue	22-5	L=Richmond-11, @Minn-3, @WVA-4, @OSU-23, @Wisc-7; wOSU+13, Wisc+8
13	13	Kentucky	19-7	L@Bama-2, @GA-7, @Miss-2, @UNC-2, @FL-1, =UConn-17, @Vandy-4 w=Wash+7, ND+14, @Lou+15
14	14	Louisville	20-7	L@Drexel-6, @Prov-5, @Cincy-9, UK-15, @Vill-14, @Gtown-3, @ND-ot w@UConn+ot, UConn+13, WVA+1, Syr+4, St.John+25
16	15	Syracuse	22-6	L Seton-22, @Marq-6, Gtown-8, @Lou-4, @Pitt-8, Vill-11 wND+12, UConn+8, St.John+17, WVa+11
15	16	Florida	21-5	@MissSt-7, @UCF-3, Jacks-ot, SC-3, OhioSt-18; wUK+2, Vandy+ot
11	17	Wisconsin	20-6	L@ILL-8, @MichSt-ot, @PennSt-4, @UNLV-3, =ND-7, @Purdue-8 wOSU+4, Purdue+7
17	18	Vanderbilt	20-6	L Ark-11, @SCar-ot, @Mizz-ot, @Tenn-3, =WVA-3, @FL-ot; w=UNC-7, UK+4
21	19	Arizona	23-4	L@OreSt-2, =Kansas-8, @BYU-22, @Wash-17; wWash+1
24	20	St. John's	17-9	L@Ford-3, St.Bon-1, Cincy-2, @UCLA-7, @St.Mary-5, @ND-15, @Syr-17, @Lou-25, @Gtown-25 w@WVa+10, Gtown+3, ND+18, Duke+15, UConn+17, Pitt+1
23	21	North Carolina	20-6	L@GTech-20, =Minn-5, @ILL-12, =Vandy-7, Tex-2, @Duke-6; wUK+2
22	22	West Virginia	17-9	L=Minn-4, @Miami-3, @Marq-5, =Marsh-4, St.John-10, @Lou-1, @Vill-16, Pitt-5, @Syr-11 wPurdue+4, @Gtown+6, ND+14
20	23	Washington	18-8	L@OreSt-12, @Ore-5, =MichSt-5, @TexAM-1, @Stanf-2, @WashSt-7, =UK-7, @Ariz-1 wAriz+17
25	24	Temple	21-5	L=Cal-7, =TexAM-3, @Duq-12, @Xav-11, @Vill-4; wGtown+3
--	25	Utah State	25-3	L@Idaho-8, @BYU-6, @Gtown-17
		out:
19	--	St. Mary's	22-6	L@SanDiego-8, @Port-15, UtahSt-10, =BYU-1, @SDSU-14, @Vandy-19; wSt.John+5

Villanova moves up to #11 followed by Purdue, who had a huge week gaining their first two top 25 wins including a victory over top-ranked Ohio State. Both wins were at home.

Kentucky and Louisville remain at #13 and #14. The Wildcats won two conference games, while Louisville lost to Cincinnati but rebounded to beat UConn.

Neither team lost, but Syracuse passes Florida at #15. The Orange beat West Virginia and have four top 25 wins to Florida's two; the Gators' best wins were by two points over Kentucky and in overtime over Vanderbilt, both at home.

And as Wisconsin falls to #17 to their loss to Purdue they push Vanderbilt down a spot to #18; both teams have six losses, four to unranked teams, and two top 25 win, but Wisconsin's wins over Purdue and Ohio State are better than Vandy's.

Arizona and St. John's are interesting cases. 23-4 Arizona gets their first top 25 win—by a point—over Washington, and moves up to #19. St. John's get their sixth top 25 win—and their fifth over a top ten team—by beating Pittsburgh; they're up to #20 despite having nine losses.

North Carolina moves up to #21; #22 West Virginia beat Notre Dame but lost to Syracuse. Washington falls to #23 with their 8th loss. Temple moves up a slot to #24, and since Utah State kicked St. Mary's out of the top 25 it's only fitting that they enter. Actually, lowly San Diego would have kicked the Gaels out regardless of the outcome of the Bracketbusters matchup, but the Aggies have earned their way in at 25-3.

Posted on February 21, 2011 at 11:27 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 20, 2011

Purdue Beats Ohio State, Final Score: 76-63; Kansas, Texas, Pittsburgh All Lost, So Who is #1?

#18 Purdue beat #1 Ohio State 76-63 in West Lafayette Sunday behind E'Tuan Moore's 38 points, handing the Buckeyes their 2nd loss in two week and giving the Boilermakers their 2nd top 10 win since last Sunday.

With AP #1 Kansas losing to Kansas State on Monday, AP #2 Ohio State losing today, #3 Texas falling to Nebraska and #4 Pittsburgh dropping a game to St. John's yesterday, the top four teams in the AP top 25 lost in the same week. So which team will be #1?

At #5, Duke hosts Georgia Tech today, while #6 and #7 San Diego State and BYU of the Mountain West won their games this week. Will the Blue Devils jump to #1, a position they haven't held since they lost to top spot? And if they lose, could one of the Mountain West teams actually make the jump to the top?

In the SportsRatings top 25, Ohio State was #1, followed by Pitt, SDSU, BYU, Kansas, and Texas. So the Big Twelve teams are pretty much out of the running, while the Mountain West teams are very much in it. Duke is just #8 behind #7 Notre Dame—who also lost this week, by the way.

Which team is playing the best? Duke is #1 in the Strength Power Rating right now, just ahead of Kansas and Ohio State. In terms of Success—beating good teams and not losing to bad ones—Ohio State is still on top, with Pitt #2 and Notre Dame #3. The Mountain West teams and Texas aren't in the top three in either power rating, and in the combined power rating it's Ohio State, Pitt, and Notre Dame, just as in Success.

But our top 25 is based largely on wins over other top 25 opponents. So it depends on who stays in and who falls out—and that is going to hurt San Diego State and BYU. Both claim wins over #19 St. Mary's, who lost twice this week and is certain to fall out. This means that the Aztecs have no top 25 wins, which at this stage pretty much prohibits them from being #1 despite their 27-1 record.

BYU holds wins over San Diego State and #21 Arizona. At 25-2, the Cougars could make the leap to #1. Of the teams that didn't lose this week, they edge Duke who has only defeated #23 North Carolina.

Pitt and Notre Dame have the best slate of wins by far, with both having defeated six top 25 teams. Kansas and Texas have one top 25 win each, and Ohio State has two.

In terms of losses San Diego State is in the best shape: one loss, to a top five foe. Ohio State has now lost twice, both times to top 25 opponents. Duke and Kansas have lost to a one ranked and one unranked team each; Pitt has lost twice to ranked and once to unranked opponents; and BYU's two losses are both to unranked teams. Texas now has four losses (two to unranked teams) and Notre Dame has five (two unranked).

In head-to-head games among the top 8, BYU is 1-0, Notre Dame is 1-0 (beat Pitt), Pitt is 1-1 (beat Texas), Texas is 1-1 (beat Kansas), Kansas and San Diego State are 0-1, and Ohio State and Duke are 0-0.

Posted on February 20, 2011 at 03:01 PM in Game results, SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 14, 2011

SportsRatings Top 25 - week 14 (February 14): OSU Still #1

Ohio State lost for the first time last week but they hold on to the top spot as their season thus far has been the best combination of strong play and success at winning. The Buckeyes' narrow road loss to Wisconsin just means that, like every team for the last 35 years, they won't finish the season undefeated.

Pittsburgh moves up to #2 with two wins this week against top 25 foes. The Panthers beat Villanova and West Virginia to boast six top 25 wins; they nudge San Diego State to #3. The Aztecs have only one loss but only one top 25 win.

BYU holds at #4, and Kansas, Texas, and Notre Dame also hold their positions after winning all their games this week.

Duke is up to #8 after getting their first top 25 win of the season, beating North Carolina at home. Georgetown continues their great Big East run—they've now won 8 in a row in conference play, with three of those being ranked foes. Connecticut became the latest St. John's victim and fell to #10. Georgetown and UConn play Wednesday night.

SportsRatings Top 25 - Week 14 (2-14-2011)
lw	#	Team	Rec	Top 25 wins; losses
1	1	Ohio St	24-1	L@Wisc-4; wPurdue+23, @FLA+18
3	2	Pittsburgh	23-2	L Tenn-7, ND-5; wSyr+8, UConn+15, =Texas+2, @Gtown+15, @Vill+3, @WVa+5
2	3	San Diego St	25-1	L@BYU-13; wStMary+14
4	4	Brigham Young	24-2	L@UCLA -7, @NMex-9; wSDSU+13, StMary+1, Ariz+22
5	5	Kansas	24-1	L Texas-11; wAriz+8
6	6	Texas	22-3	L@USC-17, =Pitt-2, UConn-ot; w@Kansas+11
7	7	Notre Dame	21-4	L@Marq-22, @St.John-18, @UK-14, @Syr-12; w@Pitt+5, UConn+3, =Wisc+7, Gtown+14, Lou+ot, St.John+15
10	8	Duke	23-2	L@FSU-5, @St.Johns-15; wUNC+6
14	9	Georgetown	20-5	L@Temple-3, @St.John-3, @ND-14, WVA-6, Pitt-15; w@Vill+3, Lou+3, @Syr+8, St.John+25
8	10	Connecticut	19-5	[email protected], @Pitt-15, @ND-3, Lou-ot, Syr-8; w=UK+17, Vill+1, @Texas+ot
15	11	Wisconsin	19-5	L@ILL-8, @MichSt-ot, @PennSt-4, @UNLV-3, =ND-7; wOSU+4, Purdue+7
9	12	Villanova	19-6	L@Prov-15, @Rut-1, =Tenn-10, Pitt-4, @UConn-1, Gtown-3; w@Syr+11, Lou+14, WVA+16, Temple+4
12	13	Kentucky	17-7	L@Bama-2, @GA-7, @Miss-2, @UNC-2, @FL-1, =UConn-17, @Vandy-4; w=Wash+7, ND+14, @Lou+15
13	14	Louisville	19-6	L@Drexel-6, @Prov-5, UK-15, @Vill-14, @Gtown-3, @ND-ot; w@UConn+ot, WVA+1, Syr+4, St.John+25
16	15	Florida	20-5	@MissSt-7, @UCF-3, Jacks-ot, SC-3, OhioSt-18; wUK+2, Vandy+ot
11	16	Syracuse	20-6	L Seton-22, @Marq-6, Gtown-8, @Lou-4, @Pitt-8, Vill-11; wND+12, UConn+8, St.John+17
17	17	Vanderbilt	18-6	L Ark-11, @SCar-ot, @Mizz-ot, @Tenn-3, =WVA-3, @FL-ot; wSt.Mary+19, =UNC-7, UK+4
18	18	Purdue	20-5	L=Richmond-11, @Minn-3, @WVA-4, @OSU-23, @Wisc-7
19	19	St. Mary's	22-4	L@Port-15, =BYU-1, @SDSU-14, @Vandy-19; wSt.John+5
21	20	Washington	17-7	L@OreSt-12, @Ore-5, =MichSt-5, @TexAM-1, @Stanf-2, @WashSt-7, =UK-7; wAriz+17
22	21	Arizona	21-4	L@OreSt-2, =Kansas-8, @BYU-22, @Wash-17
20	22	West Virginia	16-8	L=Minn-4, @Miami-3, @Marq-5, =Marsh-4, St.John-10, @Lou-1, @Vill-16, Pitt-5; wPurdue+4, @Gtown+6
23	23	North Carolina	18-6	L@GTech-20, =Minn-5, @ILL-12, =Vandy-7, Tex-2, @Duke-6; wUK+2
--	24	St. John's	15-9	L@Ford-3, St.Bon-1, Cincy-2, @UCLA-7, @St.Mary-5, @ND-15, @Syr-17, @Lou-25, @Gtown-25 w@WVa+10, Gtown+3, ND+18, Duke+15, UConn+17
--	25	Temple	19-5	L=Cal-7, =TexAM-3, @Duq-12, @Xav-11, @Vill-4; wGtown+3
		out:
24	--	Nevada Las Vegas	18-7	L UCSB-6, ColoSt-15, @Lou-8, BYU-12, @SDSU-6, @BYU-14, SDSU-6; wWisc+3
25t	--	Missouri	19-6	L@Colo-13, @OKst-6, @TexAM-ot, Gtown-ot, @Tex-13, @KU-17; wVandy+ot
25t	--	Tennessee	15-10	L@Charlot-1, Oak-7, USC-1, CofC@-13, @Ark-3, Bama-ot, FLA-ot, @UConn-11, @UK-12, @FLA-1 wPitt+7, =Vill+10, Vandy+3

Wisconsin jumps from #15 to #11 due to their big win over the Buckeyes. Most of the rest of the 2nd ten lost at least one game and some lost twice, including Big East teams Villanova at #12 and Syracuse at #16. Kentucky slid a spot to #14 after losing to #17 Vanderbilt, while #14 Louisville had a mixed week, beating Syracuse but losing to Notre Dame.

Florida won two conference games and moves up to #15, while Purdue also won twice and holds at #18. The Boilermakers still have no top 25 wins. #19 St. Mary's won twice in the WCC, while Washington and Arizona each won two Pac-10 games and move up a spot each to #20 and #21.

The last five teams in last week's list all lost to other top 25 teams. West Virginia lost to Pitt on Monday and drops to #22 with 8 losses; North Carolina holds at #23 despite losing to Duke; UNLV fell to San Diego State, Missouri lost to Kansas, and Tennessee dropped a close one to Florida.

The last three slide out of the rankings to make room for giant-killer St. John's who now boasts five top 25 wins including a beatdown of Connecticut last week. The Red Storm have four top ten wins. Temple also joins at #25.

Posted on February 14, 2011 at 12:11 PM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 07, 2011

SportsRatings Top 25 - week 13: Half of top 14 from Big East

This is definitely the year of the Big East in college basketball. Some projections have as many as 11 of the league's 16 teams likely to be in the NCAA tournament. Ten have been in the AP top 25 this season at one time.

There are 8 Big East teams in this week's SportsRatings Top 25, and seven of those are in the top 14, meaning that fully half of the top 14 teams are from the Big East.

Pittsburgh leads the way at #3; the Panthers hold wins over three other ranked Big East teams and Texas; they've lost to Tennessee and #7 Notre Dame, the 2nd highest-ranked Big East team. The Irish have won five conference games in a row.

They are followed close behind by #8 Connecticut and #9 Villanova, giving the conference four top ten teams. The Huskies slip a few spots after losing at home to Syracuse while the Wildcats move up one spot after beating Marquette and West Virginia.

At #11, Syracuse is up two spots; after losing four straight they beat UConn and South Florida. Louisville is down two spots to #13 after losing a close game to Georgetown last week. They Hoyas jump six spots to #14 after winning an incredible six conference games in a row.

West Virginia is the 8th Big East team; they fall to #20 after getting pounded by Villanova 66-50.

SportsRatings Top 25 - Week 13 (2-7-2011)
lw	#	Team	Rec	Top 25 wins; losses
1	1	Ohio St	24-0	wPurdue+23, @FLA+18
2	2	San Diego St	23-1	L@BYU-13; wStMary+14, UNLV+6
3	3	Pittsburgh	21-2	L Tenn-7, ND-5; wSyr+8, UConn+15, =Texas+2, @Gtown+15
4	4	Brigham Young	22-2	L@UCLA -7, @NMex-9; wSDSU+13, StMary+1, @UNLV+12, Ariz+22, UNLV+14
5	5	Kansas	22-1	L Texas-11; wAriz+8
7	6	Texas	20-3	L@USC-17, =Pitt-2, UConn-ot; w@KU+11, Mizz+13
9	7	Notre Dame	19-4	L@Marq-22, @St.John-18, @UK-14, @Syr-12; w@Pitt+5, UConn+3, =Wisc+7, Gtown+14
6	8	Connecticut	18-4	L@Pitt-15, @ND-3, Lou-ot, Syr-8; w=UK+17, Vill+1, @Texas+ot, Tenn+11
10	9	Villanova	19-4	L@Prov-15, =Tenn-10, @UConn-1, Gtown-3; w@Syr+11, Lou+14, WVA+16
12	10	Duke	21-2	L@FSU-5, @St.Johns-15
13	11	Syracuse	20-4	L Seton-22, @Marq-6, @Pitt-8, Vill-11; wND+12, UConn+8
8	12	Kentucky	16-6	L@Bama-2, @GA-7, @Miss-2, @UNC-2, @FL-1, =UConn-17; w=Wash+7, ND+14, @Lou+15
11	13	Louisville	18-5	L@Drexel-6, @Prov-5, UK-15, @Vill-14, @Gtown-3; w@UConn+ot, WVA+1, UNLV+8
20	14	Georgetown	18-5	L@Temple-3, @St.John-3, @ND-14, WVA-6, Pitt-15; w@Vill+3, @Mizz+ot, Lou+3
22	15	Wisconsin	17-5	L@ILL-8, @MichSt-ot, @PennSt-4, @UNLV-3, =ND-7; wPurdue+7
--	16	Florida	18-5	@MissSt-7, @UCF-3, Jacks-ot, SC-3, OhioSt-18; wUK+2, Vandy+ot, Tenn+ot
16	17	Vanderbilt	16-6	L Ark-11, @SCar-ot, @Mizz-ot, @Tenn-3, =WVA-3, @FL-ot; wSt.Mary+19, =UNC-7
14	18	Purdue	18-5	L=Richmond-11, @Minn-3, @WVA-4, @OSU-23, @Wisc-7
19	19	St. Mary's	20-4	L@Port-15, =BYU-1, @SDSU-14, @Vandy-19
18	20	West Virginia	15-7	L=Minn-4, @Miami-3, St.John-10, @Marq-5, =Marsh-4, @Lou-1, @Vill-16; wPurdue+4, @Gtown+6
17	21	Washington	15-7	L@OreSt-12, @Ore-5, =MichSt-5, @TexAM-1, @Stanf-2, @WashSt-7, =UK-7; wAriz+17
24	22	Arizona	20-4	L@OreSt-2, =KU-8, @BYU-22, @Wash-17
--	23	North Carolina	17-5	L@GTech-20, =Minn-5, @ILL-12, =Vandy-7, Tex-2; wUK+2
21	24	Nevada Las Vegas	17-6	L UCSB-6, ColoSt-15, @Lou-8, BYU-12, @SDSU-6, @BYU-14; wWisc+3
23	25t	Missouri	18-5	L@Colo-13, @OKst-6, Gtown-ot, @TexAM-ot, @Tex-13; wVandy+ot
25	25t	Tennessee	15-8	L@Charlotte-1, Oak-7, USC-1, CofC@-13, @Ark-3, Bama-ot, FLA-ot, @UConn-11; wPitt+7, =Vill+10, Vandy+3
		out:
15	--	Texas A&M	17-5	L=BC-2, @Neb-9, Bay-ot @Tex-21, Tex-20; wWash+1

Ohio State holds the #1 spot at 24-0, and while four teams remain constant they could be an almost any order. #2 San Diego State could be behind #4 BYU; after all, the Cougars beat the Aztecs head-to-head and have many more top 25 wins. But BYU's two losses were to non-top-25 teams, so for now they're behind SDSU and #3 Pittsburgh. The Panthers have a good argument for #2 as well.

Kansas holds at #5. Now 22-1, they have a dearth of top 25 wins, and they lost at home to #6 Texas. Looked at from a whole-season perspective the Jayhawks are still ahead of the Longhorns, though the latter are certainly on a roll.

Duke moves back into the top ten but still has no top 25 wins; Kentucky lost twice last week and falls out of the top ten to #12.

Wisconsin and Florida are the big movers this week. Wisconsin is up from #22 to #15; the Badgers are #9 in the Strength Power Rating and got their first top 25 win against Purdue last week. Florida enters the rankings at #16 after beating both Vanderbilt and Kentucky last week. It could have gone either way for the Gators, however, as they beat Vandy in overtime and Kentucky by two points, both games at home. A win is a win, though, especially against top 25 competition. Vanderbilt drops a spot to #17 while Wisconsin's victim Purdue falls to #18; the Boilermakers have no top 25 wins.

St. Mary's holds at #19, while in the Pac-10 Washington drops to #21 and Arizona is up to #22. The Huskies beat the Wildcats soundly last month and that's the only top 25 competition either has faced.

North Carolina enters at #23 after winning five straight in the ACC. The final three teams—UNLV at #24, and Missouri and Tennessee tied at #25—all lost last week but hold on to their ranked status. Former #15 Texas A&M, however, does not. Their 2nd 20-point loss to Texas and following loss to Baylor drops the Aggies out of the top 25. Their 1-point home win over Washington isn't enough to warrant keeping them.

Posted on February 07, 2011 at 09:52 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 31, 2011

SportsRatings Top 25 - week 12: Ohio State finally #1

It was a great week for teams that didn't lose, which this week included all of nine teams in the top 25. Still, 24 of the 25 remained in the rankings.

At the top: Ohio State finally ascends to our #1 spot, garnering their first top 25 win with a blowout of Purdue. Former #2 Pittsburgh fell early in the week to Notre Dame and sits at #3. Ex-#1 San Diego State lost on the road to BYU, who had a chance on Saturday to lay claim to #1; unfortunately for them, the Buckeyes hung on to beat Northwestern by a point, and worse, the Cougars themselves lost at New Mexico coming off their biggest win. They hold at #4 for their mixed performance.

Kansas rises to #5 at 20-1 as Connecticut drops to #6 due to their home loss to Louisville. Texas continues their upward climb to #7. Kentucky and Notre Dame benefit from not losing this week, rising three and four spots to #8 and #9.

Villanova, however, lost twice this week. One loss was to Georgetown at home, the other to Providence. They still have two top 25 wins, including a big win over Louisville. The Cardinals are the big gainer of the week, jumping from #21 to #11 after beating West Virginia by a point at home and UConn in double overtime on the road. Their week demonstrates how competitive the Big East is right now: the Cardinals could have just as easily had a terrible week by losing two excruciatingly close games; instead they're on top of the world.

SportsRatings Top 25 - Week 12 (1-31-2011)
lw	#	Team	Rec	Top 25 wins; losses
3	1	Ohio St	22-0	wPurdue+23
1	2	San Diego St	21-1	L@BYU-13; wStMary+14, UNLV+6
2	3	Pittsburgh	20-2	L Tenn-7, ND-5; wSyr+8, UConn+15, =Texas+2, @Gtown+15
4	4	Brigham Young	20-2	L@UCLA -7, @NMex-9; wSDSU+13, StMary+1, @UNLV+12, Ariz+22
6	5	Kansas	20-1	L Texas-11; wAriz+8
5	6	Connecticut	17-3	L@Pitt-15, @ND-3, Lou-ot; w=UK+17, Vill+1, @Texas+ot, Tenn+11
8	7	Texas	18-3	L@USC-17, =Pitt-2, UConn-ot; w@KU+11, @TexAM+21, Mizz+13
11	8	Kentucky	16-4	L@Bama-2, @UNC-2, @GA-7, =UConn-17; w=Wash+7, ND+14, @Lou+15
13	9	Notre Dame	17-4	L@Marq-22, @St.John-18, @UK-14, @Syr-12; w@Pitt+5, UConn+3, =Wisc+7, Gtown+14
7	10	Villanova	17-4	L@Prov-15, =Tenn-10, @UConn-1, Gtown-3; w@Syr+11, Lou+14
21	11	Louisville	17-4	L@Drexel-6, @Prov-5, UK-15, @Vill-14; w@UConn+ot, WVA+1, UNLV+8
10	12	Duke	19-2	L@FSU-5, @St.Johns-15
9	13	Syracuse	18-4	L Seton-22, @Marq-6, @Pitt-8, Vill-11; wND+12
12	14	Purdue	18-4	L=Richmond-11, @Minn-3, @WVA-4, @OSU-23
14	15	Texas A&M	17-3	L=BC-2, @Neb-9, @Tex-21; wWash+1
15	16	Vanderbilt	15-5	L Ark-11, @SCar-ot, @Mizz-ot, @Tenn-3, =WVA-3; wSt.Mary+19
16	17	Washington	15-5	L=MichSt-5, @Stanf-2, @WashSt-7, =UK-7, @TexAM-1; wAriz+17
17	18	West Virginia	14-6	L=Minn-4, @Miami-3, St.John-10, @Marq-5, =Marsh-4, @Lou-1; wPurdue+4, @Gtown+6
18	19	St. Mary's	18-4	L@Port-15, =BYU-1, @SDSU-14, @Vandy-19
--	20	Georgetown	16-5	L@Temple-3, @St.John-3, @ND-14, WVA-6, Pitt-15; w@Vill+3, @Mizz+ot
22	21	Nevada Las Vegas	16-5	L UCSB-6, ColoSt-15, @Lou-8, BYU-12, @SDSU-6; wWisc+3
19	22	Wisconsin	15-5	L@ILL-8, @MichSt-ot, @PennSt-4, @UNLV-3, =ND-7
23	23	Missouri	17-4	L@Colo-13, Gtown-ot, @TexAM-ot, @Tex-13; wVandy+ot
24	24	Arizona	18-4	L@OreSt-2, =KU-8, @BYU-22, @Wash-17
25	25	Tennessee	14-7	L@Charlo-1, Oak-7, USC-1, CofC@-13, @Ark-3, FLA-ot, @UConn-11; wPitt+7, =Vill+10, Vandy+3
		out:
20	--	Belmont	20-4	L@Lipscomb-9, @Tenn-9, @Tenn-1, @Vandy-9

Another indication of how tough the Big East is? Duke's blowout loss to St. John's. Last season the same thing happened, as the Blue Devils were thoroughly controlled by Georgetown. Of course they went on to win the national championship. Duke doesn't have any top 25 wins to show for their 19-2 season so far, however, and falls to #12.

And then there's Syracuse's quick fall from top seed contender to program in distress. The Orange drop to #13 and it would be worse if every other team below them didn't also lose this week. The road loss to Marquette is understandable as is almost any road loss in the Big East, but a 22 point home loss to Seton Hall—one of only three losing teams in the league—is a terrible sign that the Orange may be collapsing like Tennessee of 2000, or Texas of last year. Both those teams raced to an incredible start then stumbled to a terrible finish and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Purdue drops two spots to #14, and from #15 to #19 Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Washington, West Virginia, and St. Mary's all lost and all slide down one spot. Georgetown moves in at #20, UNLV moves up to #21, and Wisconsin (who lost to UNLV earlier in the year) drops to #22 after being upset by Penn State.

Missouri lost to Texas but holds at #23, as #24 Arizona has no top 25 wins. Tennessee, like the Wildcats, didn't lose this week but their claim to a great resumé is diminished by Belmont falling out of the top 25. The Volunteers beat Belmont twice this year, and the Bruins' hopes for an undefeated Atlantic Sun season were shattered by a loss to Lipscomb. They led the Bisons 38-20 in the first half but were outscored 55-26 the rest of the way.

Belmont's departure leaves the top 25 consisting of 24 Big Six conference and Mountain West teams, with one from the West Coast Conference. The tally is: Big East (8), Big Twelve (4), Big Ten (3), SEC (3), Mountain West (3), Pac-10 (2), ACC (1), West Coast (1).

Posted on January 31, 2011 at 08:08 AM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 24, 2011

SportsRatings Top 25 - week 11

This is what happens when you procrastinate—your #2 team loses before they become your #2 team.

Pittsburgh fell at home Monday night to Notre Dame, 56-51. In the SportsRatings College Basketball Top 25 for week 11 (results through Sunday's games), Pittsburgh jumped to #2 after beating Syracuse, while Notre Dame held steady at #13.

San Diego State held at #1, with Ohio State inching up to #3; the Buckeyes have no Top 25 wins, while the Aztecs have two.

Also moving up were #4 BYU and #5 Connecticut, who beat both Villanova and Tennessee last week. The Wildcats moved up to #7 despite the loss, as they beat Syracuse, who fell to #9 with their first two losses (Villanova and Pitt). Meanwhile Texas jumped from #16 to #8 after beating Kansas, who fell from #3 to #6. Texas also beat Texas A&M 81-60, causing the Aggies to fall to #14.

SportsRatings Top 25 - Week 11 (1-24-2011)
lw	#	Team	Rec	Top 25 wins; losses
1	1	San Diego St	20-0	wStMary+14, UNLV+6
6	2	Pittsburgh	19-1	L Tenn-7; wSyr+8, UConn+15, =Texas+2
4	3	Ohio St	20-0
5	4	Brigham Young	19-1	L@UCLA -7; wStMary+1, @UNLV+12, Ariz+22
7	5	Connecticut	16-2	L@Pitt-15, @ND-3; w=UK+17, Vill+1, @Texas+ot, Tenn+11
3	6	Kansas	18-1	L Texas-11; wAriz+8
8	7	Villanova	17-2	L=Tenn-10, @UConn-1; w@Syr+11, Lou+14
16	8	Texas	16-3	L@USC-17, =Pitt-2, UConn-ot; w@KU+11, @TexAM+21
2	9	Syracuse	18-2	L@Pitt-8, Vill-11; wND+12
10	10	Duke	18-1	L@FSU-5
11	11	Kentucky	15-4	L@Bama-2, @UNC-2, @GA-7, =UConn-17; w=Wash+7, ND+14, @Lou+15
12	12	Purdue	17-3	L=Richmond-11, @Minn-3, @WVA-4
13	13	Notre Dame	16-4	L@Marq-22, @St.John-18, @UK-14, @Syr-12; wUConn+3, =Wisc+7
9	14	Texas A&M	17-2	L=BC-2, @Tex-21; wWash+1
19	15	Vanderbilt	14-4	L@SCar-ot, @Mizz-ot, @Tenn-3, =WVA-3; wBelm+9, St.Mary+19
20	16	Washington	15-4	L=MichSt-5, @Stanf-2, =UK-7, @TexAM-1; wAriz+17
14	17	West Virginia	13-5	L=Minn-4, @Miami-3, St.John-10, @Marq-5, =Marsh-4; wPurdue+4
15	18	St. Mary's	17-3	L=BYU-1, @SDSU-14, @Vandy-19
21	19	Wisconsin	15-4	L@ILL-8, @MichSt-ot, @UNLV-3, =ND-7
23	20	Belmont	18-3	L@Tenn-9, @Tenn-1, @Vandy-9
17	21	Louisville	15-4	L@Drexel-6, @Prov-5, UK-15, @Vill-14; wUNLV+8
18	22	Nevada Las Vegas	15-5	L UCSB-6, ColoSt-15, @Lou-8, BYU-12, @SDSU-6; wWisc+3
--	23	Missouri	17-3	L@Colo-13, Gtown-ot, @TexAM-ot; wVandy+ot
24	24	Arizona	16-4	L@OreSt-2, =KU-8, @BYU-22, @Wash-17
25	25	Tennessee	12-7	L Oak-7, @Charlo-1, USC-1, CofC@-13, @Ark-3, FLA-ot, @UConn-11 wPitt+7, =Vill+10, Vandy+3, Belm+9, Belm+1
		out:
22	--	Central Florida	14-4	L@Rice-7, Houston-5, @SMiss-17, ECar-12

Duke, Kentucky, Purdue, and Notre Dame held at #10 through #13; even though Kentucky lost to Alabama they have plenty of top 25 wins and the Boilermakers have none. Vanderbilt and Washington rose four spots each. The Huskies beat Arizona by 17 while the Commodores beat St. Mary's by 19. The Gaels fell three spots, as did West Virginia who lost to Marshall.

Wisconsin and Belmont rose to #19 and #20 as Louisville and UNLV dipped due to losses to Providence and Colorado State. Arizona and Tennessee also lost—to UConn and Washington respectively—but held at #24 and #25, while Missouri entered at #23.

Central Florida lost twice, their third and fourth losses in a row, and fell out of the top 25.

Posted on January 24, 2011 at 09:55 PM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 17, 2011

SportsRatings College Basketball Top 25 - week 10

Now that the college football season is over, it's time to start making a weekly college basketball top 25.

Jumping right into the middle of the season, here is this week's rankings, with the four remaining undefeated teams on top.

SportsRatings Top 25 - Week 10 (1-17-2011)
lw	#	Team	Rec	Top 25 wins; losses
--	1	San Diego St	19-0	wStMary+14, UNLV+6
--	2	Syracuse	18-0	wND+12
--	3	Kansas	17-0	wAriz+8
--	4	Ohio St	18-0
--	5	Brigham Young	17-1	L@UCLA -7; wStMary+1, @UNLV+12, Ariz+22
--	6	Pittsburgh	17-1	L Tenn-7; wUConn+15, =Texas+2
--	7	Connecticut	14-2	L@Pitt-15, @ND-3; w=UK+17, @Texas+ot
--	8	Villanova	16-1	L=Tenn-10; wLou+14
--	9	Texas A&M	16-1	L=BC-2; wWash+1
--	10	Duke	16-1	L@FSU-5
--	11	Kentucky	14-3	L@UNC-2, @GA-7, =UConn-17; w=Wash+7, ND+14, @Lou+15
--	12	Purdue	15-3	L=Richmond-11, @Minn-3, @WVA-4
--	13	Notre Dame	14-4	L@UK-14, @Syr-12, @Marq-22, @St.John-18; wUConn+3, =Wisc+7
--	14	West Virginia	12-4	L=Minn-4, @Miami-3, St.John-10, @Marq-5; wPurdue+4
--	15	St. Mary's	16-2	L=BYU-1, @SDSU-14
--	16	Texas	14-3	L@USC-17, =Pitt-2, UConn-ot
--	17	Louisville	14-3	L@Drexel-6, UK-15, @Vill-14; wUNLV+8
--	18	Nevada Las Vegas	14-4	L UCSB-6, @Lou-8, BYU-12, @SDSU-6; wWisc+3
--	19	Vanderbilt	12-4	L@Mizz-ot, @SCar-ot, @Tenn-3, =WVA-3; wBelm+9
--	20	Washington	13-4	L=MichSt-5, @Stanf-2, =UK-7, @TexAM-1
--	21	Wisconsin	13-4	L@ILL-8, @MichSt-ot, @UNLV-3, =ND-7
--	22	Central Florida	14-2	L@Houston-5, @SMiss-17
--	23	Belmont	16-3	L@Tenn-9, @Tenn-1, @Vandy-9
--	24	Arizona	15-3	L@OreSt-2, =KU-8, @BYU-22
--	25	Tennessee	11-6	LOak-7, @Charlo-1, USC-1, CofC@-13, @Ark-3, FLA-ot; wPitt+7, =Vill+10, Vandy+3, Belm+9, Belm+1

Even as we speak there are some good games going on, both in the Big East: #7 UConn vs. #8 Villanova, and #2 Syracuse vs. #6 Pitt.

Posted on January 17, 2011 at 04:07 PM in SportsRating Top 25 | Permalink | Comments (0)

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