A couple of brief notes on the two Big East teams that jumped a combined 29 spots in my poll:
- I did not expect Syracuse to be able to replace three starters and still be better than they were the year before.
- Andy Rautins has made improvements in his game. He still has a killer stroke, but he has also become more of a facilitator and a better defender.
- Wesley Johnson and Scoop Jardine can take this team deep in the tournament. After seeing the way the Orange man-handled North Carolina, I am embarrassed to have left them out of my preseason poll.
- On the other hand, I am glad I included Cincinnati through the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.
- Deonta Vaughn and Lance Stephenson make up a dynamic backcourt, and neither has played as well as I thought they would. Stephenson will grow as a player and Vaughn will raise his shooting percentage and the Bearcats could play deep into March.
- Yancy Gates is having a great tournament, averaging 16.5 points and 11.5 rebounds. He needs to be able to have performances like this consistently if Cincinnati plans on competing for the Big East title.
Also, some housekeeping before I present the Top 25. I will post these sporadically, not regularly. It will be whenever I have some free time, so there are no real rules to this. Also, I included a note or two with each team. I will not do this on every poll but more likely every two or three. Nothing groundbreaking, but I figured they might interest the one or two readers that will see this post. Top 25 follows the jump.
1. Kansas (0) – Won a close game against Memphis, but they have the most talented team in the country.
2. Michigan State (+1) – Summers and Lucas make up dynamic backcourt. Avg. margin of victory – 21ppg.
3. Texas (-1) – Dropped one spot, but only because of Spartans’ brilliance.
4. Purdue (+3) – Hummel went for 20 and 7 in one-point victory over the Volunteers.
5. Villanova (+1) – Won Puerto Rico Tip-Off fairly easily. Pena and King need to keep rebounding.
6. Syracuse (UR) – Very impressive in wins over Cal and UNC. Wesley Johnson was a great addition.
7. West Virginia (-2) – Weak non-con outside of Ole Miss makes it hard to move Mountaineers up.
8. Kentucky (0) - Conundrum. Blow out Rider, but squeak by Miami(OH) and Sam Houston State.
9. North Carolina (-5) – Deon Thompson and Ed Davis combined are both averaging 9 rpg.
10. Washington (+1) – Pondexter averaging 24 and 12. If he keeps this up, he will garner some hardware.
11. Ohio State (+4) – Only loss is to UNC. Jumped five spots because 12-15 haven’t beat anybody.
12. Duke (0) – Nolan Smith averaging 22 points. Can he keep up this pace when they play real schools?
13. Butler (0) – Gordan Hayward is leading the way with 15 and 8. Play Minnesota on Thursday.
14. Conneticut (+2) – I’m still not sold on this squad, although I really like Robinson, Walker and Dyson.
15. Georgetown (+4) – Greg Monroe’s return to college basketball is awesome. He is fun to watch.
16. Cincinnati (+9) – Impressive early in the season. Can Gates and the Bearcats keep it up?
17. Michigan (0) – John Beilein’s team will be tough to knock off, especially in March.
18. Tennessee (-4) – Tyler Smith (12, 6) is off to a slow start. The Vols will only get better.
19. Notre Dame (+4) – Harangody (27,9) off to strong start. Lil’ Hansbrough fitting in well.
20. Minnesota (+4) – Avg. margin of victory 34 ppg, but they face their first test with Butler on Thursday.
21. Louisville (UR) – Intriguing team with Samuels surrounded by four guards. Sosa still worries me.
22. Gonzaga (UR) – Young team, but I like the way they hung in with Michigan State.
23. California (-12) – Lost two games to two good teams. Hard to drop the Bears this far.
24. Georgia Tech (UR) – Loss to Dayton almost kept them out, but they can compete with anyone.
25. Memphis (UR) - C-USA win streak will probably end, but Tigers will still dominate conference.
Dropped Out:
Mississippi State (9), Oklahoma (18), Vanderbilt (20) Dayton (21), Maryland (22)
Notable Omissions:
Illinois – It would be nice to see somebody help Mike Davis rebound. Until somebody steps up to help clean the glass, I am going to have a tough time putting them in my Top 25.
High-Risers:
Syracuse – Unranked to No. 6
Cincinnati - No. 25 to No. 16
Free-Fallers:
Mississippi State – No. 9 to Unranked
Oklahoma – No. 18 to Unranked
By Conference:
Big East – 8
Big Ten – 5
ACC – 3
Big XII – 2
SEC – 2
Pac-10 – 2
C-USA – 1
Horizon – 1
West Coast – 1
