1. North Carolina 4-0 (Last week: 1).
Last week: Defeated Miss. Valley St. 101-75, defeated Tennessee St. 102-69.
This week: South Carolina (Nov. 25), Wisconsin (Nov. 30).
Reggie Bullock led the Tar Heels in scoring in a blowout win voer Tennessee St. With the star-studded cast involded, it probably won’t happen very
often this season.
2. Kentucky 4-0 (Last week: 2).
Last week: Defeated Penn St. 85-47, defeated Old Dominion 62-52, defeated Radford 88-40.
This week: Portland (Nov. 26).
With a starting lineup that features three freshman and two sophomores it’s hard to believe that the Wildacts have not experienced any growing pains
so far. First true test comes Dec. 3 against Tar Heels.
3. Ohio State 4-0 (Last week: 3).
Last week: Defeated Jackson St. 85-41, defeated North Florida 85-50, defeated VMI 107-74.
This week: Valparaiso (Nov. 25), Duke (Nov. 29).
All-American Jared Sullinger is setting the pace early for the Buckeyes as they continue to paste the patsies. He is averaging a double-double (19.8
PPG, 10.2 RPG) per game.
4. Duke 7-0 (Last week: 6).
Last week: Defeated Davidson 82-69, defeated Tennessee 77-67, defeated Michigan 82-75, defeated Kansas 68-61.
This week: Ohio St. (Nov. 29)
What a start for the Blue Devils! Despite the somewhat subpar play of star rookie Austin Rivers, Duke took on all comers in winning the Maui
Invitational. Another tough test this week when they battle the Buckeyes.
5. Connecticut 4-0 (Last week: 4).
Last week: Defeated Maine 80-60, defeated Coppin St. 87-70, UNC-Asheville 73-63.
This week: Central Florida (Nov. 25).
The drop in rankings isn’t at all a dig at UConn, but more a testament to the Blue Devils solid start. Leading scorer Jeremy Lamb has an ankle injury
but he still dropped 25 points on Coppin St.
6. Syracuse 5-0 (Last week: 5).
Last week: Defeated Colgate 92-47, Virginia Tech 69-58.
This week: Stanford (Nov. 25), Eastern Michigan (Nov. 29).
Despite the ongoing Bernie Fine saga, everything is going smoothly on the court for the Orange. In a yearly event, Syracuse crushes local rival
Colgate. Virginia Tech gave them a run but the tremendous depth of this team paid off as reserves C.J. Fair and Dion Waiters helped them mount a
come-from-behind victory.
7. Louisville 2-0 (Last week: 3).
Last week: Defeated Tennessee-Martin 83-48, defeated Lamar 68-48.
This week: Butler (Nov. 19), Arkansas St. (Nov. 22).
The Cardinal paid a visit to tiny Hinkle Fieldhouse to face the Butler Bulldogs and came away with a very impressive win despite injuries to Rakeem
Buckles (knee), freshman Wayne Blackshear (shoulder) and Mike Marra (knee).
8. Baylor 5-0 (Last week: 8).
Last week: Defeated South Carolina St. 70-50, defeated Texas-Arlington 75-65.
This week: Prairie View A&M (Nov. 29).
The Quicys, Acey and Miller have been as good as advertised this season. In fact, both had double doubles in the win over UTA. Soft isn’t a strong
enough word to describe the Bears early-season schedule.
9. Xavier 2-0 (Last week: 11).
Last week:Defeated Miami (OH) 66-60.
This week: Georgia (Nov. 25), Vanderbilt (Nov. 28).
Despite a tough night for Tu Holloway, Xavier was still able to hold off Miami of Ohio. The Musketeers can ill afford a repeat from Holloway this
week as they have a couple of games against toughh SEC opponents.
10. Florida 3-1 (Last week: 12).
Last week: Defeated North Florida 91-55, defeated Wright St. 78-65.
This week: Jacksonville (Nov. 17), Stetson (Nov. 28).
After a loss to a very tough Buckeyes squad, the Gators step up with two wins against admittedly-lesser competition. The foursome of Bradley Beal,
Mike Rosario, Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker will be tough to stop.
11. Wisconsin 4-0 (Last week: 14).
Last week: Defeated Wofford 69-33, UMKC 77-31.
This week: Bradley (Nov. 25), North Carolina (Nov. 30).
The Badgers will always be a tough out because of their incredible defence. No one has scored more than 41 points on them yet this season as Bo
Ryan’s bunch continues to lock down the opposition.
12. Alabama 6-0 (Last week: 15).
Last week: Defeated Maryland 62-42, Wichita St. 70-60, Purdue 65-56, Alabama A&M 82-45.
This week: VCU (Nov. 27).
Not a bad week for ‘Bama. Collected three nice wins on their way to winning the Puerto Rico tip-off. Tony Mitchell was an absolute terror down
south.
13. Gonzaga 3-0 (Last week: 19).
Last week: Defeated Hawaii 77-69.
This week: Hawaii (Nov. 19).
Robert Sacre got to play at home in Vancouver last Saturday and he clearly stepped up when he came north of the border. He scored 16 points and
grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Bulldogs destroy Hawaii.
14. Marquette 1-0 (Last week: 22).
Last week: Defeated Winthrop 95-73, defeated Ole Miss 96-66, defeated Norfolk St. 59-57.
This week: Jacksonville (Nov. 28).
So they play Ole Miss and blow them off the court and then they play Norfolk St. and scrape by.
15. Pittsburgh 3-1 (Last week: 18).
Last week: Defeated LaSalle 73-69.
This week: Penn (Nov. 25), Robert Morris (Nov. 27), Duquesne (No. 30).
If not for a last-second block by Travon Woodall, the Panthers may have gone to overtime against Lasalle. Not the kinda stuff that people expected from a team expected to contend for the Big East title.
16. Vanderbilt 4-1 (Last week: 17).
Last week: Defeated North Carolina St. 86-79, defeated Oregon St. 64-62.
This week: Monmouth (Nov. 25), Xavier (Nov. 28).
After a stunning loss to Cleveland St., the Commodores got back on track last week by knocking off a pair of teams from power conferences en route to winning the Ticket City Legends Classic.
17. Missouri 5-0 (Last week: 24).
Last week: Defeated Niagara 83-52, defeated Notre Dame 87-58, defeated California 92-53.
This week: Binghamton (Nov. 27).
There was concern at the start of the season whether Frank Haith would be able to fill Mike Anderson`s mighty big shoees down in Missouri, but the Tigers have started the season in impressive fashion despite a serious lack of size. They are starting four guards and a 6-8 forward and pumelling the competition.
18. Florida State 5-0 (Last week: NR).
Last week: Defeated Stetson 79-66, defeated South Alabama 80-39, defeated UMass 73-53.
This week: Harvard (Nov. 25), Michigan St. (Nov. 27).
Florida State is 5-0 for the second straight season. And if I were to place a bet, I would imagine that they will also finish third in the ACC for the third straight season.
19. Creighton 4-0 (Last week: NR).
Last week: Defeated Iowa 82-59.
This week: Campbell (Nov. 25), San Diego St. (Nov. 30).
In their first true test of the season, Creighton easily handled the Hawkeyes in Des Moines. Iowa native Doug McDermott has been lighting it up for the Blue Jays, averaging 21.5 points per game.
20. Villanova 4-0 (Last week: NR).
Last week: Defeated UC Riverside 71-46.
This week: St. Louis (Nov. 25).
It took a while, but it looks as though Maalik Wayns is finally starting to live up to his potential in Philadelphia. The junior guard has stepped up this season, leading the Wildcats in both points (20.3) and assists (5.3). We will find out if this team is for real as the schedule gets much tougher over the next couple of weeks.
21. Stanford 1-1 (Last week: NR).
Last week: Defeated UC-Davis 70-49, defeated Oklahoma St. 82-67.
This week: Syracuse (Nov. 25), Pacific (Nov. 28).
Thanks to a surprisingly poor start by UCLA and a mediocre one from Arizona, the window has opened very wide for the Stanford Cardinals and Cal Bears to claim the Pac 10 title. Stanford will get a true measuring stick for how good their team is on Friday night in New York City when they battle Syracuse.
22. Kansas 3-2 (Last week: 10).
Last week: Defeated Georgetown 67-63, defeated UCLA 72-56, lost to Duke 68-61.
This week: Florida Atlantic (Nov. 30).
Although they have two losses on their resume already, it is hard to drop the Jayhawks completely out of the Nielsen Ratings. They have beaten the teams they were expected to beat and lost to two teams that are contenders for the national title. They have played a tougher schedule than most and that deserves respect.
23. Mississippi St. 5-1 (Last week: NR).
Last week: Defeated Texas A&M 69-60, defeated Arizona 67-57, defeated Louisiana-Monroe 78-63.
This week: Tennessee-Martin (Nov. 25), North Texas (Nov. 27).
The Bulldogs knocked off some pretty strong competition en route to winning the 2K Sports Classic. Arnett Moultrie led the way in the title game against Arizona by scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 boards while being named the tourney`s MVP.
24. Cleveland St. 4-0 (Last week: NR).
Last week: Defeated St. Bonaventure 67-64, defeated Kent St. 57-53.
This week: Boston (Nov. 25), Hofstra (Nov. 26), Rhode Island (Nov. 27).
After starting the season with a big win at Vanderbilt, the Vikings continue to slip past the competition. There is not one left on the schdule in the Commodore`s class for Cleveland St. so it remains to be seen if they are worthy of being ranked, or just got lucky.
25. California 3-0 (Last week: 20).
Last week: Defeated Georgia 70-46, lost to Missouri 92-53.
This week: Denver (Nov. 26), McNeese St. (Nov. 28).
After laying a beating on the Georgia Bulldogs, the Golden Bears were handed a taste of their own medicine by Missouri in the final of the CBE Classic.