A lot happened in the two weeks since my last update. Hopefully I’m keeping everything straight.
12) Arizona. Little known fact: I’ve always kind of been in love with Arizona, going back to 1988 when they were in the Final Four in Kansas City. Us kids from the plains always pine for the girls who have tans year-round.
11) Louisville. Pounding people. Just pounding them.
10) Oklahoma. Even without Texas’ troubles, they’re playing well enough to be a conference title contender.
9) Kentucky. Getting Crawford back could be a lesson for the entire team on how to sacrifice for the collective good.
8) Kansas. Ugh. I won’t overreact yet. We’ll see how they do this week.
7) Boston College. Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’. It isn’t just any team that can beat Villanova.
6) Oklahoma State. They got screwed having to play Texas in PJ Tucker’s last game before he became ineligible. Therefore, I take away only a half point for the loss. Good for the rest of the Big 12, though.
5) Duke. I just don’t think they’re that good, and the praise for them is over-the-top even by Duke sycophant standards. I forget where I read it, but some hoops blogger said, “Oh wow, Coach K has a team that starts five McDonald’s All-Americans. Yeah, it’s AMAZING they’re playing so well.” How true. Still, no one else deserves this spot now.
4) North Carolina. They were due some humbling and got it from Wake a week back. Aiming for the first Duke game now.
3) Syracuse. There’s just something about this team I really like, even if they don’t always win pretty. Who in the country can guard Warrick?
2) Wake Forest. The big win over UNC last year confirmed their status as one of the elites.
1) Illinois. No change at the top. I bet Wake would like another crack at them now. The much ballyhooed Wisconsin trip is this week.