Ohio State remains atop the rankings, but it is no longer the unanimous #1 as Texas picked up two of the votes this week. With its big victory at home against the Buckeyes, Wisconsin made their way into the top 10 coming in at #9. Some QnD analysis after the jump…
QnD Analysis:
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No undefeated this year—Ohio State was the last remaining unbeaten team in the nation, but that all came to a crashing end at the Kohl Center on Saturday as the Badgers overcame a 15 point second half deficit to win, 71-67. While they are still the top ranked team overall, there are several other teams nipping at their heels, namely the top two teams from the Big 12: Texas and Kansas.
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High Risers and Big Droppers—Villanova and Missouri both struggled this week dropping four spots each, but no team struggled more than the Syracuse Orange. Two weeks ago, Syracuse fell nine spots, but rebounded nicely with wins over UConn and South Florida to ascend back up in the rankings to #12. Now, after another disastrous week, the Orange find themselves near the bottom of the rankings checking in at #20 following losses to Rutgers and Pittsburgh. Vanderbilt, by virtue of crucial SEC wins against Alabama and Kentucky—both wins, 81-77—moved up five spots to #18. Louisville moved up five spots as well from #19 to #14 with a solid win over reeling Syracuse.
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Where to rank Utah State?—The Aggies loss at Idaho—their first setback since Georgetown much earlier in the season—has some of the pollsters doubting Utah State, but there are still three believers in Stew Morrill’s squad. Although they are not ranked in three of the polls, Utah State is ranked as high as #16 in one poll. They will have a chance to prove their worth as they travel to #25 St. Mary’s in what is arguably the most highly anticipated BracketBusters game of the weekend.
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No new faces—For the first time in a while, there are no new teams in this week’s poll.
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How good is UConn and Purdue?—These two squads have far and away the toughest schedules of any teams in the top 25 this week. Purdue has the tougher of the two weeks facing off against Wisconsin and then Ohio State, while UConn plays host to Georgetown and then travels down to Louisville.
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Others Receiving Votes—A few of the better teams from Other 26 conferences received votes this week: George Mason, Xavier, and Coastal Carolina.
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Conference Call—Big East (7), Big 10 (3), Big 12 (4), MWC (2), SEC (3), ACC (2), Pac-10 (1), WAC (1), Atlantic 10 (1), WCC (1).