RTC Top 25: Week Five
Posted by Walker Carey on December 22nd, 2014After a week of chalk, the unexpectedness of college basketball reemerged this week with several shocking results. First, previous #22 Miami (FL) was blown out by 28 points at home to Eastern Kentucky. An even more shocking upset took place Saturday night in East Lansing when Texas Southern – which entered the game with a 1-8 record – defeated previous #19 Michigan State in an overtime stunner. While things went against the grain for the Hurricanes and Spartans, they were certainly status quo last week for #1 Kentucky and #5 Virginia. The top-ranked Wildcats scored the first 24 points of the game en route to a laugher of an 83-44 victory over UCLA on Saturday. One day later, the Cavaliers held Harvard to just 27 total points in a dominant 49-point victory of its own.
This week’s Quick n’ Dirty after the jump….
Quick n’ Dirty Analysis.
- Kentucky remains the unanimous #1 for the fifth consecutive week. The Wildcats were unbelievably impressive in their blowout victory over UCLA on Saturday at the CBS Sports Classic in Chicago. Their incredible defense was on display all afternoon, but especially in the first half as UCLA was held to just seven points on 3-of-37 shooting from the field. It seems as if John Calipari’s team is only getting stronger as the season progresses. That will be tested this Saturday when the Wildcats travel to the Yum! Center for a showdown with intrastate rival – and fellow undefeated team – Louisville.
- Washington continues to win. Entering Saturday’s game against #19 Oklahoma, not much was yet definitive about #14 Washington. The Huskies were 9-0 with a sloppy win over #25 San Diego State on its résumé, but there were more questions than answers when it came to Lorenzo Romar’s squad. Some of those questions were answered in Saturday’s victory over the Sooners, as the Huskies took advantage of a 40-27 halftime lead to narrowly escape by two. With one more victory against Stony Brook next Sunday, Washington will match the best start it has had during Romar’s tenure in Seattle.
- North Carolina rises after its impressive victory. After early season losses to Butler, Iowa, and Kentucky, the Tar Heels entered Saturday’s contest against #20 Ohio State with something to prove. They accomplished that in a major way, dominating the Buckeyes for a majority of the afternoon in an 82-74 victory. North Carolina obviously has a lot of talent on the roster, but inconsistency has been an issue over the past two seasons. If it can build on Saturday’s win in a positive way, that inconsistency and corresponding volatility in the polls could become a thing of the past.
- Three new teams. #21 Northern Iowa, #22 Baylor, and #23 Colorado State enter the RTC25 after completing unbeaten weeks. The Panthers scored an impressive neutral site victory Saturday over intrastate rival Iowa; Baylor continued its strong start with a nice victory over New Mexico State; and unbeaten Colorado State was able to stay that way by squeaking out a one-point victory at Denver.
Game of the Week. #1 Kentucky vs. #4 Louisville. The most anticipated game of the college basketball season thus far will take place on Saturday in Louisville. The top-ranked Wildcats figure to be the favorite to earn the rivalry victory, but Rick Pitino’s team is always a very tough out at home. The match-up to keep an eye on in this game will be between a couple of junior big men. Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein and Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell figure to be in for quite the battle in the post, and their individual play will be an important factor in which team will emerge with the win.
Keep Tabs On. #6 Wisconsin vs. California; #8 Stanford vs. Texas; #7 Gonzaga vs. BYU.
Conference Call. ACC (5), Big 12 (5), Big East (3), Pac-12 (3), Big Ten (3), Missouri Valley (2), Mountain West (2), SEC (1), WCC (1)
