The latest Associated Press college basketball rankings came out, and Indiana remained #1 at 21-3, even though they lost to Illinois 74-72 last week. For the 5th week in a row, the top ranked team went down in defeat, but this time they kept their top ranking. In Indiana’s other game of the week, they defeated Ohio State 81-68. This year is vastly different from last year, when Kentucky was widely regarded as the best team all year, and proved it by winning the NCAA tournament.
The #2 team this week is Duke, who beat North Carolina State 98-85, and slipped past Boston College 62-61 to improve to 21-2. They moved up two spots in the rankings the past week. The hottest team near the top of the polls is Miami (FL) at 19-3. They hammered Boston College 72-50, and North Carolina 87-61. This means Miami is 10-0 in the ACC this year. Although they have one more loss than Duke, it seems irrational to have them below Duke after the 90-63 beatdown they gave the Blue Devils on January 23rd. The Hurricanes have won 11 games in a row.
Michigan comes in at #4 with a 21-3 record. They beat Ohio State 76-74, but lost to Wisconsin 65-62 this week. Rounding out the top 5, Gonzaga cruised past Pepperdine 82-56, and Loyola Marymount 74-55 in their two games last week. #6-10 are Syracuse, Florida, Michigan State, Arizona and Kansas State respectively.
With the top teams continually getting beat, the NCAA Tournament should indeed be March Madness. Not only will it be difficult to pick the winner, but even the top seeds in the four regions. After TCU, who was 9-12 overall, and winless in the Big 12, upset then #5 ranked Kansas on Wednesday, who was 19-2, anything could happen. Could this be the year that a #1 seed goes down in the first round of the NCAA tournament?
Without a team that dominates the field, I think this will make for a more exciting tournament. Everyone will think they have a chance, and they actually may be right this year. The team that gets hot going into the tournament, whoever that may be, can win 6 straight games, or 7, and go home with the championship. Get ready for a wide open tournament, where upsets should be all over the board. Right now Indiana is #1, but who knows what will happen? Your team could surprise everyone and be the next NCAA Champion.
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