With another hectic weekend of college basketball in the books here’s where we’re at…
Fantastic Four
1. Indiana: In the game of the week in front of a national audience the Hooisers made the most of their home court advantage at Assembly Hall taking down previous number one Michigan 81-73. With Kansas falling to Oklahoma State prior to tip off in Bloomington, Indiana’s victory makes them the fifth number one in the last five weeks. They’ll travel to Illinois this week before another key Big 10 game Sunday in Columbus against no. 10 Ohio State.
2. Florida: The Gators move up to two in the polls this week with the losses from Kansas and Michigan. They’ve been streaking recently having won ten in a row entering tomorrow’s tilt with Arkansas. Later in the week they’ll host Mississippi State. In a weak SEC, though there’s been a lot of movement in the top five, I’d expect Florida to stick around for a little while.
3. Michigan: Not too far of a drop for the Wolverines after a tough loss Saturday. There’s still a lot of talent on this roster and NBA blood as well. They’ll get a chance to avenge one of their two losses this season tomorrow night against Ohio State and will take on Wisconsin later in the week.
4. Duke: They’ve rebounded nicely since getting shellacked by Miami. Three straight wins, two of which came by double digits. College basketball’s been very topsy turvy this season so one bad loss doesn’t hurt as much as it has in years past. NC State and Boston College this week for the Dukies.
Bubble Watch
Temple: Another Philly team on the bubble. La Salle and Villanova aren’t exactly shoe-ins, St. Joseph’s is in the mix, and the Owls looked to be safe for a while but have lost three of their last five and are now in need of some wins more than ever. They try to get back to 500 in league play Wednesday night against an overachieving Charlotte team.
Florida State: A win against Duke over the weekend would have helped. Right now I don’t think the Seminoles have enough meat on their resume to be on the right side of the bubble right now. That could change against Miami on February 13th though when they host the rival Miami Hurricanes. Of course there’s always the ACC Tournament which Leonard Hamilton’s teams have fared well in recently as well.
Cinderella Watch
Indiana State: They don’t have Larry Bird anymore, but they do have a nice win that I’m sure Florida State would like to have as the Sycamores beat Miami on Christmas Day 57-55. Ole Miss and Wichita State are their other two wins against RPI top 50 teams. In a conference that has produced NCAA Tournament teams like Wichita State, Southern Illinois, Creighton, Drake, and the Sycamores have gone dancing in years past, I’d keep an eye out for this year’s version of the Indiana State Sycamores.
Don’t Sleep on Me
Colorado State: The Rams were an 11-sed in the tourney last year but fell in their first game to Murray State. At 18-4 thus far Colorado State appears primed for another tournament appearance. They’re 14th in the RPI, and 44th in strength of schedule. Not bad. Perhaps they’ll do more than be one and done in this year’s NCAA Tournament.