College hoops top 10

With exactly 1 month until Selection Sunday, the weekly polls are starting to get more attention as fans try to project seeds for their team. No.1 Ohio State finally fell on Saturday, a 71-67 loss to Bo Ryan's Badgers in Madison. Here's how I see things now.


1) Kansas (24-1): The media seems to like Texas as the new No.1. The Longhorns did beat KU in Lawrence, but they also have 3 losses to KU's single defeat. Kansas has won its last 5 games by a combined 92 points. That's impressive.

2) Ohio State (24-1): Losing to the No.14 team on the road is about the same as losing to a top 5 team at home, so these are basically 1A and 1B in my book. Wisconsin is tough at home, so that loss wasn't a shocker and shouldn't concern Buckeye fans. Vegas even had Wisconsin favored in the upset.

3) Pittsburgh (23-2): Everyone seems to have Texas ahead of Pitt at No.3, and even No.1 or 2 in some cases, but I like the Panthers here. They're 11-1 in the ultra-competitive Big East, they have one less loss than Texas, and they just knocked off Villanova in Philly on Saturday night.

4) Texas (22-3): The Longhorns are looking as good as anyone lately, and the case can be made for them to be higher here. They're on pace to finish with an unblemished 16-0 Big 12 record and a No.1 seed looks good right now.

Those 4 teams look to be on their own level. Everyone else is part of a jumbled mess of sorts from about No.5-15.

5) Duke (22-2): That ACC schedule isn't doing much in the way of Marquee wins for Duke here. The losses to Florida State and St. Johns aren't exactly impressive, either. Coach K doesn't seem to think freshman star Kyrie Irving will return from his toe injury to help come tourney time. That will hurt Duke in March.

6) Notre Dame (21-4): The loss of Boston Celtic Luke Harangody hasn't hurt the Irish much, who sit in sole position of 2nd place in the Big East. They have some nice wins over Wisconsin, Georgetown, Uconn, and Pittsburgh. Ben Hansbrough has been playing lights out this year.

7) San Diego State (25-1): The Aztecs just swept UNLV, which are 2 good wins for the selection committee to look at. I've just never been sold on mid-majors in the NCAA tournament. How many mid-majors have made the final four the last 20 years? George Mason and Butler? I have SDSU at 7 because college basketball is down this year.

8) BYU (24-2): I only have the Cougars this high because of The Jimmer. Fredette is getting 27 points a game and his range is anywhere inside the lines. I'm not kidding. That range could lead to a potential run in March.

9) Georgetown (20-5): The Hoyas are 3rd in the Big East behind Pitt and Notre Dame with quality wins over Missouri, Utah State, Villanova, and Syracuse. Austin Freeman is as good as any guard in the country.

10) Wisconsin (19-6): The Badgers were favored to beat No.1 Ohio State Saturday, and they did just that.  With Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor getting 19 and 18 points a game respectively, the Badgers are tough to beat with that defensive style Bo Ryan employs in Madison.