TOP 25
Say goodbye to North Carolina, Pitt
Recommended Stories
Sayonara at the bottom to North Carolina and Pitt, and so much for the Longhorns among the undefeated. Prone to foul trouble, Texas needs better discipline if they hope to stay with Kansas and now, Kansas State, in the Big 12. Kentucky remains the solo no-loss team, and the Gamecocks and Commodores are certain to take their best crack at the Wildcats this week. More appealing to watch are the surging mid-majors from leagues like the CAA and A-10, who will get jobbed anyway when it comes to seeding in March. Can Temple or BYU really get a top-four nod?
*records through 1/25 (10 p.m.)
| No. | Team (Record) | Comment | Pvs. |
| 1 | Kentucky (19-0) | Wall announces what we all already knew: NBA bound | 1 |
| 2 | Villanova (18-1) | Montrose’s Yarou had 6 pts, 9 boards in win over Rutgers | 3 |
| 3 | Syracuse (20-1) | Return bout with Hoyas at Verizon could be interesting | 4 |
| 4 | Kansas (18-1) | Collins, Aldrich have Jayhawks back on track | 5 |
| 5 | Texas (17-2) | Two tough road losses can be explained, but still must drop | 2 |
| 6 | Michigan St. (17-3) | Reeling Wolverines in Ann Arbor could be dangerous | 6 |
| 7 | West Virginia (15-3) | Wouldn’t want to be in Huggins’ locker room down 12 at half | 8 |
| 8 | Georgetown (15-4) | Chinatown will be buzzin’ with Duke in town on Saturday | 9 |
| 9 | Duke (16-3) | Will be back at Verizon for first time since 2008 NCAAs | 7 |
| 10 | Purdue (16-3) | Boilers need to avoid free throw woes vs. Badgers | 10 |
| 11 | Temple (17-3) | Will selection committee will give them the GW treatment? | 14 |
| 12 | BYU (18-1) | Nation’s 2nd-longest winning streak on line Wed. at Lobos | 22 |
| 13 | Tennessee (15-3) | Despite feel-good story, can Vols really compete? | 11 |
| 14 | Kansas St. (16-4) | Drawn just to see how Frank Martin reacts to bad calls | 12 |
| 15 | Wisconsin (13-3) | Hughes upping scoring with 18 points per game in last five | 16 |
| 16 | Texas A&M (14-5) | Defying the odds: 5-2 since losing Derrick Roland | 17 |
| 17 | New Mexico (18-3) | Scores less and gives up more than BYU, but will it matter? | 20 |
| 18 | Ole Miss (13-4) | SEC West a two-horse race: Rebels and Mississippi State | 21 |
| 19 | Connecticut (13-6) | He’s averaging 26.5 ppg in last two for Jerome Dyson | 19 |
| 20 | Ohio State (13-5) | Loss at Mountaineers shouldn’t hurt overall NCAA profile | 25 |
| 21 | Georgia Tech (13-4) | Margin for error is thin. Wake and Duke rematch loom | 13 |
| 22 | Xavier (13-6) | Won five of six in A-10 play; only loss was at Temple | NR |
| 23 | Old Dominion (16-5) | Seven straight W’s since defeat at George Mason | NR |
| 24 | Wake Forest (14-4) | All of a sudden, a victory over Virginia looks pretty good | NR |
| 25 | Gonzaga (16-3) | Polls love the Bulldogs. This one’s not quite convinced | NR |
HEATING UP
Maryland » Terps have shown balance and composure in winning three of first four in ACC play.
Also » Siena, Vanderbilt
COOLING DOWN
Pittsburgh » It’s not that the Panthers aren’t good. It’s that they were beaten handily by Georgetown and lost to Seton Hall.
Also » Tennessee, Clemson
TOP 25 GAME OF THE WEEK
Vanderbilt at Tennessee, Wednesday, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Which is the best team in the Volunteer state? And who would have imagined the need for the question back in December when Vanderbilt was losing to the likes of Western Kentucky? But six weeks later, the Commodores (15-3, 4-0) come to Knoxville with a nine-game winning streak, propelled by 6-11 Australian C A.J. Ogilvy (13.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and 6-7 Swedish F Jeffery Taylor (14.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg). Tennessee (15-3, 3-1) has held it together through injuries and the dismissal of two-time all-SEC F Tyler Smith, winning seven straight (including Memphis, Kansas, Ole Miss) before Saturday’s loss at Georgia.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Charles Garcia, Seattle, forward
The 6-foot-9, 220-pound junior, with perimeter skills a la Lamar Odom, is getting plenty of attention from NBA scouts. Tuesday night at Washington (12-7), Garcia will be the focus of the Huskies’ defense. Garcia, who averages 20.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, and a whopping 11.4 free-throw attempts per game, signed with Washington after two years of junior college, but was denied admission despite meeting NCAA academic standards. Garcia opted for Seattle and coach Cameron Dollar, who was on the Washington staff when Garcia was signed. In its second season in Division I, Seattle (9-11), an independent, has road wins over Utah and Oregon State.
STORY LINES
1. Sole survivor » Six teams made it to New Year’s Day undefeated, but 26 days later, there is just one. With Texas’ loss to Kansas State last week, Kentucky (19-0) is the nation’s lone undefeated team. In the mediocre SEC, the Wildcats have few potential stumbling blocks. One comes tonight at South Carolina (11-8). The toughest part of the schedule is in a span of 12 days in late February with road games against Mississippi State (15-4), Vanderbilt (15-3), and Tennessee (15-3). Coach John Calipari has been there before, going deep into seasons undefeated at UMass (31-0 in 1996) and Memphis (26-0 in 2008). But he’s never done it with a team this young. Three of the Wildcats’ top four scorers are freshmen.
2. Don’t hurry back, Jim » Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, 67, stepped aside indefinitely last week for stress-related health issues. But the Huskies are suddenly thriving under 70-year-old assistant George Blaney. After slow starts against St. John’s and Texas, UConn rallied in the second half of both games, re-establishing its traditional identity — pressure defense and aggressive, up-tempo offense. Against Texas, UConn made 17 turnovers in the first 21 minutes and fell behind by 10 points, but rallied behind Jerome Dyson (32 points), Kemba Walker (19 points, 10 assists) and Stanley Robinson (17 points, 12 rebounds) for an 88-74 victory. “We’ve got to play for Coach Calhoun if we want him to get better,” said Dyson. “It will take some stress off if he doesn’t have to worry about us.”
3. Mr. Big Shot » Earlier this month, Florida junior Chandler Parsons shocked North Carolina State with a 70-foot bomb that swished through the hoop at the buzzer to deliver the Gators a 62-61 victory. On Saturday, Parsons was a hero again with another buzzer-beating three. His jumper from the wing beat South Carolina, 58-56. The shot came after the Gamecocks’ Devan Downey (36 points) made a thrilling length-of-the-court drive, slashing between two defenders, and hitting a short jumper on the run with 5.1 seconds left. But Florida in-bounded without a timeout and Erving Walker raced down floor to the Gators foul line, dishing to a wide open Parsons whose shot swished after the buzzer sounded. The 6-foot-9 Parsons averages 10.7 points per game and shoots 35 percent from 3-point range.
