RADIO
10: Texas Tech (21-6, 12-4) (9)
Tech drops a slot after dropping a game to TCU in the middle of the week. The Red Raiders got back on track by smashing a solid West Virginia team on Saturday to stay in the fold after dreadful weeks from Michigan and Texas A&M.
The Red Raiders are still the only conference team to drop Houston. They get a chance to dump them again in Lubbock tonight and start off March at the Phog. We’re going to learn a lot about Texas Tech this week. They will either fly up the power rankings or slide into irrelevance again.
9. St. John's (24-4, 15-2) (NR)
Since losing to Villanova, the Johnnies have sneaked back into the rankings with wins over Creighton and Connecticut. St. John’s only has three regular-season games remaining. The Big East is theirs for the taking if they can beat Butler, Seton Hall, and Marquette to close out the season.
8. Michigan State (22-5, 13-3) (NR)
The Spartans have rattled off three straight wins over Illinois, Michigan, and Purdue. Michigan and Purdue were on the road. The Spartans find themselves atop the Big Ten (18) heap once again. Three ranked teams await in their last four games, so Michigan State is going to have to prove they are worthy of this spot.
7. Iowa State (21-6, 11-5) (7)
I’m not going to dock the Cyclones for losing to Houston again with both of their best players out. They stayed within nine points of the best team in the conference on the road without Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert. This will be the only pass Iowa State gets. If they drop another game out of the last four, they’re not long for the Top 10.
6. Tennessee (22-5, 9-5) (6)
If Tennessee could beat Kentucky, they would be a little further up the list. The Vols got a huge win in College Station this week to hold serve in the sixth spot. This week brings Tennessee’s last change to climb this list in the regular season when Alabama heads up to Knoxville to start off March.
5. Houston (23-4, 15-1) (5)
A win against Iowa State is still impressive, but if I’m not docking the Cyclones for losing, I’m not giving Houston the same boost for winning the game with Jones and Gilbert out. That’s half of Iowa State’s offense!
4. Florida (24-3, 11-3) (4)
Florida looked good against Oklahoma and LSU, but neither of those teams stacked up to Alabama’s schedule. Yeah, the Tide lost this week. They also followed it up with a win over Kentucky — a team that beat Tennessee twice and Florida once. Florida’s relatively weak out-of-conference schedule keeps them behind Bama again.
3. Alabama (22-5. 11-3) (3)
I buried the lead in the Florida blurb, but I felt it was important to justify why Florida is still fourth when the polls have them higher. Alabama has played the toughest schedule in college basketball history (or at least in the KenPom era). Winning 22 out of 27 games is very impressive. It only gets worse. Alabama closes the season against four ranked teams, including three of the top six.
2. Duke (24-3, 13-1) (2)
If Duke hadn’t demolished a solid Illinois team by 43 points, I likely would have moved them down this week. The name is keeping Duke afloat, but the ACC will be lucky to get a fourth team in the NCAA Tournament this year. The star power isn’t there.
That being said, Wake and North Carolina get huge chances to clamor for an NCAA Tournament berth next week. Duke’s hold on the two slot is tentative at best. How far can that Auburn win carry them?
1. Auburn (25-2, 13-1) (1)
This week was the calm before the storm that will engulf the top of the SEC over the next couple of weeks. As with Alabama, Auburn closes the season with four games against ranked teams. Unlike Alabama, Auburn gets a couple of “easy” games against Mississippi and Kentucky this week. Only in this monster of a conference are those “easy” games…
