[TABLE=46]
The next 10, alphabetically: Connecticut, Dayton, Drake, Gonzaga, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Stanford, Vanderbilt
A few thoughts:
- I was only partly rooting against Vandy in the Kentucky game. I think they’re a good team, but they have to prove it at some point against another good team. They need a good showing, though maybe not a win, at Tennessee tomorrow night. They’re close, but not much more so than Drake or URI at this point.
- At some point, I wonder if the superior schedule of North Carolina will allow me to slip Memphis down to #3. I bumped them down to #2 on account of Kansas’ incredible week, but I’m still not sold on UNC over them. It might not take long, though. The Heels have Pomeroy’s #84 team, Georgia Tech, tonight, and then they face 4 consecutive teams in the 50s before getting #5 Duke at home. The Tigers’ remaining non-conference games against Gonzaga and UT will be very important.
- Georgetown probably needs a signature win this week over Notre Dame to avoid sliding out of the top 10.
- Ironically, I bump Washington State up after a week in which they lost their first game. That UCLA game wasn’t very close most of the way, but they seem to have fewer flaws than the other schools I had ranked higher, like turnover-machine Michigan State.
- Dayton will almost certainly be ranked if they beat Xavier this week.
- I don’t know what to do about Drake, who is #17 in the Pomeroy ratings. Their only loss was to St. Mary’s, and they’ve beaten some decent teams, but no one really good. Still, the more MVC games they win, the harder it will be to justify leaving them out.
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