ESPN.com's Power Rankings: Feb. 11
Another week, another round of upsets and another debate about which team is the nation's best.
And it isn't even March yet.
Despite a 74-72 loss at Illinois last Thursday, Indiana stayed in the top spot in this week's Power Rankings. The Hoosiers rebounded to defeat Ohio State on Sunday to earn 12 first-place votes from ESPN.com's voters.
Streaking Miami, which has won 11 straight games and is a perfect 10-0 in the ACC, moved up from No. 9 to No. 2, earning five first-place votes from our panel.
Duke, with one first-place vote, Michigan and Florida round out the top five.
Newcomers to this week's rankings include Wisconsin (18), Notre Dame (21), Colorado State (23) and Memphis (24).
Read on to find out more, and click below to read our voters' individual ballots.
Editor's note: Team comments written by Eamonn Brennan.
Overall | Voters 1-6 | Voters 7-12 | Voters 13-18 || College Basketball Power Rankings - Week 15 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | PTS | COMMENT | |
| 1 | -- Last Week: 1 | 441 | What an eight days for Indiana, both for better and for worse. Last Saturday, IU dropped Michigan in a thrilling home game. On Thursday, it was upset at Illinois on an ugly last play. On Sunday, it beat Ohio State in one of the most impressive road performances of the season. Call it a wash. | ||
| 2 | 7 Last Week: 9 | 420 | Miami blew out North Carolina in Coral Gables this week, remaining perfect in games in which stars Reggie Johnson and Durand Scott have both been available. The rest of the Hurricanes' February is stuffed with eminently winnable games. It's time to believe in them. | ||
| 3 | 1 Last Week: 4 | 399 | The Blue Devils barely escaped Boston College with a win, and an ugly win at that. Their defense is still struggling without injured forward Ryan Kelly, but it should be enough to handle bitter rival UNC at home Wednesday. | ||
| 4 | 1 Last Week: 3 | 391 | The Wolverines were bound to take a few losses in Big Ten play, but the one they suffered at Wisconsin on Saturday -- which followed Ben Brust's game-tying half-court buzzer-beater -- will go down as one of the toughest to swallow. Up next is Tuesday's rivalry game at Michigan State. | ||
| 5 | 3 Last Week: 2 | 378 | Florida's sudden shooting slump in the first half at Arkansas cost the Gators their perfect SEC record, but it's clear that Billy Donovan's team is still the overwhelming favorite to win the SEC. Kentucky comes to town this week. | ||
| 6 | -- Last Week: 6 | 368 | The Zags have been cruising over a handful of the West Coast Conference's lesser foes in recent weeks, but things are about to get a lot tougher Thursday night. That's when Gonzaga travels to Moraga, Calif., to face its hated rival, the totally underrated Saint Mary's Gaels. | ||
| 7 | 3 Last Week: 10 | 348 | The Orange got two more wins this week, but the best news of all came from James Southerland, the Cuse's second-leading scorer, who won an academic status appeal and was able to return Sunday against St. John's. | ||
| 8 | 3 Last Week: 11 | 334 | Michigan and Indiana get all the headlines, but Tom Izzo's team is 9-2 in conference play and right in the mix for the Big Ten title. This team's combination of experienced guard play, young talent and bruising bigs is classic Izzo. Tuesday's matchup with the Wolverines is must-see TV. | ||
| 9 | 2 Last Week: 7 | 271 | The Wildcats have plenty of strengths -- talent and size chief among them -- but they've been prone to plenty of shaky stretches this season, the latest of which came during Sunday afternoon's home loss to Cal. Next up: a trip to Colorado. Sabatino Chen says hello. | ||
| 10 | 5 Last Week: 15 | 268 | The Wilcdats might not be pretty, but they defend and rebound and lean on their opponents, while Rodney McGruder provides the offensive spark on the perimeter. Monday's trip to Kansas is massive; there may be no better time to catch the reeling Jayhawks than now. | ||
| 11 | 3 Last Week: 8 | 255 | Hopefully, wherever the Cardinals are at this very moment, they're enjoying some sort of rest or perhaps a nice, long bath. Their five-OT loss at Notre Dame on Saturday was exhausting to even watch, but the good news is Louisville's next four games are against St. John's, South Florida, Seton Hall and DePaul. | ||
| 12 | 2 Last Week: 14 | 224 | Remember when Butler was going to have to "step up" its performance to "hang" with the Atlantic 10? People actually thought that this past summer! Not so much. The Bulldogs are 7-2 and tied for first, with Charlotte, Duquesne and Fordham on the immediate docket. | ||
| 13 | 8 Last Week: 5 | 218 | The Jayhawks spent all of November, December and January winning, but their past three games -- versus Oklahoma State, at TCU, at Oklahoma -- all have ended in losses. Elijah Johnson's struggles are a key culprit, but the Jayhawks should be able to bounce back. Big Monday against first-place K-State would be a good place to start. | ||
| 14 | 4 Last Week: 18 | 208 | It was easy to doubt the Panthers when they lost three of their first four Big East games. But since then, they're 7-1 with 10-point wins over Syracuse and Cincinnati on their CV. | ||
| 15 | 3 Last Week: 12 | 195 | After pushing Michigan to the brink in Ann Arbor, the Buckeyes had a chance to notch another truly signature win at home against Indiana on Sunday. Instead, the Hoosiers cruised. But this defense is still a lot to handle for any outfit, and Deshaun Thomas' scoring is unmatched. | ||
| 16 | 3 Last Week: 19 | 193 | The Hoyas still aren't much to look at on the offensive end (although they are getting better), but their defense is good enough and athletic enough to gobble up even the best Big East teams. Next up: Monday night's home game with Marquette. | ||
| 17 | 5 Last Week: 22 | 151 | Marcus Smart gets most of the headlines for the Cowboys, and deservedly so, but Markel Brown's excellent wing play shouldn't be overlooked. OSU has won its past five games, including a win at Kansas and home victories over Iowa State and Baylor. | ||
| 18 | 8 Last Week: NR | 124 | The Badgers grind you to a pulp and try to finish you off at the end, and while they're not always successful, they stay in games long enough to let the magic happen. It did Saturday, when Ben Brust's half-court heave helped drop Michigan in the Kohl Center. | ||
| 19 | 4 Last Week: 23 | 122 | Buzz Williams' team had no issues with South Florida or DePaul this week, nor would you have expected it to. Monday's trip to Georgetown could be a whole other ballgame (literally and figuratively), and it won't get any easier Saturday at home against Pitt. | ||
| 20 | 3 Last Week: 17 | 100 | The Lobos are still sitting atop the Mountain West at 7-2, but their loss at UNLV on Saturday helped further level an already wide-open MWC title chase. At Fresno and at home against Boise State are what's on tap. | ||
| 21 | 5 Last Week: NR | 81 | Who is Garrick Sherman? Besides a former Michigan State starter and a little-used Notre Dame reserve, he's now the guy who scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds after not playing a minute of regulation in ND's five-OT win over Louisville. What a game, and what a team. | ||
| 22 | 3 Last Week: 25 | 76 | The Rams fell below poll consideration when they lost to so-so Richmond at home Jan. 24 (followed by a more forgivable loss at La Salle), but they've survived Rhode Island, Fordham and Charlotte since. | ||
| 23 | 3 Last Week: NR | 37 | Colorado State is becoming distinctly underrated, even at this placement in the poll. The Rams are the best rebounding team in the country; they grab a higher share of available boards on both ends of the floor than anyone else. Larry Eustachy picked up right where Tim Miles left off. | ||
| 24 | 2 Last Week: NR | 33 | Here comes the Memphis bandwagon. The Tigers won Saturday's game at Southern Miss -- their only real competition for the C-USA regular-season title, and even that is a bit generous -- and will surely draw a few votes from the AP this week. Their progression will be interesting to watch. | ||
| 25 | 9 Last Week: 16 | 32 | The nice thing about the Bearcats is that you know what you're going to get. Cincinnati pressures shooters like crazy and rebounds its own misses, and Cashmere Wright makes shots. Sometimes that leads to losses (like this week, in low-scoring performances at Providence and Pitt), but usually it holds Mick Cronin's team in good stead. | ||
| Others receiving votes: Kentucky (27), Creighton (26), Oregon (22), Saint Louis (22), Virginia (20), San Diego State (19), Saint Mary's (13), Missouri (12), Minnesota (8), UNLV (7), Illinois (5), North Carolina State (2) | |||||
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