Week 15: Feb. 18-25
California
No one, absolutely no one, outside of Berkeley could have predicted the Bears would be the one team that would be 2-0 in the weekend with the Bay Area schools hosting the L.A. schools. Cal's defense was sensational in shutting down UCLA and USC over the weekend. The Bruins scored only 51 points, while the Trojans scored only 64. Cal's scoring easier at the right time of the season with Amit Tamir the perfect compliment inside and out to Joe Shipp. Tamir is also evolving into one of the better passing big men in the league. Cal is 11-5 in the conference, 20-6 overall and has a decent shot to share the Pac-10 title if Oregon can lose to the L.A. schools and Cal can pull off a sweep in Arizona. If the Bears get a split and Oregon gets swept (a possibility) then the Bears could still get a share of the title.
Week 14: Feb. 11-17
Maryland
The Terps hosted the biggest game of the week and won handily in taking out Duke. Maryland had the perfect gameplan by making Duke beat it from the perimeter. Duke couldn't and Steve Blake did a sensational job, with some help, on Jason Williams (6 of 22). Maryland's Chris Wilcox had a monster game, scoring 23 points to compliment Blake's 13 assists. Earlier in the week, Maryland beat Georgia Tech. The Terps are on their way to an undefeated season at Cole Field House and barring a collapse in the final four games an ACC title. That would be quite an accomplishment with a team named Duke also in the conference.
Week 14: Feb. 4-10
Cincinnati
Coach Bob Huggins called last week one of the toughest road trips he has ever had to take at Cincinnati. The Bearcats lost at Marquette last Saturday, but started a new streak with wins at Charlotte and at Wake Forest. Two out of three on the road for a team that is fighting, as of today, with Oklahoma for one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, let alone trying to win yet another Conference USA title, is extremely impressive. The Bearcats, a much maligned offensive team, got significant contributions from their supposedly role players. Leonard Stokes scored 30 against Charlotte. Immanuel McElroy scored 19 against Wake Forest to compliment Steve Logan's 30. The Bearcats shot a season-best 58 percent against Wake Forest. Huggins is doing one of its best coaching jobs of his career as he continues to mold a defensive-oriented team into a tough team to guard.
Week 13: Jan. 28-Feb. 3
Oregon
The Ducks have never won the Pac-10. They've never even been in first place at the halfway point of the Pac-10 season. But Oregon is doing everything it can to get into the NCAA Tournament, let alone win the Pac-10 by taking care of business at home. Oregon squashed UCLA on McArthur Court and then got by USC in what was a first-place showdown in Eugene (the Duck fans were a bit out of line with a few comments about USC coach Henry Bibby, though). Oregon (17-5, 9-2) still has four brutal road games and might have to come out of it with a split for a chance to win the Pac-10. The Ducks go to the Bay Area to play Stanford and Cal this week, and after three home games against Oregon State and the Washington schools, the Ducks end the Pac-10 regular season at the L.A. schools.
Week 12: Jan. 21-27
Texas Tech
The Red Raiders had one game to prepare for last week -- Oklahoma. Give Bob Knight a week to dissect a team and the result is likely going to be a win. The Red Raiders ran their motion offense to near perfection in picking apart Oklahoma's usually tough man-to-man defense. The Red Raiders pulled away from then-No. 6 Oklahoma 92-79 after getting crushed by Oklahoma a week earlier by 26 points. The Red Raiders are scoring at a higher percentage clip than anyone thought imaginable. This team continues to be amazing, considering that Knight didn't get the best newcomer he coveted in Ermal Kuqo. The junior college transfer center, who Illinois coach Bill Self wanted, had eligibility issues due to the amateurism rules and went back to Europe. This happened after the Red Raiders cut loose three players from last season's 9-19 team, including starting point Jamal Brown. But who cares now? The Red Raiders have meshed four JC transfers and a recruited walk-on with two returning vets in Andy Ellis and Andre Emmett to form a tight and productive nucleus of seven players. The Red Raiders still have a few tough road games remaining in the Big 12, but an NCAA Tournament selection seems almost a lock.
Week 11: Jan. 14-20
Arizona
The Wildcats got the honor over Duke for how they won both home games last week. Arizona crushed USC a week after the Trojans looked like the team to beat in defeating UCLA. Arizona mixed up its defenses and had USC looking for offensive answers. Then, Arizona gave up 17 3s and was down 20-plus to UCLA before storming back in a matter of minutes to take the game away from UCLA. The two home wins over the L.A. schools moved Arizona within a game of USC and Oregon for first place and tied with UCLA, Stanford and Cal for second place in the Pac-10. The Wildcats have won seven of eight games after losing two of three.
Week 10: Jan. 7-13
Georgia
The Bulldogs had a monster week with a road win at Kentucky and then a tough, grind-it-out home win over Tennessee. Georgia is suddenly two games up on Kentucky in the SEC East, and breathing down Florida's neck with their matchup on tap for this weekend. The Bulldogs (14-2, 3-0 SEC East) are one of the biggest surprises of the season. Last season, they were the poster team for the NCAA Tournament selection committee. They played a tough schedule, got above .500 in the SEC and were a pick for the tournament at 16-14. But there are no reasons to hedge on this team this season. The Bulldogs would need a major flop to avoid making the tournament. Jim Harrick said he knew the Hayes' twins, Jarvis and Jonas, would be special when he saw them in practice. But he still has taken a team without a lot of size and molded it into an SEC title contender. The Bulldogs get major production out of Ezra Williams (22 against Tennessee) and Chris Daniels (13 boards against the Volunteers).
Week 9: Dec. 31-Jan. 6
Florida State
Pittsburgh had the honors before Sunday. But it was hard not to give the nod to the Seminoles after beating South Florida on the road and then shocking No. 1 Duke on Sunday night for their fourth straight win. Steve Robinson is one of the good guys in the sport. He is well-liked and well respected. But the reality is the Seminoles had won 18 games his first season and an NCAA Tournament first-round game. Year Two produced 13 wins, Year Three 12 and Year Four just nine. He needed to win this season to feel more secure and after losses to American and Western Carolina at home, Robinson has this team turned around and ready to damage in the ACC. He has Monte Cummings playing at a high level and so too is Delvon Arrington to give the Seminoles a productive backcourt. Nigel "Big Jelly"' Dixon is logging contributing minutes in the paint, too. But they can't afford to flop from here on out. Florida State needs to build off this win, which didn't happen last season when the Seminoles shocked Maryland at Cole Field House.
Week 8: Dec. 24-30
DePaul
We highlighted DePaul a few weeks ago in the Weekly Word with Pat Kennedy making a point that the Blue Demons weren't done for the season, yet. Boy was he prophetic. DePaul turned its season around with four straight wins, including the biggest of the week -- a 63-62 victory over Missouri in Chicago on Saturday. Suddenly, point Imari Sawyer is on the same page with Kennedy, not making a mess of the offense. Andre Brown, Sam Hoskin and Lance Williams are suddenly an imposing frontline. The shooting guard woes are no longer an Achilles' heel. DePaul's defense helped Missouri shoot 22 percent on 3s. DePaul was worse, however, shooting 14.3 percent, and had 19 turnovers, two more than Missouri. The Blue Demons even got outrebounded by five. But they made shots and made stops at critical junctures. At 7-4 and beaming with confidence, DePaul can't be counted out of the NCAAs yet.
Week 7: Dec. 17-23
Oklahoma
This was another tough call. There were other likeable choices such as Duke, Cincinnati, Butler, Illinois and Virginia. But the Sooners seemed to put together the most impressive win of the week. They trounced Maryland at home Friday night 72-56 and have now won eight straight games after losing at Michigan State in the second round of the Preseason NIT. The Sooners are a collection of junior college transfers and a four-year transfer with a vet mixed in like Hollis Price. It took Kelvin Sampson a few weeks to mesh this crew and they're now storming the Southwest. The addition of Florida International transfer Jabahri Brown immediately changes the interior for the Sooners because of the defensive problems he poses. Ebi Ere and Aaron McGhee offer a 1-2 punch from the wing and the post, and the Sooners tough, clutch-and-grab defense makes them a rugged team to play. The Big 12 keeps looking tougher and tougher to win with the likes of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas.
Week 6: Dec. 10-16
Iowa
The Hawkeyes were down and looked beaten in losses to Duke and Northern Iowa. But they were still really smarting from the loss to Missouri in Kansas City in the championship of the Guardians Classic in November. They knew they had another shot at the Tigers, even if it was in Columbia. They took full advantage of the revenge and pulled off the most impressive performance of the week with an 18-point victory Saturday. Luke Recker's 31 points and Reggie Evans' 17 boards were the type of numbers the Hawkeyes expected throughout the season. And, during the game, they actually looked quick with their transition game in full throttle.
Week 5: Dec. 3-9
Florida
Exams mean fewer games, but few teams played as high a profile games as the Gators last week. Florida got revenge for the first time in three tries against the Spartans with a convincing victory (it was more lopsided than the score suggests) midweek. The Gators then dispatched South Florida on the Bulls' homecourt Saturday. South Florida was banking on a win over the Gators being the one that put them in the top 25. Sorry. The Gators were simply too tough and too talented to let it slip in what had to be the best atmosphere Seth Greenberg has seen in Tampa. Florida's chemistry is meshing at the right time, as the Gators get primed for the SEC in a few weeks.
Week 4: Nov. 26-Dec. 2
Kansas
The Jayhawks had the obligatory blowout of non-Division I Pittsburgh State, but then took care of the biggest road game of the week by winning at Arizona. This is the type of game the Jayhawks couldn't win last season (see: Wake Forest). Beating Arizona on the road -- basically outscoring them -- is a sure sign that the Jayhawks are an elite team. Had it not been for a rare cramp by Aaron Miles during the Ball State game, they might be undefeated and sitting behind Duke at No. 2. Kansas got the monster performance out of the tandem of Drew Gooden and Nick Collison and the guard play of Jeff Boschee gets more important with each game.
Week 3: Nov. 19-25
Missouri
This might end up being the toughest choice this season. Oklahoma State (five wins in six days, including beating Providence and taking the Las Vegas Classic title); Ball State (beating Kansas and UCLA in Maui); Marquette (beating Tennessee, Indiana and Gonzaga for Great Alaska Shootout title); and Syracuse (winning Preseason NIT with wins over Michigan State and Wake Forest), were all worthy candidates. But the nod goes to Missouri (we feel that we can only pick one). The Tigers beat Alabama and Iowa in back-to-back nights in Kansas City to win the NABC Guardians Classic and then took out Xavier on Saturday in Indianapolis at the Wooden Tradition. The Alabama win was as spirited a victory as we've seen to date, especially with Kareem Rush getting knocked on the noggin twice, once resulting in a broken nose, the second creating a knot above his eye. These are the kind of games away from Columbia that Missouri didn't win last season. They looked like they had Final Four potential in practice in October and now they're going out and beating comparable teams in November.
Week 2: Nov. 12-18
Western Kentucky
The Hilltoppers picked up the most impressive win of the early season with a convincing victory at Kentucky. Western Kentucky then went on to win the NABC Classic with an easy victory over George Washington in the title game. The Hilltoppers are much more than Chris Marcus in the middle. They have Derek Robinson at the point able to knock down a critical 3-pointer, David Boyden an able body who can score in the lane next to Marcus, and role players such as Todor Pandov and Patrick Sparks who have production potential. Western Kentucky deservedly got into the top 25 at No. 25. The Hilltoppers should stay in and continue to climb the rest of the season, barring a string of consecutive losses in the Sun Belt.
Week 1: Nov. 8-11
Arizona
Who else could we choose? The Wildcats weren't ranked prior to the season and were the favorite to leave New York 0-2. They lost four of five starters, of which three departed early for the NBA. Instead, Arizona shrugged off any negative or lack thereof press and calmly went through Maryland and Florida for the title. The wins will take any sting out of any ensuing losses in one of the most difficult schedules any team faces this season.
