Syracuse and Wichita State are chasing perfect seasons. Florida, meanwhile, is the best team in the country. At this moment, anyway.
Billy Donovan’s Gators are deep, dangerous and well-coached. John Calipari felt Kentucky played its best game of the season for 30 minutes Saturday night at home, and the Wildcats still fell to Florida by 10. Syracuse is still ranked No. 1, because you can’t drop an undefeated team for winning ugly, but we’d take Florida if the two teams met tomorrow.
(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)
1. Syracuse (1):Â The undefeated Orange are living a charmed life. On Wednesday night, Tyler Ennis beat Pittsburgh at the buzzer with a 35-foot heave, and on Saturday, Syracuse rallied past NC State in the final seconds on a C.J. Fair layup with 6.7 seconds remaining. You have to wonder how much longer this magic lasts.
2. Florida (2): At the moment, the Gators would be our pick to win a national championship. They are healthy, experienced and deep, stout defensively and with a variety of weapons late in games. Florida’s win at Kentucky Saturday night was impressive, but not surprising if you have followed Billy Donovan’s team all season. The SEC leader has defeated three ranked teams.
3. Wichita State (5): Four games is all that separates the Shockers from college basketball history, becoming the first team since St. Joseph’s in 2003-04 to go through the regular season undefeated. At this point, it seems inevitable.
4. Arizona (3): It’s just four games, but it has become obvious Arizona isn’t the same team without forward Brandon Ashley, who is gone for the year with a broken foot. The Wildcats have lost twice and barely snuck past Oregon. The Wildcats may not even win the Pac-12 at this rate, leading UCLA by just a game with seven remaining.
5. Saint Louis (8):Â The best program in the country nobody talks about just keeps winning, 17 victories in a row and counting, beating rival VCU on Saturday to virtually lock up a second straight Atlantic 10 regular-season crown.
6. Duke (10):Â The Blue Devils have hit their groove, winning nine of their last 10 to reach the 20-victory plateau. The only loss in this run? That classic overtime setback to undefeated Syracuse. Duke can gain revenge Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, two days after visiting North Carolina. Quite a big week for Jabari Parker and Co.
7. San Diego State (4): The Aztecs aren’t running away with the Mountain West Conference title after all. A surprising loss at Wyoming coupled with New Mexico’s impressive play — the Lobos have won seven of eight games — has narrowed San Diego State’s lead to a single game with two matchups between the conference powers looming.
8. Cincinnati (9):Â The Bearcats responded to their first AAC loss of the season with a 11-point win over Houston, but the real tests await, games against Louisville, UConn and Memphis that will determine the conference champion and tell us a great deal about Cincinnati.
9. Kansas (7): The Jayhawks can basically wrap up a 10th straight Big 12 title with a win in Lawrence Saturday night over surprising Texas. More importantly, freshman center Joel Embiid (knee, back) is expected to return Tuesday night at Texas Tech. Kansas is a good team without the 7-footer, but Bill Self’s club goes to another level with Embiid on the floor.
10. Louisville (11): We’ve spent a lot of time in this space criticizing Louisville’s inability to beat a good team, but the Cardinals have defeated everyone else, which is a very good quality. Rick Pitino’s team will need to beat a few good opponents if it wants to make a run at repeating as national champion. There will be plenty of opportunities, starting Saturday afternoon at AAC leader Cincinnati.
11. Creighton (15): The Bluejays are now in the driver’s seat in their first year in the Big East, tied atop the conference with Villanova while owning the tiebreaker after the second rout of the Wildcats. National Player of the Year front-runner Doug McDermott passed Larry Bird for 13th place on the Division I scoring chart after matching his season high with 39 points in Sunday’s blowout in Omaha.
12. Villanova (6): Villanova is 0-2 against Creighton and 22-1 against everyone else. Clearly, Jay Wright’s club doesn’t match up well with the Bluejays, who have won the two matchups by an astounding 49 points.
13. Virginia (13): Syracuse is undefeated and Duke is playing great basketball, but Virginia just might have the inside track to the ACC crown. The red-hot Cavaliers, who have won nine straight games and 12 of 13, play three of their final five games at home, including a March 1 showdown against the Orange that likely will determine the league’s regular-season champion.
14. Michigan State (12): Sure, the Spartans have injury issues. And yes, the Big Ten is a beast of a conference. But in Michigan State’s last seven games, it has lost four, including Sunday’s stunning nine-point defeat at home to Nebraska. This is no way to enter the postseason.
15. Wisconsin (22): We’ve seen two Wisconsin teams this season, the one that started 13-0 and the other one, which went 1-5. The first group appears to be back with four straight wins, including victories over co-Big Ten leaders Michigan State and Michigan.
16. Michigan (14)
17. Iowa (16)
18. Texas (NR)
19. Connecticut (NR)
20. Oklahoma (NR)
21. Kentucky (18)
22. Memphis (19)
23. UCLA (NR)
24. Ohio State (24)
25. VCU (20)
Dropped out: Iowa State, SMU, George Washington, Pittsburgh
Stock Watch — Up
Shabazz Napier
The senior guard, who opted to return to college rather than pursue the NBA, has enjoyed a phenomenal season. He’s hit game-winning shots and carried UConn to a number of big wins. The latest was an overtime victory over Memphis in which he went for 34 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. There isn’t a more well-rounded guard in the country.
North Carolina
Dead one second, alive the next, North Carolina is on another run. The enigmatic Tar Heels have won six straight games after Saturday’s surprising win over Pittsburgh and get a chance to pick up a signature victory Thursday in Chapel Hill over archrival Duke. This being North Carolina, however, it may lose to struggling Florida State Monday night.
Stock Watch — Down
Pittsburgh
Jamie Dixon’s team has 20 wins already and has nearly upset Syracuse twice, so it is likely in the tournament. But Pittsburgh better be careful. The Panthers have lost two straight and four of six, don’t have a single win over a ranked opponent and are just a game in the loss column out of seventh place in the ACC. A few more bad losses could place the Panthers on the bubble.
St. Francis Brooklyn
Tiny St. Francis, which has never reached the NCAA Tournament, has hit a wall. Five players were suspended and starting guard Anthony White was arrested for his role in an alleged sexual assault. Two of the players have been reinstated, but the Terriers have lost two games in a row, and now they are tied for fourth place in the NEC, after flirting with first for a while, and fading fast.