January 26, 2010
The List
Week of Jan. 26

by John Perrotto

Kansas remains No. 1 this week but that’s not the big news with The List. In our never-ending quest to make this weekly exercise at least mildly interesting, we have added some new features.

One is picking the most overrated and underrated teams of the week. The formula for that is quite simple - the biggest variance between The List and The Associated Poll media poll both positively and negatively. We’re also projecting the field of 65 for the NCAA Tournament along with, for kicks and giggles, the 32-team field for the NIT. As we do for The List, we are leaning on the objective date, taking into account Ken Pomeroy’s Pomeroy Ratings at kenpom.com, the Jeff Sagarin ratings for USA Today at usatoday.com, RealTimeRPI at realtimerpi.com, Team Rankings at teamrankings.com and Kyle Whelliston’s State of Basketball rankings at basketballstate.com.

As far as the rankings, rounding out the top five beyond Kansas are Syracuse, Duke, Kentucky and Brigham Young. The biggest gainer is Wake Forest, which moves back onto The List at No. 18 and is one of just two new teams this week along with Mississippi. The biggest fallers are Texas (No. 2 to No. 7) and Clemson (No. 18 to No. 23).

1.Kansas
Record: 19-1
Last week’s ranking: 1
Last week: Defeated No. 21 Baylor 81-75 and Iowa State 84-61.
This week: Defeated No. 22 Missouri 84-65 on Monday, at No. 9 Kansas State on Saturday.
Information: Guard Tyshawn Taylor played just 13 minutes in the victory over Iowa State after implying on his Facebook page he was considering transferring but had seven points and five rebounds.

2.Syracuse
Record: 20-1
Last week’s ranking: 4
Last week: Defeated Notre Dame 84-71 and Marquette 76-71.
This week: Defeated No. 12 Georgetown 73-56 on Monday, at DePaul on Saturday.
Information: Syracuse outrebounded Marquette and Georgetown by a combined 74-43.

3.Duke
Record: 16-3
Last week’s ranking: 3
Last week: Lost to North Carolina State 88-74, defeated No. 18 Clemson 60-47.
This week: Florida State on Wednesday, at No. 12 Georgetown on Saturday.
Information: The Blue Devils held Clemson to a combined 100 points in their two victories over the Tigers this season.

4.Kentucky

Record: 19-0
Last week’s ranking: 6
Last week: Defeated Arkansas 101-70
This week: at South Carolina on Tuesday, No. 21 Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Information: The Wildcats have held 13 of their 19 opponents to under 40 percent shooting.

5.Brigham Young
Record: 20-1
Last week’s ranking: 5
Last week: Defeated Wyoming 81-66 and San Diego State 71-69
This week: at New Mexico on Wednesday, Utah on Saturday.
Information: The Cougars lead the Mountain West in field goal shooting (51 percent) and field goal shooting defense (39 percent).

6.Villanova
Record: 18-1
Last week’s ranking: 9
Last week: Defeated Rutgers 94-68 and St. John’s 81-71.
This week: Notre Dame on Wednesday.
Information: Villanova is shooting 80 percent from the foul line in the last two minutes of games.

7.Texas
Record: 17-2
Last week’s ranking: 2
Last week: Lost to No. 7 Kansas State 71-62 and Connecticut 88-74.
This week: Texas Tech on Wednesday, No. 20 Baylor on Saturday
Information: Forward Damion James has averaged 19.6 points and 11.4 rebounds in the last 10 games and recorded seven double-doubles in that span.

8.West Virginia
Record: 15-3
Last week’s ranking: 8
Last week: Defeated Marshall 68-60 and No. 25 Ohio State 71-65.
This week: at DePaul on Tuesday, Louisville on Saturday.

Information: Forward Kevin Jones has made just 11 of 36 field goal attempts in the last three games for 33 percent after shooting over 60 percent this season prior to that stretch.

9.Kansas State
Record: 16-3
Last week’s ranking: 7
Last week: Defeated No. 2 Texas 71-62, lost to Oklahoma State 73-69.
This week: at No. 20 Baylor tonight, No. 1 Kansas on Saturday.
Information: Coach Frank Martin has been called for three technical fouls this season after getting none in his first two seasons.

10.Purdue
Record: 16-3
Last week’s ranking: 10
Last week: Defeated Illinois 84-78 and Michigan 69-59.
This week: No. 11 Wisconsin on Thursday, Penn State on Sunday.
Information: Center JaJuan Johnson averaged 22.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the victories over Illinois and Michigan after averaging 6.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in the Boilermakers’ preceding three-game losing streak.

11.Wisconsin
Record: 16-4
Last week’s ranking: 12
Last week: Defeated Michigan 54-48 and Penn State 79-71.
This week: at No. 10 Purdue.
Information: Coach Bo Ryan picked up his 100th career Big Ten against Penn State and is 100-40 inside the conference since taking over the Badgers in 2001.

12.Georgetown
Record: 15-4
Last week’s ranking: 13
Last week: Defeated No. 14 Pittsburgh 74-66 and Rutgers 88-63
This week: Lost to No. 2 Syracuse 73-56 on Monday, vs. No. 3 Duke on Saturday.
Information: Hollis Thompson, Jerrelle Benimon, Henry Sims and Vee Sanford are the only Hoyas reserves who have scored in a Big East game.

13.Michigan State
Record: 17-3
Last week’s ranking: 11
Last week: Defeated Iowa 70-63 and Minnesota 65-64.
This week: at Michigan on Tuesday, Northwestern on Saturday.
Information: Forward Dion Sims, who played football on the Spartans’ football team, has joined the team and will provide depth in the frontcourt.

14.Tennessee
Record: 15-3
Last week’s ranking: 10
Last week: Defeated Alabama 63-56, lost to Georgia 78-63.
This week: No. 21 Vanderbilt on Wednesday, Florida on Sunday.
Information: Forward Wayne Chism, the Volunteers’ leading scorer, suffered a hyperextended knee in the loss to Georgia.

15.Temple
Record: 17-3
Last week’s ranking: 19
Last week: Defeated Xavier 77-72 and Fordham 62-45.
This week: at Charlotte on Wednesday, La Salle on Saturday.
Information: Point guard Luis Guzman was limited to 11 minutes against Fordham because of a sprained ankle.

16.Pittsburgh
Record: 15-4
Last week’s ranking: 14
Last week: Lost to No. 13 Georgetown 74-66 and Seton Hall 64-61.
This week: St. John’s on Thursday, at South Florida on Sunday.
Information: The Panthers had been 4-0 on the road this season until losing at Seton Hall.

17.Gonzaga
Record: 16-3
Last week’s ranking: 16
Last week: Defeated Pepperdine 91-84 and Loyola Marymount 85-69.
This week: at Santa Clara on Thursday, at San Francisco on Saturday.
Information: Redshirt freshman Andy Poling has left the Bulldogs and plans to transfer to Division-II Seattle Pacific University.

18.Wake Forest
Record: 14-4
Last week’s ranking: NR
Last week: Defeated North Carolina 82-69 and Virginia 69-57.
This week: at Georgia Tech on Thursday.
Information: The Demon Deacons held Virginia to 24 percent from three-point range after the Cavaliers came into the game shooting 42 percent this season.

19.Northern Iowa
Record: 17-2
Last week’s ranking: 17
Last week: Lost to Wichita State 60-51, defeated Indiana State 67-58.
This week: Drake on Wednesday, at Missouri State on Saturday.
Information: The Panthers are 12-2 in Missouri Valley road games since the start of last season and both losses have been at Wichita State.

20.Baylor
Record: 15-3
Last week’s ranking: 20
Last week: Lost to No. 1 Kansas 81-75, defeated Massachusetts 71-45.
This week: No. 9 Kansas State tonight, at No. 7 Texas on Saturday.
Information: The Bears have won a school-record 11 consecutive games at the Ferrell Center.

21.Vanderbilt
Record: 15-3
Last week’s ranking: 20
Last week: Defeated Auburn 82-74.
This week: at No. 14 Tennessee on Wednesday, at No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday.
Information: Center A.J. Ogilvy has moved into 22nd place on the Commodores’ all-time scoring list with 1,277.

22.Missouri
Record: 15-4
Last week’s ranking: 22
Last week: Defeated Nebraska 70-53.
This week: Lost No. 1 Kansas 84-65 on Monday, Oklahoma State on Monday.
Information: The Tigers have forced each of their opponents into double-digit turnovers this season.

23.Clemson
Record: 15-5
Last week’s ranking: 18
Last week: Lost to No. 24 Georgia Tech 66-64 and No. 3 Duke 60-47.
This week: at Boston College on Tuesday, Maryland on Sunday.
Information: Clemson is 0-5 when they shoot under 40 percent.

24.Ohio State
Record: 14-6
Last week’s ranking: 25
Last week: Defeated Northwestern 76-56, lost to No. 8 West Virginia 71-65.
This week: at Iowa on Wednesday, Minnesota on Sunday.
Information: Guard Jon Diebler has made 206 three-point field goals in his career, leaving him 36 away from Jamar Butler’s school record.

25.Mississippi
Record: 15-4
Last week’s ranking: NR
Last week: Defeated South Carolina 66-57 and LSU 73-63.
This week: at Auburn on Thursday, Arkansas on Saturday.
Information: The Rebels are 2-1 in SEC road games this season after going 3-13 the past two years.

Dropped out: No. 23 Arizona State, No. 24 Georgia Tech.

Others to watch: Butler, Georgia Tech, Marquette, Maryland, New Mexico.

Most overrated: Michigan State is No. 5 in The Associated Press media poll but only 13 on The List.

Most underrated: Brigham Young is opposite of Michigan State as the Cougars stand No. 13 in The AP poll but No. 5 on the list. Shameless plug here, but Brigham Young coach Dave Rose will talk about his team’s national perception in Friday’s edition of Around The Rim.

The Field of 65

ACC (7): Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

America East (1): Vermont

Atlantic 10 (3): Rhode Island, Temple, Xavier

Atlantic Sun (1): Jacksonville

Big 12 (7): Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M

Big East (8): Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia

Big Sky (1): Northern Colorado