NCAA-Power Rankings

1. Kansas (23-1)-Stars, depth, and coaching. The Jayhawks have no glaring weaknesses.

2. Kentucky (23-1)-All of a sudden DeMarcus Cousins (not John Wall) is looking like the top Freshman in the country and the #1 pick in the NBA draft.

3. Syracuse (24-1)-The Orange play at Georgetown next Thursday. They better not overlook Louisville on Saturday though.

4. Villanova (20-2)-Rebounded nicely from a loss to Georgetown with a good win against West Virginia.

5. Purdue (20-3)-The Boilermakers have a 6 game winning streak after a 3 game mid-season skid. E'Twaun Moore is proving he might be the best guard in the Big Ten.

6. West Virginia (19-4)-After a loss against Villanova it doesn't get any easier as the Mountaineers go on the road to race rival Pittsburgh on Friday night.

7. Georgetown (18-5)-Two blowout home wins over top 10 teams Villanova and Duke in between was a let down loss against USF. When Georgetown plays their best game they a virtually unbeatable.

8. Duke (20-4)-They are without a doubt a step ahead of any team in the ACC. However that doesn't guarantee them any success in March.

9. Kansas St. (19-4)-With Texas' recent struggles the Wildcats are easily the 2nd best team in the Big 12.

10. Ohio St. (19-6)-Evan Turner (19.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg and 5.7 apg) is my choice for national player of the year. He is the most versatile player in the country and the Buckeyes are going to need him to step up big as their next 3 games are against Illinois, Purdue, and Michigan St.

11. Gonzaga (19-4)-They had a good win on the road against Memphis on Saturday. If they beat St. Mary's tonight at home. There is no reason the Bulldogs wouldn't win out and finish 26-4.

12. New Mexico (22-3)-The most underrated team in the nation. The Lobos have won 8 straight including wins over BYU and UNLV. Coach Steve Alford's team has beaten 5 ranked teams this season

13. BYU (22-3)-The race for the Mountain West title should be decided on February 27th when BYU hosts New Mexico.

14. Vandy (18-5)-The Commodores rebounded nicely from a loss at Georgia with a blowout win against Tennessee. LSU on Saturday should be an easy win. But next week is brutal as they travel to Ole Miss then host Kentucky.

15. Wisconsin (18-6)-Good defense and toughness wins in the Big Ten. Another classic Bo Ryan team that can do some damage in March.

16. Michigan St. (19-6)-You can't blame all 3 losses on Kalin Lucas' injury. Even Ohio St. went 3-3 without their star Evan Turner. The Spartans will host Turner and the Buckeyes on February 20th.

17. Tennessee (18-5)-We will see if they are for real or not this weekend when they travel to Rupp to play Kentucky. I'm not saying they will win. But if they get blown out like they did against Vandy then the Vols would prove to be nothing more than a flash in the pan this season.

18. Texas (19-5)-Speaking of a flash in the pan, it seems like a very long time ago when Texas was the #1 team in the nation. Since then, they've been 2-5 with 2 home losses.

19. No. Iowa (22-2)-We know the Panthers will be in the dance. But what seed should they get? Lunardi has them as a 6, http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology. Cbssports.com's Jerry Palm has them as an 8, http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/collegebasketball-projecting-the-field.

20. Butler (20-4)-Four more wins and they run the table in the Horizon League. I can't wait for the Bracketbuster showdown against Siena. The winner could be looking at a NCAA Tournament seed as high as a #5.

21. Temple (19-5)-Big A-10 showdown at home for the Owls against Rhode Island on Saturday.

22. Texas A&M (17-6)-The Aggies have won 5 of last 6. However they are still only 1-3 on the road in Big 12 play. It's a good thing they host #1 Kansas on Monday. They travel to Texas Tech on Saturday. Can you say trap game.

23. Cornell (20-3)-You don't have to be an Ivy League grad to realize the Big Red will mathematically clinch the Ivy League title (and an automatic bid) sooner than later.

24. Pittsburgh (18-6)-The Big East is once again the toughest conference in college basketball and Pittsburgh has more than held its own in the division.

25. Richmond (18-6)-They have consecutive wins over Temple (by 17 at home), then at Rhode Island on Wednesday night. The Spiders have now won 5 straight and 7 of 8 plus they are 4-2 against the RPI top 50. They've got me convinced they belong in the top 25.

Just Outside:

Baylor (18-5)

UNLV (19-5)

Ole Miss (17-6)

Wake Forest (17-5)

Maryland (16-6)

Rhode Island (19-4)

Virginia Tech (19-4)

Siena (21-4)

St. Mary's (20-3)

Georgia Tech (17-7)

3 Teams Struggling:

UConn (14-10)-RPI-51, lost 4 of 5. Will benefit a lot from having coach Jim Calhoun back.

Mississippi St. (16-7)-RPI-72, lost 4 of 5. Must win tonight against rival Ole Miss.

UNC (13-11)-RPI-82, lost 7 of 8, are 2-7 in the ACC and arch rivals Duke ended what little hope the defending champs had at getting an at-large. This team still has talent, so watch out in the ACC tournament.

3 Teams Surging:

Illinois (17-8)-RPI-67, have won 5 straight including consecutive wins this week vs. Michigan St. and at Wisconsin.

Dayton (17-6)-RPI-32, after losing 3 of 4, the Flyers have won 3 in a row including a wins over Xavier and a 28 point throttling over Charlotte Wednesday night. However both games were at home. They need to prove they can win on the road. They still have to travel to Temple and Richmond in the coming weeks.

Arkansas (13-11)-RPI-114, they've won 5 straight following a 31 point loss at Kentucky. Their RPI is way too low to get in as an at-large. They are 6-4 since star guard Courtney Forston came back from an injury. If they were to go 6-1 the rest of the way, which would give them a record of 19-12 overall and 12-4 in the SEC the selection committee would have to consider them for an at-large.

Biggest games coming up:

Thursday February 11:

St. Mary's @ Gonzaga: 11pm-ESPN

Ole Miss @ Mississippi St.: 9pm-ESPN

Washington @ California: 9pm-ESPN2

Friday February 12:

West Virginia @ Pittsburgh: Friday-Feb. 12-9pm-ESPN

Saturday February 13;

Tennessee @ Kentucky: 9pm-ESPN

Maryland @ Duke: 1pm-CBS

Rhode Island @ Temple: 4pm

Georgia Tech @ Wake Forest: 8pm E360-ACC Network Syndication

Mizzou @ Baylor: 1:45pm-E360

Texas A&M @ Texas Tech: 5pm-ESPN2

Xavier @ Florida: 6pm-ESPN

Virginia @ Virginia Tech: 8pm E360-ACC Network Syndication

USF @ Marquette: 8:30pm-E360

UNLV @ San Diego St.: 4pm

Sunday February 14:

Ohio St @ Illinois: 1pm-CBS

Louisville @ Syracuse: 1pm-ESPN

Monday February 15:

Kansas @ Texas A&M: 9pm-ESPN

UConn @ Villanova: 7pm-ESPN

Tuesday February 16:

Wake Forest @ Virginia Tech: 7pm-ESPN2

Kentucky @ Mississippi St.: 9pm-ESPN

Texas Tech @ Baylor: 8pm-E360

Cincinnati @ USF: 7pm-ESPNU

Wednesday February 17:

Purdue @ Ohio St.: 6:30-Regional TV Coverage (should be on ESPN)

Texas @ Mizzou: 9pm-ESPN2

FSU @ Virginia: 7pm-ESPNU

Notre Dame @ Louisville: 7pm-ESPN2

South Carolina @ Arkansas: 9pm-E360 (Courtney Forston vs. Devan Downey)

Thursday February 18:

Syracuse @ Georgetown: 7pm-ESPN2

Vandy @ Ole Miss: 7pm-ESPNU