I Bleed Blue and White

I’m still mentally dealing with ‘Nova’s loss, but what better way to cope than to take out my anger on completely innocent basketball programs? With that said, here is my ballot for this week’s CBSSports BlogPoll.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Connecticut	1
2	North Carolina	2
3	Memphis	2
4	Pittsburgh	3
5	Louisville	1
6	Oklahoma	3
7	Duke	4
8	Michigan St.	4
9	Villanova	1
10	Wake Forest	3
11	Kansas	4
12	Missouri	5
13	Marquette	4
14	Gonzaga	6
15	Purdue	1
16	Florida St.	2
17	West Virginia
18	Louisiana St.	1
19	Xavier	2
20	Clemson	10
21	Arizona St.	5
22	UCLA
23	Butler
24	Washington
25	Syracuse
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Utah (#24), Ohio St. (#25).

I dropped Villanova just one spot because they’ve avoided that type of loss all season. Lose again at Notre Dame Monday night, and we have a problem.

The biggest victim this week was clearly the Clemson Tigers. Now, I really don’t hate them, because afterall ‘Nova already proved last year that they are better than Clemson. And I shouldn’t be one to talk because we just lost, but they are getting punished by way of a 10 spot drop after 2 straight losses to a doormat (Virginia Tech at home) and a more understanble road loss to Florida State. Speaking of the FSU, the Fighting Tony Douglas’ are growing on me.

I’m here to admit I drank the Missouri kool-aid for 2 weeks too long. I knew in my heart their exponential rise into the Top 10 happened too quickly, and wasn’t shocked at all when they got taken to the woodshed by Kansas on Sunday. They appear to be more in the ‘Paper Tiger’ mold.

Oklahoma, I know you lost Blake Griffin for a few games and that hurt you, but you get dropped because elite teams don’t lose two straight just because they lost one guy. I know Jerome Dyson isn’t on the level of Griffin, but notice how UConn rebounded. That’s why in my mind they are a National Title contender and you aren’t. Because apparently all teams need to do to beat you is stop Blake Griffin. Easier said than done of course, but now everyone has the blueprint.

It’s killing me to continuously bump Memphis. They have played nobody and have lost to the good teams they’ve faced. I’m telling you now, I don’t think they are a Sweet 16 caliber team, and will be the first high seed to go down. Tyreke Evans is heading for a 2-14 with 7 turnovers type of game in the dance.

I just realized I lifted Duke 4 spots and back into my Top 10. I think I’m going to be sick.

That was frustrating. And not really because I couldn’t get on the blog, but more because it is midterms week and I had to go to the morgue of a library we have to do work. But we’re good now (we won’t be all good until I finally decide to get a Mac).

So the big news today was Villanova moving up in the new rankings (somewhere login77 is yelling “Victory!” Johnny Drama style). They moved up two spots in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll to #12, and more importantly moved up to #10 in the AP Poll. Not a terribly tough week ahead with DePaul on Wednesday, but a desperate Georgetown comes to town at the same time the students leave for break. That could possibly be tricky. I’d hate to be a one week wonder in the Top 10.

…Shocked at Michigan State staying in the Top 10, but people forget about your losses when they are earlier in the week…still though after the thumping they took from Purdue and the nailbiter against Wisconsin this weekend I figured they would drop more…

Back for another round of this. I’m really beginning to like it. I feel like I have power. If I don’t like you, you’re getting nothing. And that’s what I did to a couple of teams this week. So here’s my ballot. As always, when the results are tabulated I’ll post the complete poll.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Pittsburgh	3
2	Connecticut	1
3	Oklahoma	1
4	North Carolina	1
5	Memphis
6	Louisville	1
7	Missouri	2
8	Villanova	2
9	Marquette	2
10	Clemson	3
11	Duke	1
12	Michigan St.	6
13	Wake Forest	5
14	Purdue	1
15	Kansas	5
16	Arizona St.	1
17	West Virginia	4
18	Florida St.	6
19	Louisiana St.
20	Gonzaga
21	Xavier	5
22	UCLA	8
23	Butler	4
24	Utah
25	Ohio St.
Last week’s ballot

I think Pittsburgh is going to be a unanimous #1 this week (at least they should be). I know Oklahoma drew a tough hand when Blake Griffin was knocked out of the game, but a loss is a loss.

I dogged LSU pretty hard last week for playing in the SEC (it still sucks), but 8 wins in a row is impressive in any power conference, so they are back in. But that is the same line of reasoning I used in keeping Memphis at #5 even though teams in front of them lost. C-USA is even more embarrassingly bad than the SEC, and 100 straight wins in there isn’t making me flinch.

Duke won tonight, but they aren’t going back into my Top 10. Maybe for the rest of the season. Not impressed at all with them.

UCLA is in a freefall, but I’ll keep them in this week because they scored a nice win over Pac-10 leaders Washington. Gonzaga, I’m sorry about last week. Forgive me.

Oh, and Illinois, you are gone. Probably forever. 33 points in the entire game? Good Lord. And yes, I know Penn State only scored 38, but at least they won! And that’s why Ohio State sneaks in at the end. Because Illinois beat the Buckeyes today, but I’m personally spiting Cheif Illiniwek.

In the newest ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, Villanova moved down 1 spot to #14. Interestingly enough, the ‘Cats rose in The AP Poll one spot to #12. To see the complete rankings, click HERE.

…I don’t really have a problem with Villanova moving down…hell they lost…but when a team that they crushed in Marquette moves up a spot, and a team in Louisville who got embarrassed at struggling Notre Dame holds their ground, I have an issue with that…especially when Duke, who didn’t even record a win on the week only remains in the Top 10…

…Sounds like ‘Nova was the victim in a week that was defined by top teams losing…they are now one spot behind Clemson (#13) and 6 behind Wake Forest (#8, they also didn’t move down), two teams that could impact their NCAA location…Frankly, the polls in general are a joke in my mind…

Fresh off another crazy week in the Top 25 and I get to do another ballot. Horray for me! Seriously though, it feels like 3/4 of the Top 25 teams lost at least once this week. Why now? Why can’t it be like the good old days when it took teams weeks to significantly move up. As we have it, Mizzou went from unranked to Top 10 in 2 weeks. Sheesh. Here’s my ballot, with some notes below.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Connecticut
2	Oklahoma
3	North Carolina
4	Pittsburgh
5	Memphis	5
6	Michigan St.	10
7	Louisville	1
8	Wake Forest	4
9	Missouri	15
10	Villanova	1
11	Marquette	3
12	Duke	5
13	Clemson	4
14	UCLA	9
15	Purdue	4
16	Xavier	2
17	Arizona St.	6
18	Illinois	3
19	Butler	6
20	Kansas	3
21	West Virginia
22	Washington
23	Utah St.	8
24	Florida St.
25	Syracuse	3
Last week’s ballot

Lots of movement in my ballot compared to my poll last week I realize. But there’s been a lot of action all across the country. Everyone it seems is losing (besides those Top 4 teams of course). I’ll make sure and post the link to the final CBSSports BlogPoll when it goes online.

The ESPN college basketball analysts have teamed up to writed their ‘Weekend Watch’ column, and to no (okay, some) surprise the Villanova-West Virginia matchup is the headlining story. Jay Bilas, who is a huge fan of the Cats, breaks down the game for us. Here’s a sample.

“Key Matchup: Da’Sean Butler vs. Dante Cunningham
Butler is coming off his worst and most frustrating game of the season. He was in foul trouble from the opening tip against Pittsburgh, and fouled out with over five minutes to go. Butler is a tough matchup and has great footwork. In Big East play, he has been at his best, averaging over 20 points per game’. Cunningham may be the most improved “good” player in the Big East. He went from good to great and has played consistently at a very high level.”

Bilas also discusses the ‘X-Factors’, ‘What To Watch For’, and picks a winner of the game (good for you Jay). It’s a great analysis by Bilas, who is the best there is at ESPN in my opinion. Make sure you check it out, it’s a great guide to this weekend’s action.

The newest ‘Power Rankings’ from ESPN also came out today, and the Villanova Wildcats continue to garner national respect as they move up to #9 despite from “hate voting” from a couple of people (who we’ll mention in a second). Here’s what ESPN had to say about Villanova.

“Villanova’s averaging almost 100 points a game over its last three and is within striking distance of the Big East leaders after beating Marquette at home. Dante Cunningham is putting up All-Big East numbers for the Wildcats, averaging 18 ppg during Nova’s six-game winning streak.”

It’s going to be a crime if Cunningham doesn’t get 1st Team status at the end of the year, especially with how he has led this team to where they are today. Unfortunately, the Big East is full of great big men, and I think Cunningham is going to fall just short, which is a shame.

As for the boneheads with an obvious agenda against Villanova, you’ve got to check out the way that Joe Lunardi, and especially Doug Gottlieb voted. Honestly, I think we’ve all come to expect this from Lunardi. He’s got a bad case of little brother syndrome being from down the road at St. Joe’s, so I don’t really mind. (Oh, and if you ever go into a Joe Lunardi chat, ask him why he hates Villanova. His rants where he just goes off on the person asking the question never get old).

But can anyone explain to me how Gottlieb even gets a vote? This is the clown that was kicked out of Notre Dame for stealing his roommate’s credit card and going on a shopping spree that would rival only the kids in The Mighty Ducks. His ballot could mean two things. (1) That he was severely under the influence or (2) he is in fact an idiot like many of us suspect. UConn at #4 (below Pitt)? Wake at#7? Villanova at #14? Pathetic, Dougie.

Luke Winn, a college basketball writer for Sports Illustrated released this week’s power rankings, which are updated to include last night’s games. Winn brings Villanova into his rankings at #11, citing the Wildcats explosive offense.

Villanova Wildcats (20-4)

The most lethal scoring machine outside of Chapel Hill, N.C. … is Villanova? In BCS-conference games, the 100-point mark has been broken just six times, and the Heels and Wildcats are the only ones to have done it twice:

Team        Opponent     Date   Pts.
UNC         Maryland     2/3    108
Missouri    Colorado     1/14   107
Arizona     Washington   1/29   106
Villanova   Syracuse     2/7    102
Villanova   Marquette    2/10   102
UNC         Duke         2/11   101

Next three: 2/13 at West Virginia, 2/19 vs. Rutgers, 2/22 at Syracuse

UPDATE: One of our readers Seamus pointed out that Providence also topped 100 vs. Syracuse, but nevertheless the fact remains that Villanova’s offense is on fire.

In my ballot for the CBSSports BlogPoll, I voted Villanova #11, so I completely agree with us, although I still think Duke is severely overrated. I mean, I feel like I’m the only who watched that game last night. It was a joke. And you know Duke is going to sneak out a win on the road at BC later this week and people are going to move them up in the polls because BC beat UNC earlier this year. Sorry for the rant.

Villanova has risen once again in the polls following another undefeated week in which they defeated Providence and Syracuse. Villanova rose to #13 in both polls, up 4 spots in the AP Poll and 3 spots in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

Despite their loss to the Wildcats, Syracuse managed to stay in both polls at #22 (Coaches) and #23 (AP). The Big East now has 6 teams, with 5 of them (UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Marquette and Villanova) making up the Top 13 teams in the country.

To see the complete rankings click HERE.

The new polls has been released and Villanova moved up 5 spots to #16 this week’s Coaches Poll. Fellow Big East foe UConn is the new #1 team in the country, taking all but 3 votes for the top spot (the others went to Oklahoma). Pitt dropped to #5 with a 1-1 week, while Georgetown and Notre Dame both fell out of the rankings.

In the AP Poll, Villanova moved ahead 4 spots to #17. UConn was once again #1, taking all but 5 votes from Oklahoma. Georgetown also fell out of the AP Poll (ND was not ranked in last week’s AP Poll).

The new polls came out today and Villanova is ranked #21 in both polls.  ‘Nova slid 1 spot in the AP Poll and held ground in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Big East still has 8 teams ranked in the Coaches Poll as Notre Dame managed to hang on at #22 after a rough week. The AP Poll wasn’t as forgiving, dropping the Irish just out.

Connecticut is currently the highest ranked team at #2 in both polls, behind Duke (ugh).