Weekly Commentary: Top 25 Polls

UK - Up to #3

The Story: Kansas and Texas remain in the top two spots, while Kentucky climbs up to No. 3 in both polls. The Wildcats received one first place vote in each poll. The other teams that received first place votes in the AP poll were Texas, one vote and No. 5 Syracuse, two votes. Villanova, last week’s No. 3 team, fell to No. 8/9 after losing to Temple on Sunday. Wisconsin is the only team to drop out of both polls after an overtime loss to Green Bay. Texas A&M and Cincinnati, after its loss to Xavier yesterday, are the other two teams to drop out of this week’s Coaches’ poll, however both remain No. 23 and No. 25 respectively on the AP poll.   UNLV lost to a red hot Kansas State team and falls from the AP poll, but remains on the Coaches’ poll at No. 23. After beating UNLV and Xavier this past week, Kansas State has jumped onto both polls at No. 17/22. New Mexico, 10-0, has also earned its way to a No. 19 ranking in both polls after beating Texas A&M this week.

Polls: AP & Coaches

Ryter’s Block: A quick rant…How good is John Wall? Kentucky turned to Wall down the stretch against Connecticut and he delivered. Dick Vitale stated that Wall is better then Derrick Rose…right now. At first, I disagreed with that assessment, but after watching him finish off the Huskies, it may very well be close. Okay, onto the polls…both polls actually agree on the top 7 teams this week and its spot on. Georgetown and Carolina should swap spots at No. 10 and No. 11. Carolina has played a tougher schedule thus far, however the Hoyas are undefeated. Kansas State, with the backcourt of Jacob Pullen and Dennis Clemente, had the best week out of any team in beating Xavier and UNLV. I look for them to continue to climb and for them finish third in the big 12, behind Kansas and Texas.  The Pac-10 has one ranked team. Washington is No. 24/21 and is in danger of dropping out of the rankings entirely if they don’t get some help outside of Pondexter and Thomas (combined 42.5 ppg). Lastly, Butler picked up a big win against Ohio State, however the Buckeyes are without Evan Turner. It was good for them to bounce back after a loss to Georgetown, but will they keep it going against Xavier this week?…my guess is yes.

Don’t get off your couch on Saturday…

Saturday, December 19^th

Michigan at #1 Kansas

#10 North Carolina vs. #2 Texas

#15 Gonzaga vs. #7 Duke

Xavier at #17 Butler

#20 Texas Tech at Wichita State

#22 Kansas State at Alabama

Who will win this week’s biggest matchup, UNC or Texas? Who will be upset this week? Post your comments below.