What a week, huh? The top 4 teams in the nation all went down, which is going to cue in talk of this being "the weakest year field in the NCAA tournament history" along with "there are no great teams" and all sorts of other talking points that have been used over and over the last several years. This year is no different.
Texas, Ohio State, Kansas, and Pitt all lost in games there were on the road. I'm not going to make a huge deal out of this other than the fact that Texas was going to have a letdown game somewhere, and the other three teams faced a tough challenge on the road. No big deal to me.
I do not understand why people think the game has gotten that much worse. I am not sure if I agree with that. If anything, it may have gotten better because big time recruits can go almost anywhere and take their team to the promised land. I will grant that talent is more spread out, but I think there is more talent than back in the day. But what do I know I guess...
Iowa State Recap:
Obviously another tough week. Heck, it has been a tough month. The Oklahoma State game was on Jan 19th, and now it is Feb 21st, still without a win. Both games this week, the Cyclones had chances, but just did not have quite enough to pull of a W. They head down to Austin to face an angry Longhorns team, before coming back to Ames on Saturday to take on the Cornhuskers.
Ken Pomeroy Ratings:
This week: #78, projected to go 15-16 (2-14)
Last week: #76, projected to go 16-15 (3-14)
What changed in the projection this week is the Nebraska game is now a loss for Iowa State instead of a win.
Big 12 Power Ratings, Top 16, and TV Picks After The Jump!
Big 12 Power Ratings:
1. Texas
2. Kansas
3. Texas A&M
4. Missouri
5. Kansas State
6. Nebraska
7. Colorado
8. Baylor
9. Oklahoma State
10. Texas Tech
11. Oklahoma
12. Iowa State
Kansas State has turned things around, Nebraska is on a little 3 game winning streak, while Baylor with their home loss to Texas Tech puts them in free fall. I think the Top 5 are in the NCAA tournament. I am not sure if the Big 12 gets a 6th team, or whether they should get a 6th team.
Top 16:
1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Duke
4. BYU
5. Purdue
6. San Diego State
7. Kansas
8. Wisconsin
9. Pittsburgh
10. Arizona
11. Notre Dame
12. Georgetown
13. Villanova
14. North Carolina
15. Syracuse
16. Utah State
Dropped Out: Louisville
Also Considered: Louisville, Kentucky, George Mason, Florida
Even though some teams lost, I still like Texas the best of all the teams right now. Purdue is a big mover as they beat both Wisconsin and Ohio State during the same week. I still think on a neutral court Ohio State wins, which is why I have them up there. I think the rest of the teams are straight forward. The Big East is good, but they beat up on each other, which makes it hard to distinguish teams. Arizona is on an 8 game winning streak, while Utah State is coming off a big time win over St. Mary's.
TV Picks:
Monday: Syracuse vs. Villanova, 6pm CST, ESPN. Just 2 good Big East teams, duking it out...
Tuesday: Iowa State plays Texas at 7pm CST on ESPN FC. I'll watch this, but I'm not sure how long this is a game fore. Not a lot of great games on this night in general.
Wednesday: K-State vs. Nebraska, 8pm CST ESPNU. A must win for both these team's tournament chances. If K-State loses here, I still think they can go dancing, where I feel like if Nebraska loses this one, their hopes are gone.
Thursday: Georgia vs. Florida, 6pm CST, ESPN. Florida is pretty good. Georgia is bubble-ish, but probably in right now, although a win here would be great for them. WVU vs. Pitt, 8pm CST, ESPN should be a good one too. WVU coming off a big Notre Dame win, and Pitt is Pitt.
Friday: Do something other than watch college basketball, unless you want to watch Siena vs. Fairfield, or Detroit vs. Wright State.
Saturday: I will be at the Iowa State game against Nebraska which starts at 12:45pm CST again. This means, I will miss college basketball games prior to around 4pm CST or so. BYU vs. San Diego State at 1pm on CBS is going to be a great game. If you are home, put one screen on ISU, and another screen on that game. At 3pm, Arizona vs. UCLA should be a good one. That evening, I will probably check out Texas A&M vs. Baylor at 7pm on ESPNU.
Sunday: UConn vs. Cincy, 11am CST, ESPNU for one half, then switching over to ESPN at Noon to watch a red-hot Purdue team against a Michigan State team in need of as many wins as possible. If the Noon game turns out to be a dud, I will probably switch again to CBS to watch Pitt vs. Louisville.
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