College Basketball Power Rankings: Rock Chalk Jayhawk

1. Kansas Jayhawks (20-1) – To me, Kansas looks like the team most capable of winning it all right now. Since getting a wake up call with a loss at Tennessee, the Jayhawks have won six in a row, including a big overtime win against a very good K-State team Saturday. You can next see Kansas in action Wednesday at Colorado.

2. Syracuse Orange (21-1) – I know Villanova is the team without a Big East blemish, but I’m really big on Jim Boeheim’s Orangemen right now, who rank higher than Nova in the RPI. I can’t wait for the February 27th showdown with Villanova as that game very well could decide which team wins the Big East regular season Championship and which team gets a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

3. Villanova Wildcats (19-1) - The Wildcats remain unbeaten in Big East play, picking up right where they left off following a Final Four run last season. Offensively, they are one of the best teams in the country, ranking third in the nation in points per game (85.2), but defensively they rank 226th in the country, allowing 70.5 points per game. I know some of this is a result of their more uptempo style of play, but they will have to tighten the screws on defense come tournament time if they hope to make another deep run.

4. Kentucky Wildcats (20-1) – With last week’s loss to South Carolina, the Wildcats slide down from the No. 1 spot. It was nice to see them bounce back with a strong 85-72 win over a very good Vandy team Saturday. It will be interesting to see if that loss will reignite the Cats down the stretch or if this young team will start to slide a little bit.

5. Michigan State Spartans (19-3) – The reigning national runner-ups are off to a perfect 9-0 start in conference play as they are doing what good teams do – finding a way to win close games on the road. What you have to like about Tom Izzo’s teams is that they always play defense and they always rebound. And this team is led by Kalin Lucas, one of the best point guards in the country.

6. Georgetown Hoyas (16-4) – Georgetown is the No. 3 ranked RPI team in the country behind Kansas and Syracuse and it showed just how good it can be Saturday when it defeated Duke by double digits.

7. Purdue Boilermakers (18-3) – Since an awful stretch where the Boilermakers lost three in a row, they have bounced back to win four in a row and appear to be the team most thought they would be heading into the season after all. The Boilermakers have a highly anticipated matchup with Michigan State coming up on February 9th.

8. West Virginia Mountaineers (17-3) – The Mountaineers may be the least publicized good team in the land. They have won four straight since enduring a one-point loss to Syracuse, including a win over Evan Turner and Ohio State. The Mountaineers have a date with Pittsburgh coming up next.

9. Kansas State Wildcats (17-4) - Kansas State is a really good basketball team, having already knocked off then-No. 1 Texas, and then playing the Kansas Jayhawks as tough as anyone outside of Tennessee.

10. Duke Blue Devils (17-4) – Duke just fell to Georgetown this week, but clearly the best team in the ACC deserves some shine as it is fifth in the RPI. I’m looking forward to Duke’s Thursday night rematch with Georgia Tech.

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