Turnover

This should not be surprising, but last week showed how much parity exists in college basketball.  Number 1, Number 2, Number 3, and Number 4 all went down.  Kansas went down to a motivated K-State.  Texas was wide open to take over the top spot until they went to Nebraska.  No help there, as the Huskers showed a lot of grit.  Ohio State and Pitt could have made arguments to take the top spot, but Ohio State was humbled by Purdue in Indiana and Pitt was the latest Big East powerhouse to get whooped by St. John's.

Now we have Duke sliding back into the top spot.  I thought Duke would adjust when they lost Irving, and they have not been disappointing despite the loss to the David that is St. John's at the Garden.  Speaking of which, I wrote that St. John's was out of Tournament contention after they lost to Cincinnati at THE LOU.  I would love to think that Steve Lavin read what I wrote and used it as motivation.  Think about buzzing 4 top ten teams within a few weeks after losing the St. Bonaventure and Fordham earlier in the season.  Unbelievable.  Now they're in the top 25.

The pollsters rewarded SDSU and BYU for holding serve last week, but did not allow them to leapfrog over the top power conference teams.  This is fair - SDSU did a great job in beating a respectable New Mexico team, but it isn't like playing Purdue like Ohio State had to do.  So SDSU is in the top 5 in the ESPN poll, but they have a rightful place behind both Kansas and Ohio State.

This I find amazing - there are 5 teams with number 1 votes in the ESPN/USA Today poll (there are 6 in the AP, but I usually ignore that poll...I find the ESPN poll to be more accurate).  In pre-season and for the first couple of weeks, this is not all that odd because there is always disagreement before the teams get into the meat of their seasons.  However, we're almost in March and there are 5 teams with number 1 votes, and several more teams within 250 points of the top spot.  Talk about parity.  The last time there were 5 teams with number 1 votes this late in the season was 5 years ago. 

I still think Pitt has the best chance to win it all because they rebound, play very solid D, and can shoot from beyond the arc.  However, I have no idea how this year's version of March Madness will turn out. There's just so much talent across the board.  Last year I looked at Duke after the seedings came out and penciled them right in because of the potential match-ups they had.  This year, I doubt it will be all that clear cut.  It's exciting, but I have a feeling that my bracket is going to be brutal this year.