Projected Top Ten Rankings for January 24th

College Basketball rankings are very subjective and mean little to the strength of a team, but fans and teams all around love to see how others think of them.  I am no exception, as I am fascinated by the system.  Below I am listing my projected top ten for the upcoming week, as the rankings come out tomorrow.

1. Ohio State

2. Pittsburgh

3. Duke

4. San Diego State

5. Kansas

6. Connecticut

7. Texas

8. Villanova

9. Brigham Young

10. Syracuse

This past week saw crazy upsets, that created a huge problem for the rankings.  It seems as if the top ten teams are all obvious, but putting them in an order is almost impossible.  

Ohio State and Pittsburgh represent the two easiest selections, as Ohio State survived a scare vs. Illinois, to maintain the top position.  Pitt, who was ranked 4th last week, defeated Syracuse to move into the #2 spot in my rankings.  Both Syracuse and Kansas lost this week, moving them back out of the top 3.  Duke gets the call at 3, since the Blue Devils took care of business vs. the ACC this week.  San Diego State gets the benefit of the doubt in this case, as they are preparing for the Mountain West showdown vs. BYU this week.  Kansas slides behind the Aztecs, due to the fact they lost a home conference game to Texas.  Connecticut, with wins vs. Villanova and Tennessee, moves up two spots to 6 with a strong week.  

The bottom four teams are very confusing, as Texas, who was previously ranked 11, moves up to 7.  The Longhorns had a great week, defeating #10 Texas A&M and #2 Kansas.  Texas can make a case for an even higher ranking, but the teams in front of them have the edge right now, but they are poised to move into the top 5 in the coming weeks.  #8 is where I finally place Villanova, which is a one place drop from last week for the Wildcats.  Villanova lost to Kemba Walker and the Huskies earlier in the week and defeated Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, which is actually a positive week for the Wildcats, but due to Texas' great play, Villanova still drops a spot in my rankings.  The top ten is rounded out with BYU and Syracuse.  BYU had a strong week led by Jimmer Fredette, who is lighting up the scoreboard.  #10 belongs to Syracuse, who have the worst fall, coming from #3; however, after two conference losses to top ten teams (Pittsburgh and Villanova), the Orange had to fall in the rankings.  

We will see what the rankings come out to be tomorrow, tune in to The Point After for analysis of them.