College Basketball Couch Power 10 (Feb. 11th)
In the latest installment of the greatest rivalry in American sports, Duke somehow pulled a win out of the hat.
Welcome to Week 3 of the College Basketball Couch Power 10! This time next month, we'll be in the throes of conference tournaments, an incredible week of chaos, in which the best teams fight to add a trophy that legitimizes their regular season accomplishments, the mediocre fight to clutch onto diminishing hopes of reaching the tournament, and the worst teams just hope to screw everything up.
In the meantime, though things stayed calm at the top, we had a nice little week of chaos here ourselves. The tone was set on Tuesday night, when Penn State upset Michigan State for just the program's second-ever win in East Lansing. This led to a wild Wednesday, which saw Butler upsetting Villanova, Providence upsetting Creighton, Purdue shellacking Iowa, and Vanderbilt humiliating LSU for the former's first SEC win in over a year, and the latter's first SEC loss this season. From there, more upsets were to be had, such as Oklahoma over West Virginia, Seton Hall over Villanova, UCLA over Arizona, Michigan over Michigan State, and Marquette over Butler. But the biggest stories of the college basketball came in a stretch of 4+ hours on Saturday, wherein Top 20 foes Auburn and LSU played the best game of the college basketball season to date, only for Duke and North Carolina to top that feat immediately afterwards.
Having two rivalry games, the latter of them being the most famous in the sport, that ended in buzzer beaters in overtime completely epitomized the insane season in college basketball. As did the fact that LSU had just come off a loss to the worst team in their conference, and North Carolina boasted a 10-12 record, and neither of those facts prevented them from pushing their marquee games to the absolute last second.
So all that being said, here's my attempt at a Top 10 as we pass the halfway mark in the season:
1. Baylor (22-1)
The almost-consensus #1 team in America had an easy week, taking care of Oklahoma State before asserting their in-state dominance over Texas last night. Both games were probably a little more competitive than the Bears would have liked, but Baylor could be forgiven for being on cruise control until the Kansas game next Saturday.
2. San Diego State (22-0)
America's last unbeaten team San Diego State had a quiet week, playing only Air Force. Was there any doubt they would emerge from Colorado Springs with a win? They did so easily, and moved within one win of clinching the Mountain West.
3. Gonzaga (25-1)
Last week, I mentioned Gonzaga's two wins had been a little unconvincing. This past week, the Zags played two games in 48 hours, and beat Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary's by a combined 48 points. Not to brag, but I think they got my message.
4. Duke (21-3)
What a bizarre, impressive week Duke had. It's not necessarily the sign of a great team that they required immense luck (and some friendly officiating) to beat a 10-12 team. But it is the sign of a good team that they kept fighting and finding ways to stay alive despite being 13 down to their rivals, with 3 minutes left, with their star player fouled out, amidst a raucous away crowd. What's more, just 48 hours they had to turn around and play a Top 5 Florida State team, and again dug deep to grit out a 5-point win. This is an imperfect Duke team, but they're already showing considerably more toughness than last year's star-studded squad displayed.
5. Louisville (21-3)
While Duke nearly capitulated to UNC, and then beat up on Florida State, Louisville quietly kept their place alone at the top of the ACC standings. They also have the head-to-head against Duke going for them; the only reason they were jumped is because wins over Wake Forest and this year's Virginia don't hold as much clout as wins in the Tobacco Road Rivalry and over Florida State.
6. Kansas (21-3)
Kansas slips beneath the ACC duo, only because they had a quiet week, playing just TCU and beating them. But some big games are on the horizon for the Jayhawks, and right on time: they're starting to look like their "annual Big XII champions" selves.
7. Dayton (22-2)
It was another week free of blemishes for Dayton, who hasn't lost since before Christmas. After a tough outing against Saint Louis, just tonight they handled Rhode Island, a likely tournament team, more easily.
8. Maryland (19-4)
Maryland played just one game in the last week, but it was a big one. Their road win over Illinois capped an impressive three-win stretch of wins over Iowa, Rutgers and the Illini. The Terps are on a 6-game winning streak and are the toast of an extremely competitive Big Ten.
9. Auburn (21-2)
Another week, another Auburn overtime win. The Tigers' only game in the last week went much how two of its last three did: in overtime, with Auburn the victor. This one, though, felt considerably bigger. In a matchup between the top two teams in the SEC, LSU seemed to have the road win in hand multiple times, especially in the closing seconds of overtime, but J'Von McCormick's buzzer-beating floater said otherwise. Auburn still is-- I think --the best team in the SEC, but they're gonna have to start winning some games convincingly before we can consider them real March contenders.
10. Penn State (18-5)
Hot on the tails of Maryland in the Big Ten are their neighbors... Penn State?!? Yes, Penn State! Let's give a hearty welcome to the Nittany Lions for their first ever appearance in the Couch BASKETBALL Power 10. Typically a football powerhouse, Pat Chambers has transformed this squad into a balanced matchup nightmare, and a real contender not just in the conference, but on the national stage. They followed up their huge win at Michigan State with a comfortable revenge win over Minnesota, notching their 7th consecutive victory. Don't think they're just beating up on a bunch of schmo's, either. ESPN ranks their "Strength of Record" as #8 in the country.
Just missed: Seton Hall, Florida State, Butler, Creighton, West Virginia, Andrew "Gets Buckets" Platek
Bonus: Daniel's #1 Seeds as it stands today!
SOUTH (Houston): Baylor
WEST (Los Angeles): San Diego State
MIDWEST (Indianapolis): Gonzaga
EAST (New York): Duke