I thought long and hard about moving Texas into the No. 1 spot
after watching the Longhorns cruise past North Carolina at Cowboys
Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but opted to keep Kansas at numero
uno.
At least for the time being.
While the Big 12 boasts the top two spots in the
FOXSports.com top 25 poll, the Big East holds down three of the top
seven spots, with No. 5 Syracuse, No. 6 West Virginia and No. 7
Villanova.
Some will be surprised by the high ranking of both No. 9
Mississippi and No. 10 Kansas State, but Andy Kennedy’s team
has only suffered one loss to ‘Nova and K-State’s lone
setback came to Ole Miss.
North Carolina has three losses, but it’s unfair to
drop the Tar Heels too far after the brutal schedule Roy Williams
& Co. have endured thus far with games against Texas, Kentucky,
Syracuse, Michigan State and Ohio State.
New Mexico, one of the true early-season surprises, continues
to climb. The Lobos remain undefeated after a road win this past
weekend at Creighton, which is not an easy place to play.
Those who went the other way in the rankings included
Georgetown, which suffered its first loss of the season at home to
an unranked Old Dominion club.
Florida lost to Richmond and Gonzaga was pounded by Duke in
Madison Square Garden, but both remain in the top 25.
Tennessee got spanked out on the West Coast at USC, and the
Vols weren’t quite as fortunate since they still lack a true
résumé win.
Same for Texas Tech, who lost on the road against Wichita
State and Cincinnati.
There are three newcomers to the poll. Temple’s win
against Seton Hall, coupled with the Owls' victory against
Villanova a couple weeks ago, made Fran Dunphy’s team worthy
of inclusion. And since St. John’s knocked off Temple on a
neutral court and the Red Storm have only suffered one
loss — to Duke — Norm Roberts & Co. made
their debut as well.
Florida State also cracked the poll after a quality road win
against Georgia Tech on Sunday night. The Seminoles only losses are
to an Ohio State team that had star Evan Turner in the lineup and
also on the road against Florida.
There shouldn’t much all that much movement this week
with a light slate due to Christmas, but there are still a few
games that could shape next week’s poll.
Don’t be shocked if there’s a new No. 1 team in
the land next week — if Texas looks as dominant against
Michigan State on Tuesday night as the Longhorns did this past
weekend in the win over UNC.
WEEK 6 TOP 25
1. Kansas (10-0) *1
2. Texas (10-0) *2
3. Kentucky (11-0) *3
4. Purdue (10-0) *4
5. Syracuse (11-0) *6
6. West Virginia (8-0) *5
7. Villanova (10-1) *9
8. Duke (9-1) *10
9. Mississippi (10-1) *15
10. Kansas State (10-1) *16
11. North Carolina (8-3) *11
12. Michigan State (9-2) *9
13. UConn (7-2) *14
14. New Mexico (12-0) *18
15. Georgetown (8-1) *8
16. Dayton (8-2) *20
17. Texas A&M (9-2) *21
18. Florida (8-2) *12
19. Ohio State (9-2) *24
20. UNLV (10-1) *23
21. St. John’s (8-1) *NR
22. Temple (9-2) *NR
23. Florida State (10-2) *NR
24. Gonzaga (8-3) *17
25. Missouri State (10-0) *25
Dropped out: No. 7 Tennessee, No. 19 Texas Tech,
No. 22 Cincinnati.
