By Jesse Temple
FOX Sports Wisconsin
January conference games are almost in the books, and that means we're drawing ever closer to reaching the madness that comes with March. Which teams look primed to make a run in the NCAA Tournament? Here's a gander at the Week 12 power rankings:
The more the Wildcats play, the more we wonder whether they’ll ever lose again this season. Kentucky is outscoring opponents by 19.7 points per game.
Center Fab Melo’s suspension continues to be a concern. The Orange are 2-1 without him, and both wins have come by single digits.
Ohio State pounded Michigan 64-49 at home to put itself atop the Big Ten standings. But can the Buckeyes win a big one on the road? We’ll find out Saturday at Wisconsin.
UNC’s Kendall Marshall (9.7) and Iona’s Scott Machado (9.9) are in a clash to see which point guard will lead the nation in assists per game. Both guys drop more dimes than a bank teller.
Blue Devils forward Ryan Kelly was a National Latin Exam magna cum laude. All we know is pig Latin, but Kelly can ore-scay (score). He’s averaging 12.7 points per game, second-best on the team.
The Tigers take a tumble in the power rankings after a 79-72 loss at Oklahoma State. Plenty of time remains for Missouri to leave the Big 12 on a high note, and that includes Saturday’s game against arch rival Kansas.
In his first season, Murray State's Steve Prohm has to be at the top of the list for National Coach of the Year. With the Racers' victory against Eastern Illinois, Prohm matched Columbia's Lou Rossini (1950-51) for the third-best start to a season by a first-year coach.
Kansas showed its vulnerability in a 72-64 loss at Iowa State. Of the Jayhawks’ 64 points, only five came from their bench. They’ll need better production there to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
The Bears stay put in the power rankings because they still haven’t shown they’re better than either Missouri or Kansas, losing to both teams this season. Still, Baylor is 6-2 in conference play for the first time since 1986-87.
Phew. Two straight overtime victories last week have the Runnin’ Rebels back in position to control the Mountain West Conference. These close games can only help when UNLV makes its push in the postseason.
A big shoutout to Spartans coach Tom Izzo, who collected his 400th career win last week against Minnesota. Izzo has led Michigan State to the Big Dance every year since the 1997-98 season.
The record for most points scored by a Creighton player in one NCAA Tournament belongs to Gene Harmon, who scored 60, in 1974. If Blue Jays forward Doug McDermott (23.5 ppg) gets three games this season — maybe even two — we’re guessing he’ll break that record.
Don’t look now, but the Golden Eagles are the hottest team in the Big East. They’ve won six straight and erased an 18-point deficit to overtake Villanova 82-78 last week.
With so many talented freshmen playing across the country, we don’t want to forget about Gators guard Bradley Beal. The St. Louis native is second on the team in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game.
Did you know that St. Mary’s has four players in its regular rotation that hail from Australia? The fearsome foursome combine to average 35.7 points per game. The best of the bunch, guard Matthew Dellavedova, averages 15.4 points per outing.
The Hoyas dropped into a three-way tie for third in the cluttered Big East with a 72-60 loss at Pitt. They’ll try to avoid falling any further when they play host to Connecticut on Wednesday.
An actual highlight from Cavaliers forward Mike Scott’s player bio last season: “Won the EA SPORTS video game championship at the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, defeating Connecticut’s Kemba Walker in the final.” Scott can ball in real life, too. He leads the Cavs in scoring, at 16.7 points per game.
The Aztecs take a tumble in the power rankings after getting blown out 77-60 at Colorado State. Guard Jamaal Franklin made 8-of-18 shots, but the rest of the Aztecs made just 12-of-46 field-goal attempts.
Michigan was very inconsistent the entire month of January, finishing 5-4. Will February change the Wolverines’ fortunes?
During Bo Ryan’s 11-year tenure as Wisconsin coach, the Badgers have never finished outside the top four in the Big Ten. Entering this week, Wisconsin is tied for third in conference play. Talk about consistency.
The Cardinals’ climb up the Big East standings has coincided with them feasting on teams near the bottom of the conference. That will change soon, with consecutive games against Connecticut, West Virginia and Syracuse looming.
The Bulldogs suffered a tough 69-57 loss at Florida last week. It marked Mississippi State’s third road loss in conference play.
Losing three straight Big Ten games must have made the Hoosiers mad. They scored more than 100 points in a conference game for the first time in 17 years Sunday in a 103-89 victory against Iowa.
The Atlantic Coast Conference co-leaders have won five in a row, the latest a 75-52 pasting of Wake Forest. That makes the Seminoles a perfect three for three against teams on Tobacco Road. Victories against Duke and UNC represent the other two.
The Commodores passed a stern non-conference test with a victory against a surprisingly good Middle Tennessee team that was 20-2. Vanderbilt has won 10 of its last 11 games and entered the week tied for second in the SEC.
