Division I Rankings for March 2, 2009

Can you believe it’s March already?

Today, I’m not going to start at the top of the polls and talk about how much I want this week’s number one Connecticut to win it all. I really do because I’d like to see the expression on the state government’s and that nutty freelancer/activist faces when coach Jim Calhoun holds the trophy.

This time I’m going to start at the bottom of the top 25 and work my way up.

Looks like I might have been all wrong about No. 25 Syracuse. The Orange are 28-8 overall and 9-7 in the Big East. With games left against Rutgers (10-19, 1-15) and Associated Press No. 13 Marquette (23-6, 12-4), a split may be enough to get the Orange into the Big Dance, no matter how they do in the Big East tournament.

If West Virginia (20-9, 9-7) gets by the team formally known as DePaul (8-16, 0-21) on Wednesday, you could be looking at eight teams from the Big East Dancing in March.

In other news…

What’s the deal with Arizona State?

It seems like every time the No. 21 Sun Devils (21-7, 10-6) just may break into the top 10 and become the Pacific 10 front runner, they go ahead and take a couple of steps back. The Sun Devils went up to the state of Washington and were swept by Washington (73-70) and Washington State (51-49). Both losses were in overtime.

Is it too early to start talking about Cinderalla yet?

I think teams like No. 14 Gonzaga (23-5, 14-0) and No. 22 Butler (25-4, 15-3) have been around long enough, and developed enough street cred with the big boys that we can now look at them as legit contenders.

That leaves teams like St. Mary’s (24-5, 10-4) and Creighton (25-6, 14-4) to try on the slipper and see if they can stay out past midnight, or the second round.

Or how about American University?

The Eagles (21-7, 13-1) ran away with the Patriot League regular season title. American is the number seed in the league tournament for the second straight year. The tournament gets underway on Wednesday. Could the Eagles get in and make things miserable for a team like Wake Forest, UCLA or LSU?

I’m just throwing that out there.

Nice to see defending champion and No. 9 Kansas (24-5, 14-1) restore order by putting No. 15 Missouri (24-5, 11-3) in its place over the weekend.

And finally, whatever happened to the teams formally known as USC, Clemson, Notre Dame and Texas? Didn’t we all have high expectations from these also rans at the beginning of the season?

Arkansas, Baylor, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Michigan have all let me down too.

Looks like it’s going to be an interesting NIT though.

Here are the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.

AP Top 25
1. Connecticut (67) 27-2, 1,792
2. North Carolina (3) 25-3, 1,678
3. Pittsburgh (1) 26-3, 1,612
4. Oklahoma 26-3, 1,576
5. Memphis (1) 26-3, 1,543
6. Louisville 23-5, 1,462
7. Duke 24-5 1,340
8. Michigan State 23-5, 1,302
9. Kansas 24-5, 1,190
10. Wake Forest 22-5, 1,158
11. Villanova 23-6, 913
12. LSU 25-4, 894
13. Marquette 23-6, 860
14. Gonzaga 23-5, 837
15. Missouri 24-5, 795
16. Washington 22-7, 704
17. Xavier 23-5, 629
18. Clemson 22-6, 564
19. Purdue 22-7, 545
20. UCLA 22-7, 497
21. Arizona State 21-7, 347
22. Butler 25-4, 302
23. Illinois 23-7, 287
24. Florida State 22-7, 272
25. Syracuse 21-8, 99

Others Receiving Votes
Creighton 52, Brigham Young 41, Utah 22, Saint Mary’s 13, Dayton 11, West Virginia 10, Davidson 9, Texas 9, California 8, South Carolina 7, Providence 7, Washington State 4, Arizona 3, Oklahoma State 2, Boston College 1, Rhode Island 1, American University 1, Utah State 1.

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. Connecticut (27) 27-2, 769
2. North Carolina 25-3, 711
3. Memphis (4) 26-3, 698
4. Pittsburgh 26-3, 667
5. Oklahoma 26-3, 653
6. Louisville 23-5, 630
7. Duke 24-5, 597
8. Michigan State 23-5, 557
9. Kansas 24-5, 509
10. Wake Forest 22-5, 480
11. LSU 25-4, 420
12. Missouri 24-5, 377
13. Washington 22-7 346
14. Gonzaga 23-5, 339
15. Marquette 23-6 327
16. Villanova 23-6, 324
17. UCLA 22-7 295
18. Xavier 23-5, 260
19. Clemson 22-6 219
20. Purdue 22-7, 211
21. Arizona State 21-7 189
22. Butler 25-4, 168
23. Illinois 23-7, 107
24. Florida State 22-7, 67
25. Syracuse 21-8, 37

Others Receiving Votes
Saint Mary’s 26, Utah State 17, Texas 15, Creighton 13, Brigham Young 12, Utah 10, Dayton 9, California 6, Providence 4, Boston College 4, West Virginia 2.