Division I Rankings for March 9, 2009

You know what they say – the more things change, the more they stay the same.

North Carolina was the consensus number one pick at the beginning of the season and held it for the first seven weeks of the season. The Tar Heels (27-3) lost that ranking eight weeks ago after an upset loss to Boston College.

And after a nice win over 79-71 win against Duke yesterday to sweep the season series, and with last week’s number one Connecticut’s 70-60 lost to Pittsburgh, the Tar Heels find themselves back where they started.

The win gave North Carolina its 17th Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title. If UNC win the ACC tournament, which starts this week, it will be the number one team going into the Big Dance no matter what happens in the other conference tournaments.

No one really checked in or out of this week’s ESPN/USA Today Top 25 for the first time since the second week of the regular season. Brigham Young (24-6) managed to sneak in at No. 25 in the Associated Press Top 25 replacing Illinois. I think it’s safe to say that everyone ranked in the top 25 will get an invite to the Big Dance.

But it going to be a bumpy ride for many of the top teams. North Carolina, No. 3 UConn, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 9 Duke, No. 15 UCLA, and No. 21 Marquette, all have suffered an injury or two to a top player this season.

The latest on the “Oh no” list is UCLA’s Darren Collison. Collison, a Preseason All-American, bruised his tailbone in the Bruins’ win against Oregon on Saturday. Collison says that nothing is broken after x-rays, but if you’re a Bruins fan, it does make you very concerned.

A mighty congratulations to the Washington Huskies. The No. 13 Huskies (24-7) won its first regular season conference title since 1953.

I dare anyone reading this to prove to me that you were alive in 1953.

“Championship Week,” another one of those cute terms make up by the fine folks at ESPN, continues tonight with a handful of teams trying to punch their ticket to the Big Dance.

No. 12 Gonzaga (27-5) plays unranked St. Mary’s (25-5) for the West Coast Conference title tonight. Gonzaga’s in no matter what, but I think that St. Mary’s should get an at-large invite even if it loses. The Gaels were 18-1 and ranked in the top 25 until they lost guard Patrick Mills to a broken hand in a 69-62 loss to Gonzaga on Jan. 29.

Charleston (26-7) plays Chattanooga (17-16) for the Southern Conference championship. George Mason (22-9) faces Virginia Commonwealth (23-9) for the Colonia Athletic Association title, and Niagara (26-7) meets Siena (25-7) for the Metro Athletic Association Conference championship.

Could there be a team more on the bubble right now than Davidson?

The Wildcats, (26-7) last season’s Big Dance darlings that were a shot away from the Final Four, lost to Charleston in the semifinals of the Southern Conference tournament yesterday 59-52. Davidson did play a very tough schedule this season that included Oklahoma, West Virginia, No. 24 Purdue, No. 9 Duke, winning only one of those games (68-65 against West Virginia).

It seems like everyone in the country likes this team and all-star junior guard Stephen Curry. The winner of the Charleston vs. Chattanooga gets in, but where does that leave Davidson? Will the Wildcats sneak in because of their tough scheduled, star power and body of work from last season?

Not only do the losses to the above mentioned top 25 teams hurt, but three losses in a weak conference hurt even more.

I say that the 26-7 record and regular season title should be enough to the Wildcats an at-large invite. Especially when you consider some of the slobs that will get in with sub-par records, because they had a good run and won their conference tournaments.

Already in:
Cornell, Ivy League
East Tennessee State, Atlantic Sun Conference
Morehead State, Ohio Valley Conference
Northern Iowa, Missouri Valley Conference
Radford, Big South Conference

Here are the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls.

AP Top 25
1. North Carolina (35) 27-3, 1,734
2. Pittsburgh (33) 28-3, 1,731
3. Connecticut 27-3, 1,592
4. Memphis (2) 28-3, 1,544
5. Louisville (1) 25-5, 1,513
6. Oklahoma 27-4, 1,399
7. Michigan State 25-5, 1,349
8. Wake Forest 24-5, 1,246
9. Duke 25-6, 1,237
10. Villanova 25-6, 1,108
11. Kansas 25-6, 1,038
12. Gonzaga 25-5, 978
13. Washington 24-7, 910
14. Missouri 25-6, 779
15. UCLA 24-7, 752
16. Butler 26-4, 536
17. Clemson 23-7, 528
18. Syracuse 23-8, 518
19. Xavier 24-6, 465
20. LSU 25-6, 461
21. Marquette 23-8, 453
22. Florida State 23-8, 333
23. Arizona State 22-8, 199
24. Purdue 22-9, 169
25. Brigham Young 24-6, 158

Others Receiving Votes
Illinois 131, Texas A&M 63, Saint Mary’s 56, Utah 21, West Virginia 17, Auburn 9, Dayton 7, Utah State 6, Virginia Commonwealth 6, Weber State 5, Creighton 4, Northern Iowa 3, Siena 3, Oklahoma State 3, Penn State 2, New Mexico 2, California 2, Texas 2, American University 1, Ohio State 1, Tennessee 1.

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. North Carolina (23) 27-3, 767
2. Pittsburgh (5) 28-3, 740
3. Memphis (3) 28-3, 702
4. Connecticut 27-3, 679
5. Louisville 25-5, 659
6. Michigan State 25-5, 608
7. Oklahoma 27-4, 592
8. Duke 25-6, 545
9. Wake Forest 24-5, 532
10. Washington 24-7, 466
11. Kansas 25-6, 444
12. Gonzaga 25-5, 426
13. Villanova 25-6, 410
14. UCLA 24-7, 369
15. Missouri 25-6, 327
16. LSU 25-6, 274
17. Butler 26-4, 251
18. Clemson 23-7, 223
19. Xavier 24-6, 196
20. Syracuse 23-8, 182
21. Marquette 23-8, 157
22. Florida State 23-8, 135
23. Arizona State 22-8, 133
24. Purdue 22-9, 68
25. Illinois 23-8, 57

Others Receiving Votes
Saint Mary’s 43, Brigham Young 30, Utah State 23, Dayton 11, California 9, Utah 7, Boston College 3, Texas 3, Texas A&M 2, Siena 1, Weber State 1.