Mr. T's Top 25 Power Rankings (3/1)

The AP and Coaches polls have spoken and have made Syracuse the #1 overall team in the country. I'm not as heated about that as I am seeing New Mexico at #8 in the AP poll, but I don't agree myself. Since neither team has very high quality non-conference wins, you have to look at their losses and their conference strength. Kansas' both losses were on the road, while Cuse's two losses were at home. The quality of the losses (Tennessee and Oklahoma St. for Kansas vs. Pittsburgh and Louisville for Cuse) are basically the same. Finally, the Big 12 is a better conference this year top to bottom. The Big East may have more elite teams, but they also have a lot more garbage sitting at the bottom of the conference.

(Last week's rankings on my ballot in parenthesis)

1. Kansas (1)
2. Syracuse (3)
3. Kentucky (2)
4. Kansas St. (5)
5. Duke (6)
6. Ohio St. (8)
7. Villanova (7)
8. West Virginia (9)
9. Purdue (4)
10. Wisconsin (11)
11. Gonzaga (12)
12. Michigan St. (13)
13. Vanderbilt (14)
14. Baylor (15)
15. Georgetown (10)
16. New Mexico (20)
17. Butler (21)
18. Tennessee (16)
19. Pittsburgh (14)
20. Temple (22)
21. Marquette (24)
22. Maryland (25)
23. Brigham Young (18)
24. Xavier (NR)
25. Texas A&M (NR)

Dropped from the rankings: Texas (19) and Richmond (23)