What a great weekend past in college hoops. Kentucky continued their steady, and scary, improvement, passing their first road test with flying colors in Assembly Hall. Kansas and Texas continued to cruise and the Cuse held the rope after yet another marquee win (this time over Florida) earlier in the week. Purdue capped an impressive week for the Top 5 with an impressive hard-fought road win in Tuscaloosa.
So the Maniac's (and finally the national pollsters have caught up) top teams remain unchanged.
To me, the more interesting stories happened outside the storied big name programs.
Not to beat a deadhorse, but big ups to the A-10. Xavier notched a desperatly needed win over UC in the always tempestous Crosstown Shootout. Rhode Island took down BC by 11 in Chesnut Hill and finally Temple knocked off Villanova, moving to 8-1 (lone loss? 46-45 to Georgetown).
Perhaps Sean Miller was right saying Xavier is not a Mid-Major, and neither was the A-10. He believed it so much he left for Arizona and a conference that can only be constitued as a major disaster. The Maniac apologized for Zona early but is ready to toss them in with the rest of the dumpster fire that is the Pac 10. The latest ego crusher? Washington's less than competitive loss to Georgetown in national TV.
At this point it would be foolish to wager the Pac 10 has more dancing than the A10 in March...
How about Western Carolina and Loyola Marymount? Neither program has had much to cheer about since Kevin Martin and Hank Gathers respectivly (yes, admitting the "Kevin Martin Era" looks a tad better with ex post facto history). However both notched wins on the road at Big East tourney-"hopefuls".
Western hammered L'Ville while LMU won at Notre Dame. The attention will be focused more on the losers, but both programs deserve a tip of the cap for their weekend efforts.
Wisconsin has had a roller coaster of a week. They beat Duke and Marquette. Sandwhiched in beeween? A surprising OT loss to Wisconsin Milwaukee of the Horizon League.
Speaking of the Horizon, Butler got a needed, but falsly described "big" win. Ohio State in their first game minus Evan Turner will not fully erase the Committee's memory of their early season inadequacies. They have a big game this weekend with a Xavier squad in a similar situation.
The SEC took a beating last year, but very quietly is shaping up to be an upper-tier league again. Everyone knows Kentucky. Florida has been an early season surprise and Tennessee is a top ten team. However Ole Miss and Mississippi State are looking like tourney teams in the West and Alabama looked great for 36 minutes against a final four caliber Purdue squad.
Finally, the two best teams no one has been watching; Kansas State and New Mexico. Both picked up another quality win this weekend and are in great shape for March as the head into conference play.
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