Three Weeks and counting. The UConn Huskies continue to gain speed. With a couple of lopsided victories this week, at home against Syracuse and then on the road at Seton Hall, UConn is becoming the team to beat.

Still, each of the top four teams nationally seem to be playing their best ball of the season, making it difficult to remove any of them from elite status. I can only juggle them back and forth. This week, however, there is very little room for juggling among the best teams nationally.

Ok, enough rambling... I've got things to do so this will be short and sweet.

National Power 10

1. Connecticut (24-1)
Last week #1

Three weeks and counting, which is a good thing with Oklahoma waiting in the wings.

2. Oklahoma (25-1)
Last week #2

Three weeks at the number two slot. Oklahoma's got to be getting tired of waiting for UConn to falter in the tough Big East.

3. North Carolina (23-2)
Last week #3

North Carolina certainly helped strengthen their case with the great effort in Durham. taking down Duke for the fourth straight season if likely to catapult them in to the tournament. Honestly, with the ACC not nearly as tough as they are billed, I wouldn't be surprised if Carolina runs out until the dance.

4. Pittsburgh (23-2)
Last week #4

Two games and two easy wins. Still, beating West Virginia is big considering that they have bitten a lot of teams and with UConn coming up next, it's most impressive.

5. Memphis (22-3)
Last week #6

This is where the shuffling begins. Memphis is one of the last teams in the top fifteen that didn't lose last week. It makes it easy for them to move up, but REALLY tough to decide where to position the others.

6. Michigan State (20-4)
Last week #9

Michigan State seems to be back on track after a little bit of a rough patch a couple weeks back. With everyone else behind them losing and State's win over Michigan, it's only logical to move them up a couple spots to #6.

7. Villanova (20-5)
Last week NOT RANKED

Well, with three teams dropping out of this weeks top ten, due to poor performance, I needed to debut (or reintroduce some teams), so lets all give a hearty welcome to Villanova, as I believe this is their first stint in the Power ten... at least for a while.

8. Marquette (21-4)
Last week NOT RANKED

Marquette dropped out for a couple weeks, but given that so many teams have been playing poorly, I am bringing them back despite their loss to Villanova last week.

9. Louisville (19-4)
Last week #7

Louisville looked to be the fourth team to drop out of the Power ten after their crushing blowout loss to Notre Dame (which would have marked the biggest exodus this season), but they saved themselves by destroying DePaul by almost 50! Nice Rebound, guys.

10. Missouri (22-4)
Last week NOT RANKED

I had a really difficult time determining the #10 teams. Originally, I was going to keep Duke in the fold, but with them losing to BC, making it 3 out of 4 losses, my choice was made a lot easier. Teams like UCLA, Duke, and Clemson simply aren't playing like top ten teams right now, but Missouri is with their classic, hard fought win against Kansas... another team on my watch list. Welcome to the game Mizzou!

Out

UCLA (0-2 last week)
Duke (0-2 last week)
Clemson (Bad loss to Virginia)

Teams to watch

Kansas (20-5)
Arizona State (20-5)
Washington (19-6)
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Pac 10 teams in MY Top 25

12. Arizona State (20-5)
14. Washington (19-6)
16. UCLA (19-6)
25. Arizona (18-8)
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Pac 10 Power Rankings

1. Washington 19-6 (10-3)
Last week #3

First Place in the Pac 10 and they beat ASU head to head. That's enough for me to allow UW to reclaim the top spot in my Pac 10 Power Rankings after UCLA's dismal week.

2. Arizona State 20-5 (9-4)
Last week #5

ASU was extremely impressive against UCLA, despite being obviously aided by the officials at the end of the game (of course, I'm not biased or anything). Still, these guys are going to be tough going down the stretch and beating UCLA TWICE in the same season has got to be huge for this teams confidence.

3. Arizona 18-8 (8-5)
Last week #4

Like ASU, Arizona must be rolling with confidence after ending the losing streak to UCLA in resounding fashion last week. To add, UA has won seven in a row since Buddinger had his head stepped on by the Houston player. After watching Buddinger play since then, maybe squishing his head was just what he needed.

4. UCLA 19-6 (8-4)
Last week #1

UCLA had not one but two losses this least week, not only snapping their streak of an amazing 32 consecutive weeks of winning the first game of a back to back stretch, but also losing consecutive games in a week for the first time since 2004-2005 when they lost to Cal and Stanford in back to back games. Rebounding won't come easy this week as they get to take on Washington and Washington State. This will represent an opportunity for UCLA to find themselves at the top of the PAC 10 again or falling further and further towards a #5 seed in the NCAA tournament. One thing is for sure, 0-3 against ranked teams is not going to cut it. They will have to find a way to get it done.

5. California 19-6 (8-4)
Last week #2

Cal fans shouldn't worry too much about me dropping them three slots despite their win over Stanford this week. The Arizona schools had bigger wins, Washington is rolling, and UCLA is still UCLA. Cal is going dancing and that should be all that really matters.

6. Southern Cal 15-9 (6-6)
Last week #6

USC is simply not playing good ball right now. Still, with the inconsistency of the other teams in the bottom half, it's hard to drop them beneath the #6 slot for now. I'm still waiting to see Wazzu, Oregon State, or Stanford to step up. Still, USC is staring at an NIT bid, and not an NCAA bid unless they close strong and have a good Pac 10 tournament.

7. Washington State 13-12 (5-8)
Last week #8

Washington State and Oregon State have played neck and neck this season, splitting their games and having nearly identical records. I gave wazzu the slight edge to WSU because of their overall record and their ability to play defense, which never takes a day off.

8. Oregon State 11-13 (5-8)
Last week #9

Basically, my comments above say it all. I am giving OSU the edge over Stanford because they beat stanford head to head and they have a better PAC 10 record. Of course, Stanford has an opportunity this week when they take on the Oregon schools.

9. Stanford 15-8 (4-8)
Last week #7

It still amazes me that when you look at Stanford's overall record, you think of a team that should be contending for a NCAA birth, but when you see their 4-8 PAC 10 record, you realize that they might not even get invited to the NIT.

10. Oregon 6-19 (0-13)
Last week #10

Oregon keeps on rolling. I like Ernie Kent. I really hope he's got his resume lined up.
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This weeks Match ups

Washington / Washington State @ UCLA / USC
Stanford / California @ Oregon / Oregon State
Arizona @ Arizona State (Game of the week)

Happy Hunting!

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