SB Nation College Hoops Power 16: KU Fares Better Than Rest Of Big 12

Kansas remains at the top while two of its Big 12 brethren fall out of the Power 16. Behind the Jayhawks, Syracuse, Duke, and Ohio State make their moves; Michigan State and Tennessee tumble; and I tackle the most pressing question of the week -- which is the best city in each of America's major conferences?

1. Kansas Jayhawks (10 first place votes) (Last Week: 1)

Record: 23-1 (9-0 B12)
Pomeroy Rating: #1

SB Nation blog: Rock Chalk Talk

In the wake of Kansas' convincing win over Texas on Monday night, I'm not sure which was more amusing: Brady Morningstar's free throw attempt...

Or Deadspin.com's Dashiell Bennett writing this post about "Longhorn Girl", as though he were a detached third party. "Apparently, there are creepy people web-stalking this young lady, who appears to be somewhat of a hot topic this week among the Internet crowds. I, for one, would never have posted anything had I anticipated as much." Riiiiight.

Not a joke: With just seven games to play, the Jayhawks appear to have a very good chance of becoming just the second team in Big 12 history to complete a perfect 16-0 conference season. While Kansas' offense isn't anything brilliant, they play as good a team defense as you'll see, and feature a maturity and cohesiveness that can help them win games even when they're not at their best. And when they are at their best.... look out.

2. Syracuse Orange (7) (LW: 3)

Record: 24-1 (11-1 BE)
Pomeroy Rating: #3

SB Nation blog: Nunes Magician

Disappointingly, it turns out that changing jerseys doesn't have any effect on teams: This week the Longhorns changed jerseys and continued to lose, while Syracuse debuted their new look and continued to win. The Orangemen rolled Cincinnati and held off UCONN 72-67 (apparently enough to coax Jim Calhoun back to the sidelines) to improve to an astounding 24-1 (11-1) on the year. This, from the team that lost to LeMoyne in a December exhibition.

In retrospect, LeMoyne's win was one of the worst things that could have happened to the Dolphins and among the best to happen to Syracuse. Not only have they been one of the nation's very best since then, but it gave rise to one of the best images of the season, courtesy of Nunes Magician:

3. Kentucky Wildcats (2) (LW: 4)

Record: 23-1 (8-1 SEC)
Pomeroy Rating: #7

SB Nation blog: A Sea Of Blue

As expected, the Wildcats took care of LSU and Alabama this week, moving them to 8-1 in the SEC, in pole position for the regular season conference championship in John Calipari's first season. Don't hand them the trophy just yet, though: Kentucky's schedule is decidedly backloaded, with two games remaining against Tennessee, road trips to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, and a rematch in Lexington with South Carolina, the only team to beat UK so far this year.

Saturday night's showdown with Tennessee will get more hype, but the more interesting test will be the 'Cats visit to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt, who just finished sweeping the season series with the Vols. I thought one of Kentucky's strongest wins of the year came in making a strong Vandy squad look positively pedestrian in Lexington; if they do it again on the road, I'll be doubly impressed. For a while, it looked like the key to beating UK was keeping John Wall in check, but I think A Sea of Blue has it right: Demarcus Cousins has developed into a terrifying force. Keeping the 'Cats from killing you on the boards has to be Goal #1 for any team hoping for an upset.

4. Villanova Wildcats (4) (LW: 2)

Record: 21-2 (10-1 BE)
Pomeroy Rating: #11

I wrote last Friday that I was withholding judgment on the Wildcats until I saw how they handled their two road tests this week, wanting to see them win at least one to earn my full respect. Villanova was promptly iced by Georgetown on Saturday, but they rebounded on Monday night to pick up a huge 82-75 win at West Virginia. Scottie Reynolds scored 19 of his 21 points after intermission to push the 'Cats to 10-1 in the Big East, tied at the top with Syracuse.

5. Purdue Boilermakers (LW: 7)

Record: 20-3 (8-3)
Pomeroy Rating: #6

SB Nation blog: Hammer And Rails

Was this a good week to be a Purdue fan or what? Not only did the Boilermakers knock off Michigan State 76-64 to move into a first-place tie atop the Big 10 standings, but one of their former football players had himself a pretty decent week, as well.

We're all real happy for your hoops win Purdue, but let's be real: we're all Boilermakers this week because Drew Brees pantsed Peyton Manning. And if you're wondering how you can be a little more like Drew, he offered fans a lesson this week after the Super Bowl:

When I say Ten, you say Manning, when I say Choke, you say Again: Ten! Manning! Choke! Again!

Nope, not old yet.

6. West Virginia Mountaineers (LW: 5)

Record: 19-4 (8-3 BE)
Pomeroy Rating: #4

SB Nation blog: The Smoking Musket

With a six game winning streak and Villanova coming into town on Monday night, the Mountaineers had their shot at making a move towards a coveted #1 seed, but as discussed above, Reynolds and Villanova were too much for WVU in the second half. No game may mean more to West Virginia than tonight's at Pittsburgh: if they win, they'll be in excellent shape with four very winnable games in front of them before closing out the season versus Georgetown and at Villanova.

7. Georgetown Hoyas (LW: 8)

Record: 18-5 (8-4 BE)
Pomeroy Rating: #15

SB Nation blog: Casual Hoya

A week later, Georgetown perhaps pays a price for that South Florida loss, failing to move up past West Virginia despite the impressive win over Villanova. Our voters are savvy, if tardy. The Hoyas may not yet have the resume to move past the Mountaineers, but that's a relatively boring question compared with the one posed by ESPN.com's Pat Forde this week and debated at Casual Hoya: which city home to a Big East school is best? Forde went with Washington D.C., but I fully agree with Casual Hoya -- it has to be New York.

This of course begs the question: What about the rest of the major conferences? My picks:

Big 12: The easiest call of any conference, the winner here is my home town of Austin, TX. Warm weather, beautiful women, tremendous music, and vibrant, diverse culture.

Pac 10: The hardest call of any conference, where you've got Los Angeles, Seattle, and the outskirts of San Francisco, to say nothing of lovely (if too expensive) Palo Alto, and the underrated college town of Eugene. San Francisco is my favorite of the bunch, but Cal is technically in Berkeley, so I'm going with Seattle, WA, which has just about everything you could want in a city, without the prices that keep you from living there in the first place.

SEC: Lots of good college towns in the conference, and if I had to pick a state school besides my beloved UT to attend, I'd be awfully tempted to head to Athens, GA. Nashville's nice, but after living there for two years, it felt to me like a Baptist's take on Austin. Which sucks out most of the fun.

Big 10: As a current resident of South Bend, I'm partial to say no one should live anywhere that snows as much as it does here in the Midwest, but I'm writing this column from the airport in Chicago, IL, which if it had California weather might be the greatest city on Earth. The Big 10 is probably the best beer drinking conference in the country, by the way, and if you've never spent a weekend in Madison for a big game, it is highly, highly recommended.

ACC: The winner of the diversity award, an ACC fan can have a hell of a time road tripping alongside his or her favorite team, with enjoyable stops in beautiful Charlottesville, the fun-for-a-weekend Triangle, Miami, Boston, and... my winner, Atlanta, GA. (Sorry, Bostonites: my cold weather intolerance is enough to push my vote south.)

8. Duke Blue Devils (LW: 12)

Record: 20-4 (8-2 ACC)
Pomeroy Rating: #2

SB Nation blog: Duke Basketball Report

I warned you last week to underestimate this team at your own peril and they continue getting it done with enough offense and best team defense we've seen from a Coach K team in the past few years. Without a ranked team left on the schedule, the odds are looking better by the day that Duke finishes the ACC regular season 14-2, which if they do, should all but lock up a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, irrespective of what happens in the ACC Tourney.

9. Kansas State Wildcats (LW: 10)

Record: 19-4 (6-3 B12)
Pomeroy Rating: #9

SB Nation blog: Bring On The Cats

The Wildcats looked terrific torching Nebraska in Lincoln, but endured a close call versus Iowa State on Wednesday night, escaping Ames with a 79-75 win to improve to 6-3 on the year. Kansas State will be favored to win each of their next five games, and if they do would likely head to Lawrence for the Big 12 showdown of the year, presenting the last best chance for spoiling Kansas' run at 16-0.

10. Ohio State Buckeyes (LW: 15)

Record: 19-6 (9-3 B10)
Pomeroy Rating: #12

SB NATION BLOG: The Buckeye Battle Cry

Somewhat quietly, OSU's Evan Turner is playing the best basketball in the country, and whichever NBA team loses the John Wall sweepstakes shouldn't pout for more than about, oh, ten seconds, because they're going to get Evan Turner. Who at this point isn't even looking particularly challenged by the college game. In terms of hype to dangerousness, no teams ratio is more out of balance than Ohio State's right now. You don't want this team in your bracket.

The Rest Of The Power 16

11. BYU Cougars (LW:11)

12. Wisconsin Badgers (LW: Not Ranked)

13. Gonzaga Bulldogs (LW: Not Ranked)

14. New Mexico Lobos (LW: 16)

15. Michigan State Spartans (LW: 6)

16. Tennessee Volunteers (LW: 14)

Dropped Out

No. 9 Texas Longhorns

No. 13 Baylor Bears

Voter Comments

After demolishing Texas in Austin, Kansas is clearly the class of college basketball. Sure, they have had some close games against inferior opponents recently, but the mark of a true champion is overcoming those adversities and winning the games. Undefeated in the RPI #1 conference says it all.

--Big 12 Hoops

After the Top 10, it got tricky. Although Butler already clinched its conference, the Bulldogs moved up not because of anything they did, but because everyone around them keeps losing. That phenomenon also allowed Gonzaga and Georgetown to rejoin the illustrious ranks of the Power 16.

Tennessee and Baylor round out the field, even though both lost road games this week -- the former in ugly fashion. I reward overall performance, which is why you don't see any member of the Big Ten six-loss trio -- Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin -- here this week.

Until Kalin Lucas is 100 percent, I don't know if you'll see the Spartans back in this thing any time soon.

--Bring On The Cats

Nobody in the nation is playing better Basketball right now than Syracuse. Just wait and see come March.

--Building The Dam

Evan Turner is positioning Ohio State to be arguably the most intriguing team when March rolls around. He seems healthy and ready to carry the Buckeyes deep into the tournament.

--Searching For Billy Edelin