The Confidential

The Confidential’s Basketball Top 30 for December 13, 2011

With over 300 teams in college basketball, the top 25 is just not enough anymore.  Here is the Confidential’s Top 30 for December 13, 2011:

1. Syracuse (10-0).  Although Syracuse has not faced the same level of difficult opponents as some of the other elite programs, they have beaten Florida, Stanford, and Va Tech.  Big test at North Carolina State on Saturday
2. Ohio State (8-1).  Losing to Kansas is nothing to be embarrassed about.  Doing it without your best player (perhaps the best player in the nation) makes it all the more reasonable.  Wins over Duke and Florida.
3. Kentucky (8-1).  Again, losing to undefeated Indiana is not the end of the world here, especially for a team that has beaten North Carolina and Kansas.
4. North Carolina (8-2).  There is no reason for a two-loss team to be this high in the standings.  But the rest of the undefeated teams have played far weaker schedules.  Wins over Wisconsin and Michigan State already.
5. Duke (9-1).  Not many teams can lose by 20 and still be ranked in the top 5.  But Duke has beaten Kansas, Michigan, and Michigan State.
6. Louisville (9-0).  Undefeated, but not the best grouping of wins.  Vanderbilt is decent though.  They get Memphis this weekend.
7. Marquette (9-0). Like North Carolina, they have a win over Wisconsin.  Unlike North Carolina, no notable wins anywhere else.  Mississippi is probably the best.
8. Kansas (7-2).  Losses to Kentucky and Duke hurt, but the Jayhawks already have wins over Georgetown, UCLA, and now Ohio State.
9. Missouri (9-0).  The Tigers are undefeated and have wins over Villanova, Notre Dame, and California.  Not too shabby.
10. Florida (7-2).  Like Baylor, Florida has 7 mediocre wins.  Unlike Baylor, they tested themselves in road losses to Syracuse and Ohio State.  Why punish the team that tries?
11. Baylor (7-0).  Not going to reward Baylor for slotting them ahead of a team that schedules harder and has the same resume of wins.
12. Xavier (8-0).  They have wins over Vanderbilt, Purdue, Butler, and now Cincinnati.  Unfortunately, having to play short-handed the next few games is not going to help.
13. Georgetown (8-1).  Wins over Alabama and Memphis give Georgetown the edge over Big East foes.  Only loss is to Kansas.
14. UConn (8-1).  Loss to UCF remains a head scratcher, but the Huskies now have wins over Harvard, Arkansas, and Florida State.
15. Pittsburgh (8-1).  Loss to Long Beach State is even more curious, but Pitt is rebounding nicely.  Wins over Tennessee and Oklahoma State are good starts.
16. Wisconsin (8-2).  Losses to UNC and Marquette hurt, but Wisconsin has rebounded with a win over UNLV.  We’ll learn more when Big 10 play starts.
17. Indiana (9-0).  Win over Kentucky, last-second or otherwise, is that chip to merit a ranking.  Next up?  Notre Dame.
18. Michigan State (8-2).  Rebounded nicely from the losses to UNC and Duke.  Wins over Florida State and now Gonzaga.
19. Illinois (10-0).  Only test so far is Gonzaga.  Maryland is not the usual Maryland.
20. Murray State (10-0).  Win at Memphis is nice.  They also have a win over Dayton.
21. Mississippi State (9-1).  Nice wins over West Virginia, Arizona, and Texas A&M.  The loss to Akron is hard to explain though.
22. Vanderbilt (6-3).  Losses to Louisville and Xavier are excusable.  Cleveland State???  What is going on in Ohio?
23. Harvard (9-1).  Handled pretty easily by UConn.  The win over Florida State is the big one.
24. Michigan (7-2).  No shame in losing to Duke.  Virginia was winnable, but ultimately a loss.  Best win is over Memphis.
25. UNLV (7-2).  The win over North Carolina was huge.  The loss to Wisconsin on the road is understandable.  Looking forward to game against Illinois.
26. Stanford (8-1).  Wins over North Carolina State and Oklahoma State.  Only loss was after giving Syracuse a run for its money in New York City.
27. Alabama (8-2).  Losses to Georgetown and Dayton.  Wins over Wichita State and Purdue though.
28. Northwestern (7-1).  Drubbed by Baylor, but nice wins over Seton Hall and Georgia Tech.
29. Virginia (8-1).  Only decent win is over Michigan.  Time will tell on the Cavs.
30. Mississippi (8-1).  Very bad loss to Marquette.  Decent wins over Miami and Drake.

If the season ended today, all of these teams could be in the Big Dance.  We will see how it plays out though…