The Confidential

The Confidential’s Basketball Top 30 for January 31, 2012

With over 300 teams in college basketball, the top 25 is just not enough anymore.  Here is the Confidential’s Top 30 for January 31, 2012:

1. Syracuse (22-1).  The Orange have won two straight without Fab Melo.  Meanwhile, Kentucky lost with a healthy lineup.  Next up: St. Johns.
2. Kentucky (21-1).  Kentucky beat Georgia and LSU last week.  Much more impressive in football than hoops though.  Next up: Tennessee
3. Ohio State (19-3).  A nice win over Michigan.  Time to hit the road.  Next up: @ Wisconsin.
4. Missouri (18-2).  Tough loss to Oklahoma State, but still a good enough resume to be ahead of the 3-loss teams and the mid-majors.  Next up: @ Texas.
5. Baylor (19-2).  Plowing through some lesser opponents right now.  Winning though.  Next up: @ Texas A&M.
6. Duke (18-3).  Got back in the groove against Maryland and St. Johns.  One of these days Duke and North Carolina will play each other.  Next up: @ Virginia Tech.
7. North Carolina (18-3).  Starting to get back into a groove.  Need to improve on the road though.  Next up: @ Wake Forest.
8. Michigan State (17-4).  Light week with only a win over Minnesota.  Next up: @ Illinois.
9. Kansas (17-4).  Iowa State shocked Kansas.  But at least it was on the road.  Next up: Oklahoma.
10. Creighton (20-2).  Two more wins for Creighton.  Next up: @ Illinois State.
11. UNLV (20-3).  A few narrow wins on the road against Boise State and Air Force.  Time to go home.  Next up: Colorado State.
12. Marquette (18-4).  This team just refuses to lose.  Down by many, they rallied to beat Villanova on the road.  Next up: Seton Hall.
13. Virginia (17-3).  The Cavaliers may not be a top 13 team, but the teams below them do not deserve to be ahead right now.  Nice win at NC State.  Next up: Clemson.
14. San Diego State (18-3).  A lot of teams lose road conference games.  Losing by 17 at Colorado State is concerning though.  Next up: Boise State.
15. Murray State (21-0).  The last unbeaten.  Just keeps on rolling.  Next up: SE Missouri State.
16. Georgetown (16-4).  Losing on the road at Pittsburgh used to be expected.  This year it’s a surprise.  Next up: Connecticut.
17. Wisconsin (17-5).  The Badgers score less than their football team, but they are on a roll right now.  Nice win over Indiana.  Next up: @ Penn State.
18. Indiana (17-5).  The Hoosiers look a little mortal lately.  Wisconsin is a tough place to play though.  Next up: @ Michigan.
19. Florida (17-4).  Nice sweep of the Mississippi schools.  Vanderbilt game should be a good one.  Next up: South Carolina.
20. Michigan (16-6).  Split its road games against Purdue and Ohio State.  The latter was the loss, obviously.  Next up: Indiana.
21. Mississippi State (17-5).  No shame in losing to Florida.  But it would have been good to get a home win like that on the resume.  Next up: Auburn.
22. Florida State (14-6).  Cannot deny the Seminoles any more.  Road wins are really starting to accumulate.  Next up: Georgia Tech.
23. St. Mary’s (21-2).  Two more wins.  Both were on the road and convincing.  Next up: San Diego.
24. Kansas State (15-5).  Hard to explain that loss at home to mediocre Oklahoma.  Next up: @ Iowa State.
25. North Carolina State (15-7).  Tough week when you have to travel to North Carolina and then play Virginia.  Next up: @ Boston College.
26. George Mason (20-5).  Three wins last week was nice.  Keeping slightly ahead of Virginia Commonwealth.  Next up: Delaware.
27. Southern Mississippi (18-3) Underrated team.  Loss to Denver early on was a head-scratcher, but only losses since then were to Murray State and at Memphis.  Next up: Memphis.
28. New Mexico (18-4).  Only losses since Thanksgiving were to UNLV and San Diego State.  Not a ton of great wins though.  Next up: @ Air Force.
29. Vanderbilt (16-5).  Tough week this week with trips to Arkansas and Florida.  If they sweep, they are back in the discussion.  Next up: @ Arkansas.
30. California (17-5).  Losses so far: Missouri, @San Diego State, @UNLV, @ Oregon State, and @ Washington State.  For once, a PAC-12 team gets the benefit the doubt.  Next up: Arizona.

Tell us what you think.  Is anyone unfairly missing?  Anyone too high or too low?