Top 5

Memphis may be undefeated, still, but they had to work for it. On the road at Houston they had to deal with a strong second half push by Houston, fueled by 22 turnovers, before putting it away. Then Texas El Paso came calling, and the Tigers had a real fight on their hands. UTEP, coached by ex-Memphis assistant Tony Barbee, laid the trap well, and almost pulled the upset. Trailing with 5 minutes to play, and tied at 2:31 remaining, Memphis' defense and rebounding proved decisive. Both teams were dismal, under 55%, from the free throw line, with Memphis missing 20 for the game. Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 24 for Memphis, including the go ahead basket.

Moving up in the rankings were Duke and North Carolina. That will last only days, as their first meeting came this week, Duke winning 89 - 78. Duke continues to defy those that believe in the necessity of big men. Both teams rolled to double digit wins in their previous games, Duke downing North Carolina State 92 -72, and Miami 88 – 73 and North Carolina defeating Boston College 91 – 69 and Florida State 84 – 73. Duke was paced by 39 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals by senior guard DeMarcus Nelson. North Carolina was led by 40 points and 27 rebounds from Tyler Hansbrough. The game itself was almost anticlimactic after the build up. North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson did not play due to an injury. Tyler Hasbrough did his part for North Carolina, with 28 points and 18 rebounds. But Duke's perimeter pressure and shooting were too much. Greg Paulus scored 18 points to lead the Blue Devils, and  was one of six players in double figures. Duke now has a two game lead on the conference.

The other game of the week was the match up of then unbeaten Kansas and Kansas State, led by the expected NBA first pick Michael Beasley. While this has been a one sided series in recent decades, Kansas winning 24 straight in Manhattan, the history of the cross state rivalry is heated. Wednesday's game was very much in that tradition, as KSU downed KU 84 - 75. In the end, youth was definitely served. Kansas State freshmen Beasley, William Walker and Jacob Pullen combined for 67 of the Wildcat's 84 points, including 9 of 19 from 3pt range.

Rounding out the Top 5, UCLA posted convincing wins over Arizona State 84 – 51 and Arizona 82 – 60. Kevin Lowe continued his case for Freshman of the Year with 46 points and 21 rebounds.

Top 25

After a quiet week, the upsets bug was back in full force this week. The big fall of the week was Washington State, losing two games: to California 69-64 and to Stanford 67-65 in OT. Cal was paced by Ryan Anderson's 27 points and 9 rebounds. Washington State got a standout game from Kyle Weaver against Stanford, 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Cardinal got 19 each from Lawrence Hill and Brook Lopez, who also had 5 blocked shots.

In a let down after their win over undefeated Kansas, Kansas State lost to a short handed Missouri team 77 – 74, after leading most of the game. J.T. Tiller scored 20 points to lead the way for Missouri, including 2 key free throws with eight seconds to play. Texas lost decisively to Texas A&M, 80 – 63, but recovered to beat Baylor 80 -72, knocking Baylor from the, rankings, and Oklahoma 64 – 54. Leading the way was A.J. Abrams with 42 points in the two wins.

The shocker of the week is Penn State winning over Top 10 Michigan State. The Nittany Lions were led Stanley Pringle's 19 points, and shot 80% as a team from the free throw line. This game was a tight rope walk from the the tip off, with neither team gaining the upper hand, except for a brief period early in the second half. The big winner of the week was Wisconsin, which defeated Indiana decisively, 62 – 49, despite 22 points and 17 rebounds from the Hoosier's D.J. White. The game was rarely close, as Wisconsin led by as much as 20 on two occasions. Wisconsin pays Big 10 co-leader Purdue this week

On the up side, Georgetown and Tennessee have been quietly returning to the elite ranks, winning two each and remaining at numbers 6 and seven respectively. The Hoyas have won six straight, and have an important game against Louisville this week. Tennessee has won 4 in a row, including a signature win this week against surging Florida, 102 – 84.  Chris Lofton has been playing outstanding ball lately, leading the way against Florida with 29 points, including 6 from 3pt range. Tyler Smith added 23 points and 9 rebounds for the Volunteers. Also quietly moving up is Drake. One of only 3 teams with just one loss, the Bulldogs won three  more this week, against Creighton 75 – 65, Indiana State, 83 – 77, and conference second place Illinois State 73 – 70. Drake is now 12 – 0 in conference play, and a likely NCAA tournament team single digit seed. If they complete the conference season unbeaten, it will be only the second time since Larry Bird's Indiana State team in 1979. They are led by sophomore guard Josh Smith, averaging 20 points and four 3pt baskets per game over the last two weeks.