Busting Brackets Power 32 Poll: Syracuse Jumps to the Top

It was another exciting week of college basketball. Syracuse kept rolling, all be it, nice and cozy in the Carrier Dome; Ohio State raised questions regarding their true depth and Indiana shocked the world and got Tom Crean his signature win for the Hoosiers.

Some other teams played, as well. And there was some mild shuffling within our Power 32, including a debut for first-year coach Steve Prohm and his Murray State Racers.

Here’s a look at this week’s rankings:

1. Syracuse (10-0) LW: 3 – The Cuse continued to look good last week with home wins over Marshall and GW. They finally leave the State of New York to face NC State on Saturday.

2. Ohio State (8-1) LW: 1 – The Buckeyes lost at Kansas without the services of first team All-America candidate, Jared Sullinger. William Buford stepped up big-time, but we would have liked to see some more from sophomore Deshaun Thomas.

3. Kentucky (8-1) LW: 2 – We’re not going to blame the Wildcats for giving up a close game to a solid Indiana squad in front of a packed, blood-thirsty house. But, Kentucky did show their youth and Terrence Jones was a mysterious no-show.

4. Connecticut (8-1) LW: 5 – Uconn seems to be taking small steps forward towards matching their scary talent with solid defense and offensive execution. The Huskies handled a good Harvard team with relative ease.

4. North Carolina (8-2) LW: 4 – Long Beach State gave the Tar Heels a stern test at home, but Roy Williams & company pulled away in the second half.

6. Louisville (9-0) LW: 6 – Rick Pitino’s Cardinals munched on a couple cupcakes last week.

7. Missouri (9-0) LW: 8 – The Tigers continued to impress with a relatively easy victory over Villanova at Madison Square Garden.

7. Xavier (8-0) LW: 7 – The ugly brawl certainly mars what the Musketeers have accomplished so far. The suspensions resulting from the melee could cost them down the line when they face Long Beach State and Gonzaga in a couple weeks.

9. Baylor (7-0) LW: 9 – Baylor was idle last week, but they begin a stretch of mini-tests on Saturday at BYU.

10. Duke (9-1) LW: 10 – The Blue Devils took care of business against two lesser opponents, in Colorado State and Washington. They won’t face another test until after the New Year.

11. Kansas (7-2) LW: 13 – The Jayhawks looked impressive in handling Ohio State – with or without Jared Sullinger – from the tip-off to the buzzer. Thomas Robinson’s play has reached beastly status.

11. Marquette (9-0) LW: 11 – Buzz Williams’ squad remained unbeaten with a close call versus Washington at the Garden and then a blowout of Wisconsin Green Bay.

13. Florida (7-2) LW: 11 – The Gators struggled to put away a game Arizona squad in overtime last week and have an interesting match-up with Texas A&M on Saturday. Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario has yet to find a role in the offense.

14. Pittsburgh (9-1) LW: 15 – Even without Tray Woodall, Pitt looked solid in a victory versus Oklahoma State, also at the Garden. They’ll be honing their game versus cupcakes until Big East play starts at the end of the month.

15. Georgetown (7-1) LW: 14 – The Hoyas struggled a bit with Howard over the weekend. Hopefully they can be ready to go versus American on Saturday.

15. Wisconsin (8-2) LW: 20 – The Badgers impressed with a pretty easy home win against UNLV on Saturday. They too will not be tested again until league play begins.

17. Mississippi State (9-1) LW: 17 – The Bulldogs are taking a bit of a schedule vacation at the moment, but they will be forced back to work at the end of the month.

18. Michigan State (7-2) LW: 23 – Tom Izzo went out west to see legendary Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote and decided to take care of Gonzaga while at it.

19. Vanderbilt (6-3) LW: 18 – The Commodores finally, and I mean finally, have Festus Ezili back. He contributed 15 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes in a win at Davidson.

20. Indiana (9-0) LW: NR – The Hoosiers are officially back! In the rankings, at least. Their win over Kentucky proves that they are a formidable squad when healthy. They’ll be even better once they start getting Cody Zeller a few more touches.

20. Purdue (9-2) LW: 26 – Purdue kept winning and Robbie Hummel remained healthy, so that’s a win-win. They’ll be at Butler on Saturday.

22. Alabama (8-2) LW: 16 – Bama continued their freefall down the rankings based on a loss at Dayton last week. They’re at Kansas State on Saturday.

23. Michigan (6-2) LW: 21 – The Wolverines took care of Oakland over the weekend. We’ll have to wait until the New Year to see how good Beilein’s team really is.

24. Harvard (8-1) LW: 21 – There’s no shame in losing to one of the best teams in the country at their place.

25. California (8-2) LW: 29 – California doesn’t play around with the cupcakes on their schedule, they demolish them.

26. Creighton (7-1) LW: 19 – The Bluejays lost to a better-than-you-think St. Joseph’s team on Saturday, but McDermott and friends will be just fine.

26. Illinois (9-0) LW: 25 – The Illini struggled to score and ultimately beat a decent St. Bonaventure last week. They get a barometer match-up with UNLV this Saturday.

28. Murray State (7-0) LW: NR – After blowing out Dayton, the Racers went into Memphis and beat the Tigers yesterday to remain undefeated.

29. Saint Louis (8-1) LW: 32 – The Billikens bounced back from a road loss to Loyola Marymount by easily beating Vermont last week.

30. San Diego State (9-2) LW: 29 – Steve Fisher’s team won at rival San Diego last week.

31. Belmont (5-2) LW: 26 – The Bruins took care of Tennessee State last Tuesday. They travel to Miami, Ohio for a Saturday game.

32. Memphis (5-3) LW: 23 – The talented Tigers are starting to remind people of last year’s squad, after yesterday’s home loss to Murray State. They get a serious test at Louisville Saturday.

What are your thoughts on this week’s rankings?

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