Busting Brackets Power 32 Poll: Syracuse Remains Steady, Much Movement Below

With a new week, comes a new Power 32. The top stayed relatively calm, while the rest remained in flux. Let’s take a look:

1. Syracuse (17-0) LW: 1 – The Cuse took care of business last week versus Providence and Marquette. They should do the same this week at Villanova and vs Providence again.

2. Kentucky (15-1) LW: 2 – The Wildcats have a couple of road games this week, after taking it easy since beating Louisville.

3. Ohio State (15-2) LW: 4 – The Buckeyes looked very strong versus a couple of overmatched teams last week. This week they see two better teams, in Illinois and Indiana.

4. North Carolina (14-2) LW: 5 – Carolina has won eight straight, but that’s not saying much, according to their schedule. They step it up just a bit this week versus Miami and at Florida State.

5. Baylor (14-0) LW: 7 – The Bears are still undefeated, but that will be in jeopardy when the meet a tough Kansas State team in Manhattan tomorrow.

6. Indiana (15-1) LW: 10 – Indiana kept things rolling last week, but Ohio State will be looking for payback this Sunday.

7. Missouri (14-1) LW: 6 – Mizzou suffered its first loss of the season in convincing fashion at Kansas St over the weekend. We’re not ready to jump off the bandwagon just yet.

8. Georgetown (12-2) LW: 9 – The Hoyas had a wonderful come from behind victory versus Marquette, followed by a road loss at West Virginia, last week. They’re back at it vs Cincinnati tonight.

9. Michigan State (13-2) LW: 12 – Izzo & co. have run off 13 straight victories, including a road win at Wisconsin last week.

10. Duke (13-2) LW: 8 – Duke’s inexperienced backcourt has struggled on the road so far.

11. UNLV (14-2) LW: 11 – The Rebels have a big Mountain West game at San Diego State, this Saturday.

12. Kansas (12-3) LW: 14 – As usual, Bill Self has his squad strong and steady. This time, they’re just a bit under the radar.

12. Michigan (12-3) LW: 19 – The Maize and Blue have looked very good lately, having won 8 of their last 9 and the one loss being a 2-point loss at Indiana.

14. Connecticut (12-3) LW: 3 – One of the most talented teams in the country unfortunately has no leadership or chemistry. Jim Calhoun has his work cut out for him, starting with a home game versus a tough West Virginia team, tonight.

15. Murray State (13-0) LW: 22 – The Racers remained undefeated last week and will look to avoid the upset again this week.

16. Louisville (13-3) LW: 13 – Pitino and the gang have lost 3 of 4 since the start of the Big East schedule.

17. Creighton (13-2) LW: 20 – Forward Doug McDermott had 44 & 8 in the Bluejays’ win at Bradley on Saturday.

18. Gonzaga (13-2) LW: 25 – The Zags have won 8 straight and have a WCC showdown at St. Mary’s this Thursday.

19. Kansas State (12-2) LW: 24 – Frank Martin’s team was Jekyll & Hyde last week, getting blown out at Kansas and then blowing out Missouri. Or, maybe it was just a simple case of home & away. Tomorrow’s match-up versus Baylor should tell us even more.

20. Florida (12-4) LW: 16 – The Gators suffered yet another head-scratching loss last week, this time at Tennessee. Their ranking is starting to seem pretty heavily preseason influenced.

21. Marquette (12-4) LW: 17 – The Golden Eagles lost at Georgetown and Syracuse last week. Hard to fault them for that, that’s just life in the Big East.

22. Alabama (12-3) LW: 27 – Bama has seemingly righted the ship, after losing 3 of 4 in early December. We’re looking forward to their match-up with Mississippi State this Saturday.

22. San Diego State (11-2) LW: 26 – The Aztecs have not played anyone of significance in over a month, but we’ll get to see more of what they’re made of at the end of this week and next.

22. Seton Hall (14-2) LW: 30 – Back to back home wins versus West Virginia and UConn have the Pirates in the top 25.

25. Virginia (14-1) LW: NR – UVA has won 12 straight since losing to TCU in mid November. We’ll see what it all means when the Cavs visit Cameron Indoor on Thursday.

26. Purdue (13-4) LW: 23 – A blowout loss at Penn State was a little disturbing, but the Boilermakers bounced back with a solid win at Minnesota.

26. Wisconsin (12-5) LW: 18 – The Badgers have lost three straight. It doesn’t get any easier, as they visit Purdue on Thursday.

28. Mississippi State (13-3) LW: 15 – The Bulldogs were ambushed at Arkansas in their SEC opener.

29. Vanderbilt (11-4) LW: NR – Vandy has won five straight since their November/December struggles.

30. Wichita State (11-3) LW: 31 – The Shockers beat two lesser MVC teams on the road last week.

31. New Mexico (13-2) LW: 32 – The Lobos have won 12 straight.

32. Harvard (12-2) LW: 21 – The belief here is that the Crimson are legit. The argument to delegitimize them will start with their loss at Fordham last week.

IN: Virginia; Vanderbilt.

OUT: Xavier; Saint Louis.

Others Receiving Votes: Illinois; West Virginia.

What are your thoughts on this week’s rankings?

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