6. Duke
A week after the Blue Devils played with their food against bottom-dweller ACC teams, they came out and beat two of their toughest competitors in the conference, Louisville and SMU, where the outcome of the game was never really in doubt. Expect Jon Scheyer’s crew to be a one seed by the time Selection Sunday comes around.
7. UConn
The Big East is really bad this year, and I don’t know what that is going to mean for UConn. What I do know is that Danny Hurley’s crew has played some close games in the last week or so, and I really think they need to start blowing these middling Big East teams out if they want to impress anyone.
8. Vanderbilt
This team keeps getting doubted and disrespected in the polls, but they have just kept winning, and winning big. Tyler Tanner’s jump from a bench player as a freshman to a legitimate National Player of the Year candidate as a sophomore is a sight to behold. I still want to see how this team handles the gauntlet of an SEC schedule.
9. Houston
The Cougars had a big week last week, defeating both Texas Tech and Baylor. In the Baylor game, Kingston Flemings got in foul trouble, and the offense did not miss a beat with Milos Uzan and Isiah Harwell running the show. This gives me confidence that this team can win in more ways than one.
10. Illinois
The game was not as close as the final score indicated when the Illini beat Iowa soundly on Sunday in Carver Hawkeye Arena. This team is as deep as they come, and Cal transfer Andrej Stojakovic is starting to come into his own, scoring at least 12 points in his last 3 games.
