Finally Gearing Toward Madness

Since high school I have been a huge fan of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Maryland Terrapins, and college basketball in general. Usually I am gung ho into it by December, but not this year. For some reason or another I am just now paying attention to it and it is almost February. I have caught some games here and there and have noticed something a little surprising. In a game full of parity, there is even more parity and unpredictability than ever before. So much so, that if there were ever a year that a #16 seed would beat a #1 seed in the tournament, I think this would be the year. Aside from Memphis and maybe Kansas, there really aren't any dominating teams. I think you have to attribute this to so many star players leaving for the NBA after their freshman or sophomore seasons. Still, that doesn't hurt college basketball as it just makes a fun game even more fun. By the way, the game that got me back into college basketball was none other than the Terps' upset AT North Carolina. What a well-played game by Maryland and of course, another fine coaching job by Gary Williams. I also want to salute Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs for playing a brutal non-conference schedule. Granted, they haven't won many of those tough games, but they have been close. With today's loss to Memphis, 3 of their 5 losses are to teams currently in the Top 6 in the polls (Memphis, Tennessee, Washington State). Their other two losses were against Texas Tech in the Great Alaska Shootout and at Oklahoma. I think come tournament time, Gonzaga will be ready for anything. Now, onto my highly uncertain inaugural rankings for this season:

Rank	Team	Conference	Record
1	Memphis	Conference USA	(19-0, 5-0)
2	Kansas	Big 12	(20-0, 5-0)
3	Texas	Big 12	(16-3, 3-1)
4	UCLA	Pac-10	(17-2, 5-1)
5	Georgetown	Big East	(16-2, 6-1)
6	Washington State	Pac-10	(17-2, 5-2)
7	North Carolina	ACC	(19-1, 4-1)
8	Duke	ACC	(16-1, 4-0)
9	Tennessee	SEC	(17-2, 4-1)
10	Michigan State	Big 10	(17-2, 5-1)
11	Wisconsin	Big 10	(16-3, 6-1)
12	Indiana	Big 10	(17-2, 6-0)
13	Vanderbilt	SEC	(17-2, 2-2)
14	Butler	Horizon	(19-2, 8-2)
15	Xavier	Atlantic 10	(16-4, 4-1)
16	St. Mary's	West Coast	(17-2, 4-0)
17	Texas A&M	Big 12	(16-4, 2-3)
18	Stanford	Pac 10	(16-3, 5-2)
19	Dayton	Atlantic 10	(14-4, 2-3)
20	Pitt	Big East	(16-4, 2-3)
21	Drake	Missouri Valley	(18-1, 9-0)
22	Arizona	Pac-10	(14-6, 4-3)
23	Purdue	Big 10	(15-5, 6-1)
24	Kansas State	Big 12	(14-4, 4-0)
25	Oklahoma	Big 12	(14-5, 2-2)
26	Baylor	Big 12	(16-3, 4-1)
27	Notre Dame	Big East	(14-4, 4-2)
28	Mississippi	SEC	(15-3, 2-3)
29	Connecticut	Big East	(14-5, 4-3)
30	Louisville	Big East	(15-5, 5-2)
31	Marquette	Big East	(14-4, 4-3)
32	Ohio State	Big 10	(14-6, 5-2)
33	Clemson	ACC	(15-4, 3-2)
34	Massachusettes	Atlantic 10	(13-5, 2-2)
35	Gonzaga	West Coast	(15-5, 4-0)
36	Villanova	Big East	(13-5, 3-4)
37	Oregon	Pac-10	(12-8, 3-5)
38	Arizona State	Pac-10	(14-5, 4-3)
39	USC	Pac-10	(12-6, 3-3)
40	Rhode Island	Atlantic 10	(17-3, 3-2)
41	Arkansas	SEC	(14-5, 3-2)
42	West Virginia	Big East	(15-5, 4-3)
43	Maryland	ACC	(12-7, 2-2)
44	Boston College	ACC	(12-6, 3-2)
45	Syracuse	Big East	(13-7, 3-4)
46	Florida	SEC	(17-3, 4-1)
47	South Alabama	Sun Belt	(16-3, 8-0)
48	Charlotte	Atlantic 10	(13-6, 4-1)
49	Mississippi State	SEC	(14-5, 5-0)
50	Creighton	Missouri Valley	(14-5, 5-4)