The annual December clash of the ACC and Big Ten provides us with most of our tastiest post-Thanksgiving Weekend dishes.
First and absolutely foremost among those takes place in Chapel Hill Tuesday night where the top-ranked University of Maryland Terps will take on the No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels.
Then, Wednesday night, it will be the unbeaten (and certainly “untested”) Louisville Cardinals trekking it into East Lansing for a real test vs. No. 6 Michigan State – which has aced all of its tests so far.
Also on tap Wednesday night: Indiana (stunned twice in Maui last week) visiting No. 9 Duke and No. 12 Syracuse playing host to Wisconsin.
This week’s Power 16 breakdown, by conference: ACC four, Big 12 four, Big East three, SEC two, Big 10 two and WCC one.
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Rank (Last week’s rank)
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Record
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Comment
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1. Maryland (1)
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6-0
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The going gets a lot tougher this week but it’s hard to fault anything about the Terps’ play during their wins over Rhode Island and Cleveland State. |
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2. Kentucky (2)
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6-0
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The Wildcats will improve to 7-0 Monday night against Illinois State in Lexington before heading to Southern California – Westwood, specifically – in an attempt to go 8-0 Thursday night. |
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3. Iowa St. (5)
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5-0
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In decent position to take a 9-0 mark into Cincinnati on Dec. 22. |
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4. Oklahoma (9)
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4-0
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The Dec. 7 contest with Villanova shapes up as a humdinger of sorts, doesn’t it? |
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5. Villanova (7)
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6-0
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“Tightest” margin of victory so far: 14 points against Stanford. |
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6. Michigan St. (11)
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7-0
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The Spartans spent Thanksgiving weekend in Orange County; they came away with a tourney title and Coach Tom Izzo checked wins No.’s 500-02 into his overhead compartment on the flight home. |
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7. North Carolina (12)
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5-1
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That stunning loss to Northern Iowa will become a lot less relevant if the Tar Heels toppled former ACC foe Maryland Tuesday night. |
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8. Kansas (14)
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4-1
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The Jayhawks will get some major league reinforcements (aka, “Cheick Diallo”) Tuesday night against Loyola-Maryland. |
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9. Duke (15)
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6-1
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Freshman Luke Kennard seems to finally have re-discovered that nifty shooting touch that he brought to Durham with him. |
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10. Virginia (NR)
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5-1
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Since stumbling at George Washington the Cavaliers have knocked off four teams by an average margin of 25.8 points. |
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11. Xavier (NR)
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7-0
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A combined 48 points separated the Musketeers and their three Orlando opponents. |
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12. Syracuse (NR)
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6-0
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The Orange delivered an emphatic statement in the Bahamas, didn’t they? |
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13. Gonzaga (4)
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4-1
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The relative “newcomers” in the Bulldogs’ backcourt (Silas Melson and Josh Perkins) seem to be progressing nicely. |
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14. Texas A&M (NR)
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6-1
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There seems to be more challengers to Kentucky in the SEC than of late. This is one of them. |
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15. Providence (NR)
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6-1
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The Friars have more to offer than “just Kris Dunn” as them demonstrated during the John R. Wooden Legacy. |
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16. West Virginia (NR)
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6-0
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The walloping the Mountaineers gave San Diego State over the weekend in Las Vegas was eye-catching, to say the least. |
ON THE CUSP: Arizona 6-1, Cincinnati 7-0, George Washington 6-1, Louisville 5-0, Miami 5-1, Oregon 5-0, Purdue 6-0, SMU 4-0, Utah 5-1 and Vanderbilt 5-1.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (Nov. 23-29)
*Wayne Selden (Kansas): He hit 20 of his 30 shots in Lahaina, including 12 of 17 from behind the arc.
*Denzel Valentine (Michigan State): It’s two weeks in a row in this category after he averaged 26.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists in three John R. Wooden Legacy games.
*Henry Ellenson (Marquette): The 6-10 freshman had quite a week, too, averaging 16.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots in wins over North Carolina State, Arizona State and Jackson State.
*Michael Gbinije (Syracuse): The second-year transfer from Duke had a big week in the Bahamas, dropping 21.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the Orange’s run to the championship.
*Georges Niang (Iowa State): The senior forward averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists during his squad’s wins against Virginia and Illinois.
Frank Burlison / BurlisonOnBasketball has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
Follow Frank on twitter @FrankieBur. Also make sure to follow his website at www.burlisononbasketball.com. College coaching staffs interested in Burlison’s scouting service should contact him at [email protected].
wayne selden is starting to
wayne selden is starting to look like a 1st rounder once again.he’s averaging 17 pts/3assts/3rbs/1stl /54%fg and making 3s.
wayne selden is starting to
wayne selden is starting to look like a 1st rounder once again.he’s averaging 17 pts/3assts/3rbs/1stl /54%fg and making 3s.