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MRI 2007 - Week 3: "X" is Twice as Nice

December 10, 2007  |  By Benjamin Miraski

It may come as a shock, but Xavier has managed to stay on top of the MRI for the second straight week. This could be the newest version of the St. Joe's Hawks, who went undefeated through the regular season, and lost in the first round of their conference tournament back in 2003-4. Yes, Xavier already has a blemish on their record, a two point loss to Miami (Ohio). However, the X-Men are playing solid team basketball. That has translated into wins, including the big win over Creighton on Wednesday night this past week.

Xavier has a schedule that would rival some of those impossible Gonzaga schedules which the Zags always put together, and that should translate well for them come tournament time. They also have some good competition in the Atlantic 10 this season, unlike recent history where maybe 2 teams were decent.

So for the second straight week, Xavier holds onto the top spot, and more importantly perhaps, breaks the 100 point barrier in the MRI, a good signal that they are headed for the tournament.

In second place this week is Duke, moving up from #3 last week. The Blue Devils had an easy victory over Michigan on Saturday, during which CBS tried everything to keep you interested. It didn't work. Watching games where one team is ahead by 25 and the other team has absolutely no shot to come back isn't fun.

Duke may be one of the surprises of the season. While improvement over last season was expected, it was hard to imagine a start like this with so many victories of the blowout variety. Even without a true big man, the Blue Devils are succeeding. And that success doesn't come the same way every game. Some nights it is the tough defense and fast break. Some games, it is the three-point line that gets Duke rolling. Duke has this entire week off to prepare for what should be a gimmee against Albany and then a huge game at Pittsburgh, another game where we can see if the lack of size could hurt them.

Still hanging in the top 3 despite two losses is Wisconsin, who lost another tough game on Saturday against Marquette. Part of what is keeping the Badgers where they are is that Duke has not lost yet. That means the huge blowout that Wisconsin suffered is not really being reflected yet in their MRI score. I am not sure that Wisconsin is the class of the Big Ten, but then again, I am not sure there is a top team in that conference this season. The Badgers take on their system schools this week, facing both Green Bay and Milwaukee.

Rounding out the top five this week are UCLA and North Carolina, two teams expected to be near the top.

Check out all the rankings in Week 3 of the MRI.

Posted December 10, 2007 12:05 PM

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