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December 17, 2007
MRI 2007 - Week 4: Rock Chalk Flies To #1
All it took was a less than stellar week for Xavier and the "X' no longer guard the top spot in the MRI. After a close win against Cincinnati - always expected in the rivalry series - Xavier went down to Arizona State in crushing fashion. The Sun Devils, who looked anything but good in Maui to start the season, showed that Xavier might be a decent team, but they are no #1. The Musketeers fell to #12 in the latest rankings.
So, who is the new #1? Remember that Ohio team which pulled the MRI's predicted upset over Maryland earlier in the week? No, they aren't #1, but they did get blown out of the gym by the new front runner. Kansas took Ohio to task on Friday, winning 88-51. The Kansas squad, which was a little inconsistent in the early season, had no problems with what should be one of the best teams in the MAC, and one of the best mid-majors in the country. The halftime score was 46-20, and things didn't get any prettier from there.
One reason for the Kansas surge is the return to health of much of their rotation. Brandon Rush made his first start of the season, and Sherron Collins made only his second appearance of the year in the rout. This was a highly thought of team going into the season, and if this is how they will play at full strength, it might be a while until we see another team at #1 in the MRI.
Pulling into the #2 spot is North Carolina, who quietly sneaked up the rankings and jumps from a #5 showing last week. North Carolina is my pick to win it all this season assuming they stay healthy. That is always an issue with the Tar Heels, especially in the grueling ACC season. Tyler Hansbrough is probably glad the ACC season is still a few weeks away, if he can even remember that. Hansbrough suffered a concussion in a win against Rutgers on Sunday. That can't be a good sign with the banging that he takes under the hoop.
Still at #3 is that pesky Wisconsin team which keeps hanging around despite two losses already this season. They polished off two system schools this week. They are off until facing Valpo on Saturday. After that, another week will pass until we see what they can do against rising star Texas.
Speaking of rising stars, West Virginia, under Bob Huggins is making a name for themselves in the MRI this season. The Mountaineers are a basket away from a perfect season, and while the rankings are not yet giving them notice, the rest of the country sure is. They have a chance to continue their winning ways against Radford and Canisius this week.
Rounding out the top 5 is Duke who had the week off. It is a testament to their season so far that a week off the court led to an erosion of the MRI score of only 0.15 points and three places. While normal teams might have dropped 5-10 places, the Blue Devils appear to have staying power at the top. They warm up against Albany tonight before the anticipated game against Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Check out all the rankings in Week 4 of the MRI.
| And Now the Rankings | |||||
| Teams Dropped From The Top 25: | |||||
| Oregon (LW #21, TW #34), Providence (LW #22, TW #26), Rhode Island (LW #25, TW #30) | |||||
| Other Teams People Might Care About | |||||
| Last Place this week: NJIT (0-13) at -84.01. 4th week in a row. | |||||
| Biggest Gain this week: Penn State gained 14.07 points. (Beat Princeton (61-38) and Denver (60-39)) | |||||
| Biggest Loss this week: Prairie View lost 22.42 points (Lost to New Mexico State (43-80) and Utah State (51-77)) | |||||
| Conference rankings this week: PAC-10, ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, MVC, Mountain West, Atlantic 10, C-USA. The WAC is 20th | |||||
The MRI Rankings are copyright 2007 by MRISports.com. Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted by bmiraski at December 17, 2007 4:00 PM
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