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MRI 2008 - Rankings Week 11

February 16, 2009  |  By Benjamin Miraski

North Carolina has shot its way
into the top spot for the second
straight week
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

With Duke reeling, how could they possibly still be in the top four spots in the MRI? That would mean a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament as seeded by the computer rankings.

The Blue Devils have lost three of four and needed a monumental comeback and overtime to defeat Miami.

But while it seems that Duke should be shooting the way of North Carolina Central, they have had some help to stay near the top.

First there is Connecticut who seems to have the uncanny ability not to lose. But the loss of Jerome Dyson has held back the Huskies. Instead of having crushing wins to add to their resume, they end up squeaking by a team like Seton Hall.

Eight points doesn't really scream danger, but Seton Hall isn't really the type of team that should be able to hang even that close with the Big East leader.

(On a side note, what is going on with the massive blowout victories in the Big East lately? How can one conference have so many close teams separated by more than 20 points when they actually play?)

And then there is Oklahoma. The Sooners may be making waves in the Big XII, but it is the Big XII.

After Kansas and Missouri, who do you really count as a great team?

Texas? Hardly. The Longhorns have found too many ways to lose games they should win (But they still moved back into the MRI top 25, which just shows how close all the bubble teams are.)

And then who do you even nominate?

But the Blue Devils' luck might be running out. Connecticut gets Pittsburgh (a very important game for both teams as if Pitt wins, they continue to challenge UNC for the top MRI spot), and South Florida this week. That is prime fodder for a huge bump in the numbers.

But until those games are played, Duke can still say they belong in the top spots, at least according to the computer.

And that computer had a good week, predicting 72.54 percent of the games this week. For the year, the computer has gotten 71.23 percent of the games correct and 71.63 percent of the games all time.

Check out all the ratings in week 11 of the MRI:

Posted February 16, 2009 12:52 PM