By By Jared Rosenbloom
ACC
Duke (5-0): Top ranked Duke is off to a blistering start as usual. The Blue Devils won the Preseason NIT by beating No. 11 Memphis, and have two promising freshmen-Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus. The road becomes much tougher as Duke prepares for heavyweight bouts with No. 21 Indiana and No. 2 Texas.
Boston College (5-0): The dynamic duo of Jared Dudley and Craig Smith have led the No. 8 Eagles to a big time win against Oklahoma State, but they must prove themselves against No. 14 Michigan State and No. 20 Maryland in the next few weeks.
Wake Forest (5-1): After losing star player Chris Paul to the NBA, the No. 22 Demon Deacons have played an easy schedule but have struggled. They were upset by Florida in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, but beat Bobby Knight’s Texas Tech squad the very next night.
Maryland (4-1): After a heartbreaking loss in the Maui Invitational to No. 9 Gonzaga, No. 23 Maryland showed great poise in beating highly regarded Arkansas in easy fashion.
North Carolina (3-0): The reigning NCAA champions are unranked after losing most of last year’s starting lineup. The Tar Heels looked very impressive against Gardner Webb, Cleveland State and UCSB, but the Heels will have to show what they’re made of when they face No. 12 Illinois and No. 10 Kentucky.
BIG 12
Texas (5-0): Second only to Duke, the Longhorns look poised to go the distance. After romping Samford and Southern, they survived a scare and beat then No. 13 West Virginia and took care of business against then No. 17 Iowa.
Kansas (2-2): Much like UNC, the Jayhawks are a very young team. Although they have two losses already, the defeats came at the hands of No. 8 Arizona and Arkansas. The Jayhawks look to bounce back in the Jimmy V Classic.
Oklahoma (3-0): The first test for the No. 5 Sooners takes place Saturday against a very powerful and aggresive Villanova team.
Texas Tech (4-2): Tech lost to No. 19 Syracuse and No. 23 Wake Forest at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, but took care of business against San Jose State, Georgia Southern, Furman and Morehead State.
Big East
Connecticut (4-0): The No. 3 Huskies have looked awesome against top 10 schools by beating No. 8 Arizona and No. 9 Gonzaga to win the Maui Invitational.
Villanova (2-0): The No. 4 Wildcats played weak teams in Stony Brook and Lehigh to start their season, and get ready for their heavyweight fight against Oklahoma.
Syracuse (4-2): After looking good in their first three games against Bethune Cookman, Cornell and Texas Tech, the Orange hit a snag, losing back-to-back games to Florida and Bucknell.
Louisville (1-0): Rick Pitino’s No. 7 Cardinals have only played one game, ripping apart UT-Martin, but they looked poised to make a run at the Big East Conference Championship. They will compete against some of the best schools in the country in their conference.
BIG 10
Illinois (5-0): The only notable team the Illini has beaten so far is Rutgers, but they will be tested soon against Georgetown.
Michigan State (3-2): The No. 13 Spartans have already had an eventful season in just five games. They opened the season by getting pummeled by Hawaii and then lost a thriller to Gonzaga in three overtimes.
Iowa (4-1): No. 14 Iowa began the season winning three in a row including a major win over No. 7 Kentucky. After losing to No. 2 Texas, the Hawkeyes bounced back to beat Texas-San Antonio.
Indiana (4-0): The No. 17 Hoosiers have not played any major teams, but will play Duke and Kentucky in the coming weeks.
PAC-10
Arizona (2-2): The No. 15 Wildcats have won and lost what experts have expected them to, and will continue with a balanced schedule.
Washington (6-0): The No. 18 Huskies have beaten six solid schools and now must prepare for that other Washington team, Gonzaga.
UCLA (4-1): After making the tournament last year, Ben Howland’s team is back on the map. The Bruins have beaten weak teams such as Temple and Delaware State and gave No. 11 Memphis a run for their money.
SEC
Florida (5-0): Billy Donavan has had his team storming out of the gate with big time victories over Wake Forest, Syracuse and archrival Florida State. The No. 11 Gators recently won the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Kentucky (4-1): After a tough loss to Iowa, the Wildcats bounced back and beat struggling West Virginia. The Wildcats face tough competition ahead as they are set to face Indiana and Louisville.
LSU (3-0): The young Tigers look ferocious after going into West Virginia and stunning the Mountaineers. LSU now leads the SEC West by a game.
Alabama (2-1): The No. 21 Tide beat Miami of Ohio and Alabama State, but suffered a hiccup against No. 11 Memphis. Alabama looks to get back on the saddle against Notre Dame next week.