Field of 65--Version 5

1) Connecticut (24-1); Oklahoma (25-1); North Carolina (23-2); Pittsburgh (23-2)
I'm starting to come around to the idea that Oklahoma might be for real. While the Sooners' bench is a little thin, they have a well-rounded starting five. Wiry senior Austin Johnson and bullish freshman Willie Warren compliment each other nicely in the backcourt. Tony Crocker provides outside shooting from the wing. And the Griffin brothers are tremendous in the paint. Now, with the emergence of the explosive Juan Pattillo, Jeff Capel's team is poised to make a deep tournament run.
2) Michigan State (20-4); Memphis (22-3); Marquette (21-4); Clemson (20-4)
Beyond Michigan State, it's not really clear who should be on the two line. In fact, the teams spanning from Memphis to Duke are pretty much interchangeable.
3) Louisville (19-5); Kansas (20-5); Wake Forest (19-4); Missouri (22-4)
So, Louisville lost to Notre Dame by 33 on Thursday, but still came out plus-12 on the week after beating DePaul by 45 on Sunday. Louisville fans may be tempted to view the Irish loss as a hiccup in light of their team's dominant performance against the Blue Demons. However, I believe the 33-point loss suggests that, while the Cardinals may have a Final Four run in them, a National Championship is not in the Cards. I hate to be the one to doubt a Rick Pitino-coached team, but UConn, UNC, and Pitt aren't going to lose to anyone by 33 -- let alone an NIT team that doesn't play defense.
4) Washington (19-6); Duke (20-5); Purdue (19-6); Villanova (20-5)
Bad week for the Blue Devils. Duke really didn't play poorly against North Carolina. In fact, they stayed with the Tar Heels for about three-fourths of their matchup. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils were incapable of guarding Ty Lawson. The Boston College game was just flat-out disappointing. On the bright side, Kyle Singler is playing excellent basketball (22 points and 6 boards against UNC and 25 points and 8 boards against BC).
5) Xavier (21-4); Arizona State (20-5); Illinois (21-5); UCLA (19-6)
The Bruins have now lost their last three conference road games. UCLA gets the Washington schools at Pauley Pavilion this week, but a road trip to northern California to play Stanford and California is on the horizon.
6) Ohio State (17-6); California (19-6); LSU (21-4); Butler (22-3)
LSU is 9-1 in the SEC, and Trent Johnson has his team playing at a very high level. So, maybe it's time we give the Tigers some respect. But why the delay? Well, LSU's best non-conference win is Washington State. The Tigers' second best -- probably Troy. Moreover, while they did beat Tennessee, they have yet to play Kentucky or Florida. Oh, and they also lost by 30 to Utah
7) Gonzaga (19-5); Dayton (23-3); Florida State (19-6); Syracuse (19-7)
With Dayton's 13-point victory over Xavier, the Flyers take control of the Atlantic-10. The rematch between the A-10 powers takes place on March 5 in Cincinnati.
8) Texas (17-7); Minnesota (19-6); Utah State (24-2); South Carolina (18-5)
After a three-game losing streak, Texas bounced back this week with wins over Oklahoma State and Colorado. Plus, A.J. Abrams appears to be emerging from his shooting slump. The downside -- lowly Colorado took the Longhorns to overtime.
9) Kentucky (18-7); West Virginia (17-8); Boston College (19-8); Tennessee (16-8)
If Boston College stumbles down the stretch, the Eagles are going to be an interesting case for the selection committee. They have losses to Saint Louis and Harvard, but they have wins against North Carolina and now Duke. If the Eagles get in to the tourney, this should go down as Al Skinner's best coaching job. BC has no business dancing this year, considering how deep the ACC is.
10) Davidson (22-4); Florida (19-6); Arizona (18-8); Utah (18-7)
Despite my earlier doubts, Arizona is officially back. They've now racked up seven straight wins. That streak includes wins against conference leader Washington and UCLA. Is there any chance Russ Pennel stays on as the Wildcats' head coach?
11) UNLV (19-6); Virginia Tech (16-8); Wisconsin (16-9); San Diego State (18-6)
Much like Arizona last week, Wisconsin is back from the dead. The Badgers are 7-6 in conference play, are riding a four-game winning streak, and still have two games against Indiana left on their schedule.
12) Penn State (18-8); Saint Mary's (20-5); Providence (16-9); Northern Iowa (18-8)
The last two at-large teams in are Saint Mary's and Providence. Saint Mary's is just ahead of Providence, based in large part on the Gaels' 81-75 win over the Friars earlier in the season. However, the Gaels missed a golden opportunity this week, falling by two to Gonzaga without injured star Patrick Mills. If Mills doesn't make it back on the floor soon, the Gaels may slip out of the tourney field. Providence just edges out Kansas State for the last spot in the Field of 65. The Friars are 8-5 in the Big East, but they've feasted on the Big East bottom-feeders. While K-State has played well in conference, the Wildcats have zero quality non-conference wins and lost to extremely weak Iowa and Oregon teams.
13) Siena (20-6); Buffalo (17-6); North Dakota State (19-6); Arkansas-Little Rock (19-6)
Those that follow the mid-majors closely love Siena. And while I'm not sold on the Saints, they do have wins over Boise State, Cornell, Buffalo, St. Joseph's, and Niagara.
14) Northeastern (16-9); Vermont (20-7); Weber State (17-8); Robert Morris (19-8)
Colonial Athletic Association leader Northeastern holds on to the conference's automatic bid, due to their head-to-head victory over VCU (and despite the fact that the Huskies lost to Drexel and George Mason this past week).
15) American U (17-7); Morehead State (16-11); Cornell (17-7); Sam Houston State (14-9)
Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christie have identical conference records, but the Bearkats own two head-to-head wins over the Islanders.
16) Morgan State (15-10); Jacksonville (14-10); Radford (15-10); Cal State Northridge (12-10); Alabama State (14-8)
Radford replaces VMI in the Field after the Keydets fell 100-97 to Coastal Carolina. Radford and VMI clash on Saturday with Big South supremacy likely at stake.