Top 25

*previous rank in parentheses
**My choices for each team's five best wins are subjective - meaning I haven't simply listed a team's top five opponents according to kenpom or RPI numbers. The wins are listed chronologically.

1. Kentucky 28-1 (1)
Five Best Wins: Kansas(n), North Carolina, Louisville, Florida, @Vanderbilt

2. Syracuse 29-1 (2)
Five Best Wins: Florida, Marquette, @Cincinnati, Georgetown, @Louisville

3. Kansas 24-5 (4)
Five Best Wins: Georgetown(n), Ohio State, Baylor, @Baylor, Missouri

4. Missouri 25-4 (3)
Five Best Wins: Notre Dame(n), @Iowa State, @Baylor, Kansas, Baylor

5. Duke 25-4 (5)
Five Best Wins: Michigan State(n), Michigan(n), Kansas(n), @North Carolina, @Florida State

6. North Carolina 25-4 (6)
Five Best Wins: Michigan State(n), Wisconsin, Virginia, @Miami, @Virginia

7. Michigan State 24-5 (7)
Five Best Wins: Indiana, @Wisconsin, Michigan, @Ohio State, Wisconsin

8. Marquette 24-5 (10)
Five Best Wins: @Wisconsin, Washington(n), Louisville, Cincinnati, @Connecticut

9. Ohio State 23-6 (8)
Five Best Wins: Florida, Duke, Indiana, Michigan, @Wisconsin

10. Baylor 24-5 (11)
Five Best Wins: San Diego State, Saint Mary's(n), West Virginia(n), @Kansas State, Iowa State

11. Murray State 28-1 (12)
Five Best Wins: Southern Miss(n), Dayton, @Memphis, Saint Mary's, @Tennessee State

12. Georgetown 21-6 (9)
Five Best Wins: Memphis(n), @Alabama, Memphis, @Louisville, Marquette

13. Indiana 22-7 (18)
Five Best Wins: Kentucky, Notre Dame(n), Ohio State, Michigan, @Purdue

14. Wisconsin 21-8 (19)
Five Best Wins: Brigham Young(n), UNLV, @Purdue, Indiana, @Ohio State

15. Michigan 21-8 (14)
Five Best Wins: Iowa State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State

16. Wichita State 26-4 (20)
Five Best Wins: Colorado(n), UNLV, @Northern Iowa, @Creighton, @Davidson

17. UNLV 24-6 (24)
Five Best Wins: Nevada, North Carolina(n), California, New Mexico, San Diego State

18. Louisville 22-7 (16)
Five Best Wins: Vanderbilt, Memphis, @Seton Hall, Connecticut, @West Virginia

19. Florida 22-7 (13)
Five Best Wins: Arizona, Florida State, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, @Alabama

20. Florida State 19-9 (17)
Five Best Wins: North Carolina, @Duke, Virginia, Miami, @North Carolina State

21. New Mexico 22-6 (15)
Five Best Wins: Saint Louis, @Wyoming, Colorado State, @San Diego State, UNLV

22. Virginia 21-7 (21)
Five Best Wins: Drexel(n), Michigan, @Oregon, Miami, @North Carolina State

23. Notre Dame 20-9 (22)
Five Best Wins: @Louisville, Syracuse, @Seton Hall, Marquette, @West Virginia

24. Temple 22-6 (23)
Five Best Wins: Wichita State(n), Duke, @Saint Louis, St. Joseph's, Xavier

25. Iowa State 21-8 (NR)
Five Best Wins: Iowa, Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, @Kansas State

IN: Iowa State
OUT: Saint Louis

CBB Uniforms (1988-89 to Present): 5 Seeds

As you know by now, we're ranking the top 64 college basketball uniforms from the 1988-89 season to the present. For more on the process, read the introduction to the original post. And now the 5 seeds:

20) Kentucky (Tayshaun Prince): Same basic design as the 21st ranked Xavier unis, but the Cats have the edge due to the distinctive arched lettering on their jerseys.







19) Evansville (Marcus Wilson): RBP encourages the Purple Aces to bring back the T-shirt jerseys.



18) Connecticut (Ray Allen):"UCONN" should go back to being "Connecticut."






17) Oregon (Luke Jackson):Love the font, the numbering, the colors, and the "DUCKS" across the chest of the yellow alternates.

CBB Uniforms (1988-89 to Present): 6 Seeds

After taking a brief hiatus from the uniform rankings, RBP is back at it. We're ranking the 64 best college basketball uniforms from the 1988-89 season to the present. For more on the process, read the introduction to the original post. Here are the 6 seeds:

24) Georgetown (Alonzo Mourning): The iconic Georgetown grays are synonymous with Hoya Paranoia.





23) Florida State (Chris Singleton): All four colorways look great, and the Seminoles get bonus points for the giant feather.






22) Villanova (Tim Thomas):Nova's uniforms featured fantastic numbering, spectacular shorts, and a neckline that was a little too busy.




21) Xavier (Lionel Chalmers):Keep it clean; keep it simple.

Top 25

*previous rank in parentheses

1. Kentucky 26-1 (1)
2. Syracuse 27-1 (2)
3. Missouri 25-2 (3)
4. Kansas 20-5 (5)
5. Duke 23-4 (6)
6. North Carolina 23-4 (7)
7. Michigan State 22-5 (8)
8. Ohio State 22-5 (4)
9. Georgetown 20-5 (10)
10. Marquette 22-5 (11)
11. Baylor 22-5 (9)
12. Murray State 26-1 (14)
13. Florida 21-6 (17)
14. Michigan 20-7 (21)
15. New Mexico 22-4 (NR)
16. Louisville 21-6 (15)
17. Florida State 19-7 (19)
18. Indiana 20-7 (12)
19. Wisconsin 20-7 (16)
20. Wichita State 24-4 (22)
21. Virginia 20-6 (20)
22. Notre Dame 19-8 (24)
23. Temple 21-5 (NR)
24. UNLV 22-6 (13)
25. Saint Louis 22-5 (NR)

IN: New Mexico, Temple, Saint Louis
OUT: Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Gonzaga

Top 25

*previous rank in parentheses

1. Kentucky 25-1 (1)
This Week: Mississippi

2. Syracuse 25-1 (2)
This Week: @Louisville, @Rutgers

3. Missouri 23-2 (4)
This Week: Oklahoma State, @Texas A&M

4. Ohio State 21-4 (3)
This Week: @Minnesota, @Michigan

5. Kansas 20-5 (9)
This Week: @Kansas State, Texas Tech

6. Duke 21-4 (11)
This Week: North Carolina State, @Boston College

7. North Carolina 21-4 (6)
This Week: @Miami, Clemson

8. Michigan State 20-5 (12)
This Week: Wisconsin, @Purdue

9. Baylor 21-4 (5)
This Week: Iowa State, Kansas State

10. Georgetown 19-5 (7)
This Week: @Providence

11. Marquette 21-5 (14)
This Week: @Connecticut

12. Indiana 19-6 (16)
This Week: Northwestern, @Iowa

13. UNLV 22-4 (17)
This Week: @TCU, @New Mexico

14. Murray State 24-1 (10)
This Week: @Southeast Missouri State, Saint Mary's

15. Louisville 20-5 (23)
This Week: Syracuse, @DePaul

16. Wisconsin 19-6 (22)
This Week: @Michigan State, Penn State

17. Florida 19-6 (8)
This Week: @Alabama, @Arkansas

18. Saint Mary's 23-3 (15)
This Week: Loyola Marymount, @Murray State

19. Florida State 17-7 (13)
This Week: Virginia Tech, @North Carolina State

20. Virginia 19-5 (18)
This Week: @Clemson, Maryland

21. Michigan 19-7 (24)
This Week: Ohio State

22. Wichita State 22-4 (25)
This Week: Missouri State, @Davidson

23. San Diego State 20-4 (20)
This Week: New Mexico, @Air Force

24. Notre Dame 17-8 (NR)
This Week: Rutgers, @Villanova

25. Gonzaga 20-4 (NR)
This Week: @Santa Clara, @San Francisco

IN: Notre Dame, Gonzaga
OUT: Creighton, Mississippi State

New Air Jordans Disappoint.

If you watched North Carolina-Duke or Syracuse-Georgetown on Wednesday night, you may have noticed the kicks being worn by some of the Tar Heels and pretty much all of the Hoyas. Carolina and Georgetown are both Jordan Brand schools and, therefore, got first dibs on sporting the Air Jordan 2012 model. The shoe is scheduled to be made available to the general public on February 25. I'm not a fan, but I did stumble upon a funny story (with language that may offend) about Michael Jordan and the designer of the Air Jordan XI (the shiny patent leather ones), Tinker Hatfield. Incidentally, Hatfield is a co-designer of the Air Jordan 2012. Here's a video about the Air Jordan 2012 that is really stupid.

Lobos Obviously Excited About New Uniforms

RBP has taken a break this week from its uniform rankings project, but that doesn't mean we aren't paying attention to the hardwood fashions of the day. The New Mexico Lobos will be wearing the uniforms pictured above when they square off against Wyoming tomorrow. Back in December, we reported on the hideous unis donned by the University of Detroit for the Dick Vitale court dedication. While I don't think the Lobos' duds are as bad as Detroit's ill-fitting outfits, these are, for the record, a horrible idea. For more on the unis, check out Jeff Eisenberg's post over at The Dagger.

Notes: Duke at North Carolina

1. Wow. Just wow. What a finish. What a game. Every now and then the Duke-UNC rivalry lives up to its considerable hype. Tonight we witnessed one of those games. I had written Duke off after the Tar Heels built up a 13-point second half lead. Down 10 with 2 and a half minutes left, a comeback seemed all but impossible. Rivers' 3 at the buzzer gave new life to a Blue Devils squad that has looked like a solid team with little chance of competing against the Kentuckys and Ohio States of the world come March. And UNC's collapse raises all sorts of questions about a team that seemed to have righted itself after its embarrassing 33-point loss to Florida State.

2. Love him or hate him, Austin Rivers is going to be a special player at the college level (assuming he sticks around for another year). Sure, he's a gunner, and it's hard to argue that he makes those around him better. He's a talented scorer who doesn't bring much else to the table at this early stage of his career. That being said, he's leading the 9th ranked Blue Devils in scoring as a freshman and just put 29 on the rival Tar Heels. There aren't many players in the country who could have done what he did tonight.

3. People have been saying it all year, but it's worth mentioning again after tonight's collapse - the Tar Heels lack the killer instinct possessed by teams that win championships. The talent and skill are there. I'm just not sure Roy Williams' squad has the mentality needed by a team that is going to win 6 straight games in March and April.

4. It should be mentioned that Carolina's top 4 players all had good individual games tonight. Harrison Barnes finished with 25 points with most of those coming in the second half. Tyler Zeller had as good a first half as anyone has had in the country this year and finished with 23 points and 11 boards. John Henson tallied 12 and 17. And Kendall Marshall finished with 14 points and 8 assists. (I thought Marshall did a really good job of being a threat to score tonight.)

5. Stat of the night - UNC hit one 3-pointer as compared to the 14 made by the Blue Devils. At some point, Roy Williams has to make adjustments. Duke made a number of difficult shots, but, if UNC decides to make taking away the 3-pointer a priority, I think the Tar Heels win that game.

6. Losing Dexter Strickland to injury for the rest of the season certainly hurts UNC's depth, especially at the point guard position where Strickland served as Marshall's backup. And while I'm not suggesting the injury has helped the Tar Heels, it has provided an opportunity for sophomore wing Reggie Bullock. Bullock should have been starting at the two spot the entire year. He's UNC's best perimeter defender and adds length to an already extremely long starting five.

7. Call me crazy, but, despite Carolina's failures against Florida State and now Duke, I still think this team has a chance to win the National Championship. They wouldn't be my pick right now, but I'm not writing them off, either.

8. Oh, and one more thing, we all know the popular narrative this season about the Tar Heels has been that they don't play defense. As recently as two weeks ago, in my midseason awards post, I made a crack about how much more awful UNC's defense would be without John Henson. Upon further examination, I'm not so sure I was being totally fair (or particularly accurate for that matter). I'm not saying the Heels are stalwarts on the defensive end, but an examination of the numbers reveals that this team actually plays pretty good defense. Statistical guru Ken Pomeroy currently has Carolina rated as the nation's 14th best defense. I should also note that the Heels' vaunted offense is rated 17th in the country according to Pomeroy's system. No ranking system is without its flaws, but I find Pomeroy's system to be both an accurate evaluator of a team's play and a reliable predictor of a team's success. I'm not suggesting that UNC is actually a great defensive team or that they put forth maximum effort on that side of the ball. In fact, I continue to believe that, given the Heels' personnel, they could be a much better defensive team. I'm simply saying that the narrative we've all come to believe concerning UNC's supposed ineptitude on the defensive end doesn't quite ring true.

Ten Thoughts: Anthony Davis Edition

1. Maybe I should take a step back before I weigh in, but Anthony Davis' performance tonight against Florida was one of the more remarkable defensive displays I've ever witnessed. The fact that Davis did it against a Top 10 team just adds to his performance's significance. I have to admit that I was surprised that Davis only had 4 blocks. (Only in the world of Anthony Davis can we talk about only 4 blocks.) Nevertheless, he seemed to be all over the floor, altered seemingly countless shots, and discouraged shots from even being taken when he wasn't altering them. Florida appeared to be demoralized before the first half was even over, and that was due, in large part, to Davis' presence.

2. About a week ago, I ranked the Player of the Year candidates in the following order: Jared Sullinger, Thomas Robinson, and Anthony Davis. I also pointed out that the gap between Sullinger at 1 and Davis at 3 was negligible. Well, Davis moves to the top of the list after his performance tonight.

3. Basketball is alive and well in the Bluegrass state. Kentucky has won 16 straight and is the country's number one team. Murray State is undefeated. Louisville, on a five-game winning streak of its own, appears to be back from the dead after manhandling Connecticut on Monday.

4. Wichita State center Garrett Stutz made his first appearance on RBP on Sunday, as his photo was featured in the weekly Top 25 post. If you haven't seen him play, you're missing out. He's a mobile 7-footer with a nice touch who shoots 82% from the charity stripe. After watching the Shockers beat Indiana State on Saturday, I'm convinced Wichita State is a team that could make a run in March.

5. I may need to revise my Coach of the Year list to include Mike Brey. After losing 3 of their top 5 players to graduation, the Fighting Irish were projected to finish in the bottom half of the Big East. Then, fifth-year senior Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame's most talented player and an All-Big East candidate, was lost for the season due to a torn ACL. Not surprisingly, the Irish struggled in the non-conference and entered Big East play with an 8-5 record that included neutral court losses to Georgia and Maryland. The Irish have been on a tear ever since, compiling a 7-3 record in Big East play, which includes wins over Louisville, Syracuse, Connecticut, and Marquette. The Irish are legitimately in the conversation for hottest team in the country and on the cusp of being ranked in the Top 25. At some point, I will learn to stop doubting Mike Brey and his mock turtlenecks.

6. Maybe we all wrote Pittsburgh off too soon. Prior to junior point guard Travon Woodall going down with a groin strain and abdominal tear, the Panthers were 6-1 and rated 17th in the country. By the time he made his return against Louisville on January 21, Pitt had fallen to 11-8 and were 0-6 in Big East play. While they loss to Louisville, the Panthers have since reeled off a 4-game winning streak that includes wins over Georgetown and West Virginia. Pitt has a favorable Big East schedule remaining, and I wouldn't be surprised if Jamie Dixon has his squad on the bubble come Selection Sunday.

7. Anyone else surprised how much better Syracuse is when Fab Melo is in the lineup? Jim Boeheim's team legitimately goes 10 deep, but Syracuse has no one that can replace Melo in the middle of its 2-3 zone. The sophomore's shot-blocking is a huge part of the Orange's success. Syracuse remains undefeated with Melo on the floor.

8. Xavier's 8-0 start seems like a distant memory. Since the brawl in the Crosstown Shootout against rival Cincinnati, Xavier is 7-8. The Musketeers have lost to Oral Roberts, Long Beach State, Hawaii, Southern Illinois, LaSalle, Dayton, Saint Louis, and Memphis. Their most impressive win during that time is probably a home victory over 15-9 St. Joseph's.

9. Illinois clearly has trouble focusing after big wins. After beating then fifth-ranked Ohio State on January 10, the Fighting Illini lost their following game at lowly Penn State. Three weeks later Bruce Weber's squad topped then-tenth ranked Michigan State and followed that up with a home loss to a mediocre Northwestern team this past Sunday. Unfortunately for the Illini faithful, underachieving has become a hallmark of Weber's tenure.

10. Congrats to the Evansville Purple Aces for their victory over 15th-ranked Creighton tonight. If I ever move back to western Kentucky/southern Indiana, you can bet I will be purchasing season tickets and enjoying Missouri Valley Conference basketball in the Ford Center. (I should also note that I will be eating Turoni's pizza on a nightly basis and taking my lunches at the Gerst Haus in the fall/winter and Tin Fish in the spring/summer.) Oh, and Creighton doesn't know how to play defense.

Top 25

*previous rank in parentheses
**Ken Pomeroy numbers are current through Saturday's games.

1. Kentucky 23-1 (1)
KenPom Rating: 2
KenPom Offense: 4
KenPom Defense: 7

2. Syracuse 23-1 (2)
KenPom Rating: 6
KenPom Offense: 7
KenPom Defense: 15

3. Ohio State 20-3 (3)
KenPom Rating: 1
KenPom Offense: 12
KenPom Defense: 1

4. Missouri 21-2 (4)
KenPom Rating: 7
KenPom Offense: 1
KenPom Defense: 57

5. Baylor 21-2 (5)
KenPom Rating: 12
KenPom Offense: 9
KenPom Defense: 27

6. North Carolina 20-3 (6)
KenPom Rating: 8
KenPom Offense: 17
KenPom Defense: 14

7. Georgetown 18-4 (11)
KenPom Rating: 14
KenPom Offense: 56
KenPom Defense: 6

8. Florida 19-4 (12)
KenPom Rating: 15
KenPom Offense: 3
KenPom Defense: 98

9. Kansas 18-5 (7)
KenPom Rating: 3
KenPom Offense: 10
KenPom Defense: 3

10. Murray State 23-0 (10)
KenPom Rating: 61
KenPom Offense: 62
KenPom Defense: 79

11. Duke 19-4 (8)
KenPom Rating: 11
KenPom Offense: 2
KenPom Defense: 86

12. Michigan State 18-5 (9)
KenPom Rating: 5
KenPom Offense: 14
KenPom Defense: 4

13. Florida State 16-6 (16)
KenPom Rating: 17
KenPom Offense: 90
KenPom Defense: 5

14. Marquette 19-5 (13)
KenPom Rating: 23
KenPom Offense: 42
KenPom Defense: 22

15. Saint Mary's 22-2 (19)
KenPom Rating: 26
KenPom Offense: 11
KenPom Defense: 76

16. Indiana 18-6 (17)
KenPom Rating: 9
KenPom Offense: 5
KenPom Defense: 67

17. UNLV 21-4 (14)
KenPom Rating: 18
KenPom Offense: 16
KenPom Defense: 36

18. Virginia 18-4 (15)
KenPom Rating: 19
KenPom Offense: 87
KenPom Defense: 8

19. Creighton 21-3 (18)
KenPom Rating: 24
KenPom Offense: 6
KenPom Defense: 123

20. San Diego State 20-3 (23)
KenPom Rating: 63
KenPom Offense: 113
KenPom Defense: 35

21. Mississippi State 18-5 (22)
KenPom Rating: 68
KenPom Offense: 25
KenPom Defense: 149

22. Wisconsin 18-6 (21)
KenPom Rating: 4
KenPom Offense: 35
KenPom Defense: 2

23. Louisville 18-5 (25)
KenPom Rating: 29
KenPom Offense: 123
KenPom Defense: 9

24. Michigan 17-7 (24)
KenPom Rating: 28
KenPom Offense: 23
KenPom Defense: 55

25. Wichita State 20-4 (NR)
KenPom Rating: 16
KenPom Offense: 13
KenPom Defense: 25

IN: Wichita State
OUT: Vanderbilt

CBB Uniforms (1988-89 to Present): 7 Seeds

With this update, RBP moves in to the Top 25 in its ranking of the best uniforms from the 1988-89 season to the present. For more on that process, read the introduction to the original post. And now the 7 seeds:

28) UNLV (Shawn Marion): Huge fan of the silver "Rebels" on the home unis.





27) LSU (Anthony Hickey): The purple and yellow combo and the "LSU" in big, block font make the Bayou Bengals' uniform one of the NCAA's most recognizable.




26) Louisville (DeJuan Wheat):Louisville gets bonus points for being one of the first schools to feature a black alternate uniform and for being the only school to feature a cardinal bird wearing a sweater and no bottoms.




25) Georgia Tech (Kenny Anderson):Check out Lethal Weapon 3 (Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott, and Brian Oliver) posing in their gold unis.