Poll Watch • January 16

Polls

With Duke’s loss to Florida State earlier this week, the Blue Devils will inevitably slide out of the number one slot that they have held throughout the entire first half of the season.  How far will they fall?  With four undefeated teams banging on the door, and 15-1 Pittsburgh losing only one of four matchups against top 25 teams, it is possible that Duke may slide as far as #5 in tomorrow’s new poll.

Ohio State will become the #1 team in the country with an unblemished 18-0 record.  Kansas will undoubtedly move into the #2 slot, the close victories this week not nearly enough to leapfrog the Buckeyes.

Syracuse and Pittsburgh will take the #3 and #4 spots, but only one will hold a top 5 spot for more than a week.  ’Cuse and Pitt will face off immediately, playing the early Big Monday night game.

Which leaves unbeaten San Diego State at 19-0 or Duke at 16-1 rounding out the top five.  KenPom ranks SDSU at #16, and whether the Coaches or AP take note  of this low opinion remains to be seen.

• My Prediction

1. Ohio State
2. Kansas
3. Syracuse
4. Pittsburgh
5. Duke
6. San Diego State
7. Villanova
8. UConn
9. Brigham Young
10. Texas A&M

Purdue and Notre Dame both had two losses this week to dump them from top ten consideration, and Texas A&M had a marquis win over Mizzou to jump Texas in the standings.

UPDATE:  I nailed the coaches’ poll… the AP sees it a little differently.

AP

Coaches