Suite101

Florida Heads Top 20 Rankings

Unbeaten Gators are number one in Suite's NCAA top 20 poll

© Mark Barnes

Nov 22, 2006

Florida has cruised early and appears unbeatable. The Gators remain number one in our NCAA Top 20 poll. Solid Pittsburgh and surprising Marquette are close behind.

  1. Florida – One route after another, along with stellar performances from the Gators’ amazing front line, keeps Florida on top.
  2. Pittsburgh – A 5-0 start, with no close games helps the Panthers leap to number 2.
  3. North Carolina – The Tar Heels got a scare from Winthrop, but Tyler Hansbrough won’t allow this dynamic squad to slip early.
  4. LSU – The Tigers have yet to be tested, but they’re perfect so far, and they were a Final Four team in 2005-06, so we like them.
  5. Marquette – This may seem high for a team that didn’t make our pre-season NCAA top 20 poll, but easy wins over a solid Texas Tech team and Duke made us take notice.
  6. UCLA – Great performances by numbers two through three pushed the Bruins down a bit, but they’re off to a perfect start and playing well.
  7. Wisconsin – The Badgers are perfect so far, and we love Alando Tucker and the Wisconsin style.
  8. Ohio State – We don’t love the Buckeyes as much as most pollsters do. When Greg Oden arrives in January, we may think otherwise.
  9. Alabama – The Crimson Tide is athletic and unbeaten. That’s enough for us.
  10. Washington – We knew freshman center Spencer Hawes would be good, but 3.3 blocks and 65% shooting every night, we could never have predicted.
  11. Connecticut – The Huskies are cruising through an easy early-season schedule, but they’re young and still unbeaten. It’s hard not to notice.
  12. Georgia Tech – The Yellow Jackets are perfect and upset a very good Memphis team.
  13. Kansas – Upset by Oral Roberts in week one, the Jayhawks are back on the winning side of things and are simply too good to overlook.
  14. Texas A & M – The Aggies are beating up on the little sisters of the NCAA, but Texas A & M is deep and balanced and deserving of this spot in our NCAA top 20.
  15. Syracuse – Looks like another typical season for the Orangemen. They’re beating up on stiffs early and should make the NCAA tournament, where they’ll likely exit in the first or second round.
  16. Nevada – The Wolf Pack can no longer be looked at as a college basketball Cinderella. Nick Fazekas is one of the best players in college basketball, and he has a solid supporting cast.
  17. Maryland – A perfect 6-0 start, including a nice win over Michigan State, makes the Terrapins look very tough.
  18. Memphis -- The Tigers were upset by Georgia Tech, but Memphis is still athletic, deep and dangerous.
  19. Duke -- Upset early by Marquette, but at this point, our NCAA top 20 poll just wouldn't be the same without the Blue Devils.
  20. Southern Illinois – We ranked the Salukis in our pre-season NCAA top 20 poll; they’re unbeaten early, and they have five returning starters, so we’re sticking with them.

The copyright of the article Florida Heads Top 20 Rankings in College Basketball is owned by Mark Barnes. Permission to republish Florida Heads Top 20 Rankings in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.





Post this Article to facebook Add this Article to del.icio.us! Digg this Article furl this Article Add this Article to Reddit Add this Article to Technorati Add this Article to Newsvine Add this Article to Windows Live Add this Article to Yahoo Add this Article to StumbleUpon Add this Article to BlinkLists Add this Article to Spurl Add this Article to Google Add this Article to Ask Add this Article to Squidoo