THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS WITH COMMENTS:

*--* Rk School (Rec.) Comment 1 KENTUCKY (19-3) It’s simple: Wildcats are playing better than anybody 2 PITTSBURGH (17-3) Panthers led West Virginia by as many as 39 points 3 ARIZONA (18-2) Close for comfort at Washington, but don’t worry, UCLA is next 4 FLORIDA (20-3) Freshmen standouts: Anthony Roberson, Matt Walsh and Christian Drejer 5 KANSAS (18-5) Jayhawks lead the Big 12 at the moment, but four teams are in the race 6 TEXAS (16-4) If T.J. Ford shot better than 40%, he’d really be dangerous 7 LOUISVILLE (18-2) One-point loss at St. Louis ends winning streak. Marquette looms large 8 OKLAHOMA (16-4) Even Hollis Price couldn’t quite pull out the Texas game 9 DUKE (16-3) Road games at Wake Forest, Virginia will help decide ACC pecking order 10 NOTRE DAME (19-4) Upset of Pittsburgh was fourth victory over a top-10 team 11 MARQUETTE (18-3) Saturday showdown with Louisville is key to Conference USA 12 ILLINOIS (16-4) The Fighting Illini are 11-0 at home 13 OKLAHOMA STATE (19-3) Poor shooting could thwart great defensive efforts 14 WAKE FOREST (16-3) Maybe, just maybe, Wake will break the Duke-Maryland hold on the ACC 15 MARYLAND (15-6) Struggling Terrapins barely averted a third consecutive loss 16 CREIGHTON (22-2) Dodged a potential loss in overtime against Southwest Missouri State 17 XAVIER (17-4) David West moved up Wooden Award list with 47-point game 18 MISSISSIPPI STATE (15-5) Bulldogs better brace themselves for Feb. 23 game at Kentucky 19 SYRACUSE (16-4) After loss to Connecticut, need to beat Notre Dame at home Saturday 20 CALIFORNIA (16-4) At 6 feet 10, Amit Tamir leads the Pac-10 in three-point shooting 21 DAYTON (17-4) Xavier loss nevertheless proved Flyers belong 22 STANFORD (17-6) Julius Barnes’ 33 points against Oregon State put him in Casey Jacobsen territory 23 UTAH (18-4) Utes have won 13 of 14. Only loss was by two to San Diego State 24 ST. JOSEPH’S (17-3) The further Hawks go in NCAA, the more we get to hear of the Phil Martelli Show 25 GEORGIA (13-7) Best dang seven-loss team around

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