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Power Rankings (cont.)
Posted: Thursday January 4, 2007 12:22PM; Updated: Thursday January 4, 2007 12:22PM
CLICK ABOVE FOR 6-10
NCAA Basketball Power Rankings Rank LW Team 11 12 
Oklahoma State (14-1)Mario Boggan at first-team All-America power forward? Ahead of Tyler Hansbrough? And Glen Davis? And Jo Noah or Al Horford? It's really not that crazy. Let's compare the stats (and keep in mind that the Cowboys have only one loss, too):
Boggan: 21.7 points, 7.5 boards, 62.5 FG%, 80.0 FT% Davis: 19.7 points, 10.7 boards 52.4 FG%, 70.9 FT% Hansbrough: 18.1 points, 7.6 boards, 53.9 FG%, 72.2 FT% Noah: 12.3 points, 8.0 boards, 65.1 FG%, 61.8 FT% Horford: 12.7 points, 8.5 boards, 64.8 FG%, 61.0 FT%
Noah and Horford are sharing a spotlight. Boggan shoots a higher percentage (from the field and the stripe) than Big Baby or Psycho T. And Boggan, if you watch an Oklahoma State game, rarely takes a bad shot. He's been around long enough (he's 23!) to know what a quality shot looks like.
Next three: 1/6 vs. Baylor, 1/10 at Kansas, 1/13 at Nebraska.12 11 
Oregon Ducks (13-0)The Ducks won their Pac-10 opener on Dec. 30 over Oregon State, making them the first U of O team to start a season 13-0 since 1937-38. That was Oregon's Season On The Brink, as it went on to win the first NCAA tournament title in 1939. In the Tourney Blog last March, I caught up with the last living member of that "Tall Firs" team, John Dick, who told a few great stories, including this one from the title game: "Bobby Anet, our captain, dove for a loose ball that was going out of bounds right in the vicinity of the [NCAA championship] trophy. He batted the ball back into the court, and in the course of his flight he hit that trophy, knocking it over and breaking the the little metal basketball player right off at the ankles. So when they gave us the trophy afterwards, they had to do a two-hand presentation."
Next three: 1/4 vs. USC, 1/6 vs. UCLA, 1/11 at Arizona State.13 13 
Air Force (15-1)"I am a Motown freak." That's what Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik recently told the Denver Post, giving us something Air Force-related to write about other than their brilliant level of offensive efficiency. (Or perhaps he was simply firing back after we wasted his Rankings space on music last time?) We've learned that Bzdelik has, among other bands, rocked Earth, Wind & Fire during a Falcons workout. Said senior guard Matt McCraw, "When we don't make enough shots in practice, we have to run. Sometimes, though, Coach will give us a break if a player can answer a question. He'll quiz us and say: 'Who is the artist that recorded this song?' I can still get tripped up, because all those [Motown] artists sound the same, and I can't always tell The Temptations from The Four Tops."
Next three: 1/6 vs. UNLV, 1/9 vs. New Mexico, 1/13 at Wyoming.14 14 
Alabama Crimson Tide (13-1)The Tuscaloosa News wrote that about 300 Alabama fans showed up at the city's airport on Wednesday simply to greet new football coach Nick Saban when his plane hit the tarmac. Seriously. (It was also reported that a woman who was chanting, "Praise the Lord, God is so good, Nick is now in the 'Bama hood" -- and pictured with Saban here -- was arrested hours later for a DUI.) Meanwhile, coach Mark Gottfried has the campus' better team (his hoops Tide are 13-1) but the crowd at Coleman Coliseum for his team's win over Oklahoma on Jan. 1 was 3,081 under capacity. And Gottfried's salary of $1 million per year, which had been $100,000 more than the last football coach, Mike Shula, was making is now $3 million less than what Saban signed for. No justice for the hoopsters, I tell ya.
Next three: 1/6 at Arkansas, 1/9 vs. LSU, 1/17 at Vanderbilt.15 - 
West Virginia Mountaineers (12-1)A New York Times story from Jan. 3 tells us Google is now using an algorithm to identify quality candidates for its job openings. Applicants fill out an "elaborate online survey" full of normal and abnormal questions, and "the answers are fed into a series of formulas created by Google's mathematicians that calculate a score -- from zero to 100 -- meant to predict how well a person will fit into its chaotic and competitive culture." I point this out here because I suspect crafty Mountaineers coach John Beilein may also be using an algorithm to identify talent for his abnormal system. WVU lost all of his stars from 2005-06, and its top three scorers this year were all unrated by Scout.com in high school (Frank Young and Darris Nichols each had three stars, while Joe Alexander had two). And yet Beilein's team is 12-1, looking capable of finishing in the top four in the Big East. I suspect he'll continue to keep the algorithm a secret.
Next three: 1/6 vs. St. John's, 1/9 at Notre Dame, 1/13 at Marquette.16 - 
Clemson Tigers (15-0)Are you sold on Clemson yet? The majority opinion is still "no," as the Tigers are one of just three unblemished teams in the country, yet aren't in the top 20 of the latest AP poll (they're No. 23). I'm starting to come around on Oliver Purnell's boys, though. They lack a blockbuster win but their schedule hasn't been all puff: Clemson has Ws at home over Mississippi State and Georgia, as well as road wins at Old Dominion, South Carolina and Florida State. The Tigers needed a Cliff Hammonds layup with three seconds left to beat the 'Noles -- and Hammond required two IVs after the game to treat dehydration -- but it's not easy winning in Tallahassee. Just ask Florida.
Next three: 1/6 vs. Georgia Tech, 1/9 at N.C. State, 1/13 at Maryland.ON THE CUSP: Marquette, Ohio State, Nevada, Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Maryland, Southern Illinois, UConn, Drexel, Virginia, Michigan State, Texas, LSU.
Send your Power Rankings mail to Luke Winn here.
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