So far, so good

Some teams haven't needed hefty non-league schedules

By Stewart Mandel, CNNSI.com

There are only 20 spots in these here rankings, so to be perfectly honest, we at Power Rankings Central sometimes find ourselves coming up with excuses for why we excluded some of the teams we did.

Throughout non-conference season, the most common had to be: They haven't played anybody.

But wouldn't you know it, some of those same teams are now coming back to burn us, shrugging off their otherwise fraudulent qualities and continuing to knock off all comers, even with a step up in competition.

Take Auburn. A relatively anonymous team coming off a 12-16 season, it was easy to ignore the Tigers when they were whooping up on the likes of Wofford, Southeast Louisiana and South Carolina State, even when they raised their record to 11-2.

Now, however, they're 4-0 in the SEC, knocking off Vanderbilt, Arkansas and South Carolina before their most impressive showing to date, a 77-68 win over top 10 Alabama on Saturday. At 14-2, Auburn is theoretically only about four or five wins away from NCAA qualifying.

More dramatically, there's Oklahoma State. With the Cowboys, it wasn't a case of their schedule -- which included Michigan State and Fresno State -- obscuring their 13-1 start, but rather the depth of their conference and the memory of last year, when OSU began 13-0 only to bow out in the first round of both the Big 12 and NCAA tourneys.

While the same could end up holding true this year, it's impossible to ignore the Cowboys any longer after a week in which they knocked off rival Oklahoma in a thrilling Bedlam game then destroyed highly ranked Missouri 76-56.

Of course, there isn't enough room to include everyone that's made an impression early in conference play. That would mean giving up on some other teams for no apparent reason. Nevertheless, keep an eye on California, Michigan, Iowa, St. Joe's, Purdue, Clemson and Dayton, all of whom began in obscurity but are quickly climbing the charts.

Men's College Basketball Power Rankings
Rank	LW		Team
1	2		Arizona Wildcats (13-1) All the ‘Cats did to regain the top spot was go on the road and survive a furious USC upset bid, then hand tumbling UCLA its worst loss ever at Pauley Pavilion. This week: vs. Arizona State, Wednesday; at Kansas, Saturday.
2	4		Pittsburgh Panthers (14-1) The Panthers' balance is unmatched, with four players (none of them Brandin Knight) hitting double figures at West Virginia and reserve Chevon Troutman scoring 23 against Syracuse. This week: Saturday vs. Georgetown.
3	3		Florida Gators (15-2) It was a big week for Matt Bonner, who scored a game-high 25 against Tennessee, then delivered the late go-ahead dunk against South Carolina. This week: Wednesday vs. Vanderbilt.
4	6		Texas Longhorns (12-2) Talk about an inside-outside combo. Guard T.J. Ford, who had a career-high 25 points against Texas A&M, is still the star, but center James Thomas is just as valuable, averaging a double-double. This week: vs. Missouri, Saturday.
5	1		Duke Blue Devils (12-1) Mike Krzyzewski was incredibly subdued during Maryland's second-half explosion Saturday, like he's been expecting the other shoe to drop for some time. This week: at N.C. State, Wednesday; vs. Georgia Tech, Saturday.
6	8		Georgia Bulldogs (10-4) Using a rare press, Georgia held Arkansas to 31 percent shooting, forced 12 first-half turnovers and got up by as much as 29 on the road . This week: vs. Tennessee, Wednesday; vs. Auburn, Saturday.
7	5		Oklahoma Sooners (11-3) The last-second loss to Oklahoma State was heartbreaking, but the Sooners responded nicely, dispatching Iowa State behind nine Hollis Price 3-pointers. This week: vs. Texas Tech, Monday; at Baylor, Saturday.
8	10		Louisville Cardinals (12-1) How giddy must Rick Pitino have been to gain Marvin Stone? The Kentucky transfer has averaged 14 points and eight boards since his Dec. 28 debut. This week: vs. DePaul, Wednesday; at Tennessee, Saturday.
9	13		Kansas Jayhawks (13-3) Kirk Hinrich is on a tear, scoring 28, 19 and 26 points in his last three outings while shooting 9-of-15 (60 percent) from 3-point land. This week: at Colorado, Wednesday; vs. Arizona, Saturday.
10	--		Oklahoma State Cowboys (14-1) So why are these guys so good? In typical Eddie Sutton fashion, it's the defense, with opponents shooting only 37.2 percent and averaging 58.9 points. This week: at Baylor, Tuesday; at Texas Tech, Sunday.
11	7		Alabama Crimson Tide (12-3) It was an up-and-down week for the Tide, who scored a nice win over Mississippi State but came out flat at archrival Auburn and never gained control. This week: at Ole Miss, Tuesday; vs. Kentucky, Saturday.
12	17		Wake Forest Demon Deacons (12-1) The Demon Deacons brushed off their first loss, to Duke, like it never happened, fending off Maryland and disposing of Georgia Tech, both at home. This week: at Virginia, Thursday; vs. Florida State, Sunday.
13	19		Kentucky Wildcats (13-3) The lopsided nature of Kentucky's 88-73 win over Notre Dame was quite unexpected, with the Erik Daniels-Chuck Hayes-Marquis Estill frontcourt dominating. This week: vs. Auburn, Wednesday; at Alabama, Saturday.
14	16		Maryland Terrapins (10-4) The normal protocol here is to drop teams when they lose, but the Terps get extra credit for beating No. 1, and doing it quite handily. This week: at North Carolina, Wednesday; at Clemson, Saturday.
15	9		Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-3) The Kentucky game was a rough start to a three-game road swing for the Fighting Irish, who have yet to regain their early December swagger. This week: at Providence, Tuesday; at Boston College, Saturday.
16	18		Creighton Bluejays (15-1) Behind another big effort (24 points) from Kyle Korver, the Bluejays wiped out an eight-point halftime deficit to beat Southern Illinois going away. This week: vs. Illinois State, Monday; at Evansville, Thursday; vs. TCU, Sunday.
17	12		Connecticut Huskies (11-2) The Huskies rallied from a 23-4 deficit at North Carolina to go down to the wire, only to blow it by waiting until three seconds remained (and trailing by one) before fouling a Tar Heel. This week: at Miami, Monday; vs. Villanova, Saturday.
18	--		Indiana Hoosiers (13-3) The Hoosiers responded to Mike Davis criticizing their toughness by outrebounding Northwestern 30-16 and Illinois 45-32, and trouncing both. This week: vs. Ohio State, Tuesday; at Purdue, Saturday.
19	11		Illinois Fighting Illini (12-3) In dropping consecutive road games to Iowa and Indiana, the Illini failed to get adequate offensive production outside of Brian Cook and Dee Brown. This week: vs. Purdue, Wednesday; at Penn State, Saturday.
20	--		Auburn Tigers (15-2) Just when you thought the SEC couldn't get any deeper, along come the Tigers, led by Marquis Daniels and Marco Killingsworth, boasting their best team in four years. This week: at Kentucky, Wednesday; at Georgia, Saturday.

Dropped out: Missouri, Mississippi State, LSU