College Basketball Power Rankings: January 22

     We had another wild week in college basketball and we can expect it from here on out.  Louisville was able to reach the top spot but fell to Syracuse 70-68 and Indiana was shocked at home by Wisconsin 64-59.  We also saw Gonzaga miss out on getting a huge road win at Butler as they turned the ball over in the final seconds and Butler squeaked by 64-63.  Here's what we have after a crazy week of college hoops.

1. Michigan (17-1, LW 4) - Call me a homer if you want but getting a road win at #10 Minnesota and doing it convincingly is nothing easy.  The Wolverines largest lead was 19 as Tim Haradaway Jr. scored 21 on 7-8 shooting with 4 three's.  If not for a sluggish start against OSU this team would still be undefeated.  Now they get a week off to prepare for Purdue.
2. Syracuse (18-1, LW 5) - A week after suspending their second leading scoring the Orange went into #1 Louisville and pulled off the 70-68 upset behind Brandon Triche's 23 points.  Then last night staved off a home upset of their own coming back against Cincinnati to win 57-55.  Their stellar PG Michael Carter-Williams came up huge late and finished with 16 points, 5 boards and 7 assists.
3. Kansas (16-1, LW 2) - Kansas came back late on Texas for a 64-49 road win to push their streak to 15 games.  But to extend that streak they will have to beat rival #11 Kansas State on the road.  The combination of Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey are proving to be one of the best inside-outside duos in the country.
4. Duke (16-1, LW 3) - After its first loss, Duke rebounded nicely against lowly Georgia Tech 73-57.  But still the loss of Ryan Kelly hurts this team badly and now they have a trip to Miami, the lone undefeated team in the conference.
5. Louisville (16-2, LW 1) - The Cardinals couldn't hold on to the #1 spot for more than a week but that loss was a tight one to a very good Syracuse team.  The loss doesn't hurt their stock too much but let's see how they handle 2 road games this week at Villanova and Georgetown.
6. Florida (14-2, LW 9) - Florida has been slowing climbing the charts even though they haven't been beating quality opponents, at least not until last Saturday when they crushed Missouri 83-52.  It was over before it started as the Gators jumped out to an 11-0 lead and were able to turn Missouri PG, Phil Pressey, over 10 times.
7. Indiana (16-2, LW 6) - The shocker of the week was Indiana's home loss to Wisconsin 64-49.  The Badgers are in a down year but have won 11 straight against the Hoosiers.
8. Arizona (16-1, LW 7) - After their loss to Oregon, the Wildcats have gotten back on track winning 2 straight road games.  They now host UCLA, a team that has been playing better as the season goes on.
9. Butler (16-2, LW 15) - Even without leading scorer Rotnei Clarke, Butler managed to pull out a huge home win over Gonzaga as Roosevelt Jones hit a buzzer-beater for the 64-63 victory.  Their schedule is favorable until a March 2nd meeting at VCU.
10. Gonzaga (17-2, LW 8) - The Zags narrowly escaped Butler with a win but fell short.  Still, you can't take much away from them for the loss.  They now have to prepare for a solid BYU team coming to their place.
11. Kansas State (15-2, LW NR) - The Wildcats have been under the radar but hold a win over Florida and their only losses coming to Michigan and Gonzaga.  They have a big game against Kansas this week and don't be surprised if there's an upset in the Octagon of Doom.
12. Michigan State (16-3, LW NR) - Sparty had a nice home win over Ohio State 59-56 holding them off late.  This is the time MSU usually starts hitting their stride and we'll see what they are made of this week as they travel to Wisconsin and #7 Indiana.
13. Minnesota (15-3, LW 10) - After starting conference play off great, Minnesota has lost two straight albeit to #7 Indiana and #1 Michigan.  Two roads games on the docket for the Gophers this week against Northwestern and Wisconsin.
14. Oregon (16-2, LW NR) - The Ducks have already taken out Pac-12 favorites Arizona and UCLA and have one of the most balanced offense in the country.  Oregon scores 76 a game while having 6 players that average between 8 and 12 points
15. Ohio State (13-4, LW 12) - The Buckeyes couldn't complete the comeback at Michigan State despite 28 points and 7 rebounds from Deshaun Thomas.  For this team to win big games consistently they need to find another scoring option to help Thomas.

Biggest Jump - Butler up 6
Biggest Drop - Creighton down 5

New Editions - #11 Kansas State, #12 Michigan State, #14 Oregon
Old News - Creighton, North Carolina State, San Diego State