College Basketball Power Rankings: March 12

The regular season is over and we are only a week away from the NCAA tournament.  Some teams showed us what they were made of to close out their season (Duke and Indiana) while others seemed to be looking ahead (Kansas and Florida).  Duke and Gonzaga are tops with Indiana and Louisville hot on their heels.  There's a lot more to be told as the major conference tournaments start this week.  Let's get it.

1. Duke (27-4, LW 3) - Duke's rout of North Carolina on the road 69-53 and the return of Ryan Kelly puts the Blue Devils back on top.  Kelly not only provides a scoring lift but he makes the rest of the team better just by being on the court.  Case in point, Mason Plumlee had his best in the past month game at UNC (23 pts, 13 rebs) because of the spacing of Kelly.
2. Gonzaga (30-2, LW 1) - Gonzaga could have been listed as 1B because I still feel they are a legit team, Duke is just a little better.  They closed out their undefeated conference season with a 65-51 win over St. Mary's last night.  The WCC was no match for them but people just want to see if they are worthy of the #1 seed they will receive.
3. Indiana (26-5, LW 2) - Earlier is the week Indiana lost at home to Ohio State 67-58 which opened the door for the Big Ten championship.  It all came down to their road game at Michigan and Cody Zeller made a layup with 14 seconds left for their first out right Big Ten title since 1993.
4. Louisville (26-5, LW 7) - The Cardinals avenged their 5 OT loss to Notre Dame 73-57 behind Gorgui Dieng's 20 and 11.  This team is poised to make a strong run in the Big East and NCAA tournaments after winning 10 of their last 11.
5. Georgetown (24-5, LW 4) - Georgetown is another Big East team that's playing really well.  The lost to Villanova to begin the week 67-57 but came back with holding Jim Boeheim's team to its lowest points of his career 61-39.  The Big East tournament will be one of the best of Championship week.
6. Kansas (26-5, LW 5) - Kansas lost to Baylor 81-58, their worst loss in seven years.  They could have won't the Big 12 title outright but instead had to share it with their rival Kansas State.  The Jayhawks might have been looking ahead to the tournaments because they seemed uninterested.
7. Michigan State (24-7, LW 11) - Sparty finished their season with a solid win over Wisconsin 58-43.  Keith Appling has gotten back on track scoring 35 points in his last two games.  This team is also dangerous come tournament time and this year is no different.
8. Michigan (25-6, LW 8) - Ugh.  The entire Big Ten was watching, Michigan State and Ohio State fans were even cheering for them, but Michigan choked away their game against Indiana and a four way tie for the Big Ten title.  The Wolverines lost a five point lead with 50 seconds left because of missed FREE THROWS by Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr.  Next up Penn State in the B1G tourney, great.
9. Florida (24-6, LW 9) - The Gators had a SEC title all wrapped up before they played Kentucky so losing 61-57 only hurts their seeding for the time being.  Florida didn't score in the last seven and a half minutes of the game, we'll see if they were looking ahead or if there's problems in the swamp after losing three of six.
10. Ohio State (23-7, LW NR) - OSU ended the year with five straight wins and took out Indiana on the road last week thanks to Aaron Craft's 15 points on 7-10 shooting.  The Buckeyes will Craft's play to stay consistent to go with Deshaun Thomas if they want to continue their recent success.
11. Miami FL (24-6, LW 6) - The Canes won 14 straight but lost three of five to end the year including shockers to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech.  Miami needs a strong showing in the ACC tourney believers back on their side.
12. Oklahoma State (23-7, LW 13) - OK-State lost at Iowa State 87-76 earlier but finished the week with a good 76-70 victory over Kansas State.  This team surprised the Big 12 finishing third in the conference and are a team to watch for a Big 12 tournament title.
13. Marquette (23-7, LW 14) - Buzz Williams' team needed a last second shot by Vander Blue to secure an OT win over St. John's 69-67.  More importantly the win secured a share of the Big East regular season title with Louisville and Georgetown, Marquette's first since joining the league.
14. Kansas State (25-6, LW 10) - Despite a loss to end their season, the Wildcats still managed to share the Big 12 title with Kansas.  This team was only 2-5 against ranked opponents, it will be interesting to see how they fare in the tournaments to come.
15. New Mexico (25-4, LW 12) - New Mexico is known for its defense but couldn't get a stop when it mattered against Air Force.  The Falcons hit two 3's in the final 16 seconds to pull off the upset 89-88.  The Lobos still hold a 3-seed in Joe Lundari's bracketology but need a strong showing in a difficult Mountain West tournament to keep it.

Biggest Jump - Ohio State up 5
Biggest Drop - Miami FL down 5

New Editions - #10 Ohio State
Old News -  Saint Louis



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