By Luke Winn

NCAA Basketball Power Rankings

1

Last Week: 2 North Carolina Tar Heels (24-2)

If you weren't watching last night -- and you may not have been, since the Carolina-N.C. State tilt was on ESPN GamePlan -- the nation's best team just added an athletic 7-footer to its rotation. There had been some debate over whether it was best for freshman Tyler Zeller, who had been expected to redshirt after breaking his left wrist in Carolina's second game, to return to the team with just five games left in the regular season. By why wouldn't he? If things go right, he'll get 14 games in -- those five, plus three in the ACC tournament and six in the NCAA tournament. Sitting out of a title run when he's healthy enough to play would be agonizing, and despite the strong recruiting classes UNC has coming in, Zeller may never have as good a shot to win a championship as he does now. In my mind, he had to come back. The only downside, to me, is that end-of-bench reserve Michael Copeland will lose most of his minutes. Copeland does very little on the stat sheet but really ups the drama quotient: In the past month alone, he's been involved in a chair-throwing incident in the locker room at Duke and a near-brawl at N.C. State.

Next three: 2/21 at Maryland, 2/28 vs. Georgia Tech, 3/4 at Virginia Tech

2

Last Week: 5 Pittsburgh Panthers (24-2)

Last season, the Panthers didn't win a single road game against an NCAA tournament team. This season they've beaten four possible big-dance clubs away from home -- Florida State, Georgetown, West Virginia and, in the biggest road win that any team has pulled off, anywhere, UConn. I'm not sure if I conveyed it in my column from Hartford, which focused on the force that is DeJuan Blair, but that was hands-down the best game of the season, and the feeling, courtside, was like you were watching a national-title battle. I was in San Antonio all over again. The only non-shining moment was courtesy of Pitt reserve forward Gary McGhee, who had the following five lines in the first-half play-by-play:

12:08: Subbed in.

11:51: Fouled Hasheem Thabeet.

11:51: Fouled Craig Austrie.

11:50: Fouled Hasheem Thabeet again.

11:50: Subbed out.

Next three: 2/21 vs. DePaul, 2/24 at Providence, 2/28 at Seton Hall

3

Last Week: 3 Oklahoma Sooners (25-1)

Pat Knight's most lasting impact on this season will be for his double court-storming and his coinage of the best Blake Griffin nickname yet, "The Terminator." Following last Saturday's loss to the Sooners, Knight said, "Have you guys ever seen the movie, The Terminator? That's what [Griffin] is like. That kid has no facial expressions. He just plays and it's like every kid out there on him is like Sarah Connor, and he's just going to take his time and kill 'em." I wrote a story this week on Santa Clara's John Bryant, the guy who's chasing Griffin for the national rebounding title, but if Griffin keeps grabbing 23 rebounds like he did against Texas Tech, Bryant doesn't have much of a shot.

Next three: 2/21 at Texas, 2/23 vs. Kansas, 2/28 at Texas Tech

4

Last Week: 1 Connecticut Huskies (24-2)

Various reasons that the loss of wing guard Jerome Dyson matters to the Huskies, even though they have three solid guards (A.J. Price, Craig Austrie and Kemba Walker) to carry the load:

1. Dyson took 26.1 percent of UConn's shots when he was on the floor, a higher percentage than any other player. He was the focal point of their offense.

2. Dyson was scary-good off the dribble, to the degree that he actually drew more fouls per 40 minutes (5.0) than Jeff Adrien (4.7), and nearly as many as Hasheem Thabeet (5.1).

3. Dyson was their best perimeter defender, and not just because of his size; he also stole the ball at three times the rate Price did through the first 24 games.

Next three: 2/21 vs. South Florida, 2/25 at Marquette, 2/28 vs. Notre Dame

5

Last Week: 10 Memphis Tigers (23-3)

The Tigers' 90-47 win over SMU on Wednesday night was supposed to have a different look to it -- as in, Memphis had hoped to wear orange-and-purple jerseys to honor FedEx, the locally based corporation that offers a large degree of (financial) support to Tigers athletics and also has its name on their home arena. Memphis backed out on the plan at the last minute, fearing a backlash of complaints about amateur athletics being too closely intertwined with business interests. ("I don't know if it was the orange or something else, but, yes, there was criticism," athletic director R.C. Johnson told the Commercial Appeal.)

In related news, Memphis' plan to replace the Tiger logo with the head of William Wesley for a Feb. 28 home game has also been scrapped. (We kid!)

Next three: 2/21 at UTEP, 2/26 at UAB, 2/28 vs. Southern Miss

6

Last Week: 4 Louisville Cardinals (20-5)

Louisville, whose airport is home to UPS' air cargo transportation unit, could counter Memphis' move by wearing UPS signature brown shorts (and socks!) for a game, although Card Country has been a logo-free zone of late. That includes the team's logo, too. Coach Rick Pitino went as far as to confiscate Louisville's normal practice gear following a 90-57 loss to Notre Dame last week, and hand out sets of plain-white and plain-red tees and shorts. "A generic shirt, that's what you've become," Pitino told them. "You'll stay with those generic shirts until you win another road game."

Next three: 2/21 at Cincinnati, 2/23 at Georgetown, 3/1 vs. Marquette

7

Last Week: 13 Missouri Tigers (22-4)

Mizzou's Mike Anderson, at this point, has to be considered one of the frontrunners for national Coach of the Year. I tend to favor coaches whose teams are performing much better than expected, and the fact that Anderson's Tigers are within reach of the Big 12 title and in the top 12 of both offensive and defensive efficiency makes a strong case. Butler's Brad Stevens, Memphis' John Calipari, Wake Forest's Dino Gaudio and Illinois' Bruce Weber would fill out my top five.

While watching ESPN on Wednesday night I did a double-take when I heard analyst Jimmy Dykes say, "If I had to vote tonight, [Arizona's] Russ Pennell would be national Coach of the Year for what he's done with an interim title. They could look long and hard and maybe not come up with a better candidate for the full-time gig." Dykes apparently puts a lot of value on the difficulty of winning with the interim tag, but Pennell for Coach of the Year? The 'Cats are playing even worse defense than they did last year -- ranking 99th in defensive efficiency! -- and have yet to win a decent road game. Pennell isn't even C-O-Y candidate No. 1 in his own conference (that would be Lorenzo Romar), and no sane AD would hire Pennell over someone like Mark Few -- or, for that matter, Anderson.

Next three: 2/21 at Colorado, 2/25 vs. Kansas State, 3/1 at Kansas

8

Last Week: 6 Clemson Tigers (21-4)

A one-line e-mail I received from a Clemson student last week read, "Can somebody please recognize Trevor Booker for the beast that he is?" I think Booker's signature dunk against Maryland on Tuesday -- a one-handed lefty follow slam of a missed three -- convinced much of the nation of Booker's beastlyness, if they weren't already aware. He received a quality Bill Raftery line ("How 'bout that effort. Can he do it righty?") and made No. 4 in the SportsCenter "Top 10 Plays of the Day." Of Booker's jam, point guard Demontez Stitt told The Greenville News, "That was probably one of the best dunks I've seen in my life because it seemed like he jumped twice."

Next three: 2/22 at Georgia Tech, 2/25 vs. Virginia Tech, 2/28 at Florida State

9

Last Week: 12 Marquette Golden Eagles (22-4)

From here on out, the Golden Eagles are in the dirty part of the Big East schedule: Georgetown, UConn, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, all in a row to close the regular season. UConn's visit to the Bradley Center on Wednesday is the next real marquee game in the Big East, and the locals have been gearing up for this one for a while, creating an auxiliary Web site complete with custom goosebump-inducing video to push for a sellout (and it worked). Of course, some guy on Craigslist bought 17 tickets in a row so he could try to hawk them for $50 apiece, and a student is trying to get $70 for his student-section ticket on eBay, but certainly (I hope) a bunch of Milwaukeeans exist who are genuinely excited to attend the game.

Next three: 2/21 at Georgetown, 2/25 vs. UConn, 2/1 at Louisville

10

Last Week: 7 Michigan State Spartans (20-5)

As much as Tuesday's loss at Purdue -- by 18 points -- was not pretty, it's good to keep things in perspective. By the standards of in-conference efficiency margin (the difference between points scored and allowed per possession), the Spartans are still by far the Big Ten's best team. Basketball Prospectus' John Gasaway sent over a fresh set of EM figures on Wednesday, and I made a chart of the biggest EM gaps between the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in each league. Only LSU is farther ahead of its conference pack than Michigan State is:

Conf. Ldr. EM Next-best EM Gap SEC LSU +0.17 (Tenn. +0.10) +0.7 Big Ten MSU +0.13 (Purd., +0.08) +0.5 ACC UNC +0.15 (Duke, +0.11) +0.4 Pac-10 UCLA +0.12 (Wash. +0.11) +0.1 Big East UConn +0.17 (Pitt, +0.17) -- Big 12 Okla. +0.16 (KU/MU, +0.16) --

Next three: 2/22 vs. Wisconsin, 2/25 vs. Iowa, 3/1 at Illinois

11

Last Week: 15 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (20-4)

It's always nice to have a starting two-guard who can levitate (or at least that's what it looks like Wake's L.D. Williams is doing in this photo from Wednesday's win over Georgia Tech). It's even nicer to be able to bring a point guard (junior Ish Smith) off the bench who's your best passer and already has two years of experience running the team as a starter. Smith, who has a 1.8-to-1 assist-to turnover ratio, was masterful against the Yellow Jackets, dishing out eight assists against just two turnovers, while also scoring 11 points. He'll keep getting called on to handle the ball in pressure situations for the Deacs, who've been thriving while starting a scoring combo guard (Jeff Teague) at the point.

Next three: 2/22 at Duke, 2/26 vs. N.C. State, 2/28 at Virginia

12

Last Week: 8 Duke Blue Devils (20-5)

The rosters for the 2009 McDonald's All-American Game were released this week, and six of the players are Tobacco Road-bound (four to UNC, two to Duke). The pair of future Blue Devils, 6-foot-10 Mason Plumlee and 6-9 Ryan Kelly, are (surprise!) white dudes with solid fundamentals. They're also Duke's lone commitments for the Class of 2009, and while they should beef up a frontcourt that has been lacking in size, what the Blue Devils could use most is an elite point guard to take over distribution duties from current sophomore Nolan Smith. His numbers over 11 ACC games -- 13 assists against 22 turnovers, and 35.9 shooting -- have been downright ugly.

Next three: 2/19 at St. John's, 2/22 vs. Wake Forest, 2/25 at Maryland

13

Last Week: 11 Villanova Wildcats (20-5)

The Wildcats, who reached second weekend of the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed last season, are in the running for a No. 3 seed this time around. A spot on the top four rows of the selection committee's S-Curve usually translates into a geographic advantage for the first and second rounds, but probably not for Villanova. The closest East Coast site is Philly's Wachovia Center, where the Wildcats are eligible to play because they've only had three home dates there this season; the second-closest is Greensboro, N.C., and the third-closest is Dayton, Ohio. But higher seeds such as UConn, Pitt, Louisville, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke and Michigan State will likely fill those spots, sending 'Nova packing to at best, Minneapolis (978 miles away, according to Crashing the Dance's distance figures, or at worst, Portland (2,400 miles away).

Next three: 2/19 vs. Rutgers, 2/22 at Syracuse, 2/25 at DePaul

14

Last Week: NR Arizona State Sun Devils (20-5)

Sunday's home win over USC came complete with a sideshow: Trojans coach Tim Floyd getting ejected for arguing a bogus charge call, and then suggesting afterwards that "maybe Obama will change" the rule that doesn't allow coaches to discuss refereeing. Former USC star/controversial figure O.J. Mayo, in town for the NBA's All-Star Weekend, attended the game, undaunted by the fact that his alleged NCAA-rule violations could eventually result in sanctions against the Trojans. (The FSN sideline reporter who interviewed Mayo was kind enough to lob him softballs rather than address that situation.) The Sun Devils, meanwhile, offered real proof that they can win when James Harden is being locked down by junk defenses: While he scored just 13, point guards Derek Glasser and Jamelle McMillan combined for 29 points, eight assists and zero turnovers.

Next three: 2/19 at USC, 2/22 vs. Arizona, 2/26 at Washington

15

Last Week: 16 Kansas Jayhawks (21-5)

Kansas State guard Denis Clemente was suspended for one game (a very marquee game, against North Carolina-Central) for elbowing KU's Brady Morningstar and head-slapping Tyrel Reed, but that wasn't the biggest residual story from last Saturday's loss to the Jayhawks. Tim Fitzgerald, the publisher of K-State fan-zine Powercat Illustrated, went on a local sports TV show the next night and claimed that KU's players had directed racial insults at Clemente, who's a native of Puerto Rico. Fitzgerald told the Kansas City Star that "these were comments heard by members of my staff, and I know some comments were overheard by other members of the media." The alleged slurs were not reported by any other outlet, and Jayhawks coach Bill Self was seriously irked by the accusation. "That flat-out [ticks] me off," he told the Star. "That did not occur. That does bother me a lot that anybody would say something like that."

Next three: 2/21 vs. Nebraska, 2/23 at Oklahoma, 3/1 vs. Missouri

16

Last Week: NR Washington Huskies (19-6)

If I were recruiting for the Huskies, this would be my slogan: We're the Last Up-Tempo Left On the West Coast. Of the 10 fastest-paced major-conference teams, only U-Dub comes from the left coast. The Pac-10 has become a pack of plodders while the ACC -- as the chart below shows -- has taken over as the country's speediest league:

Rk. Team Adj.Poss/40 1 UNC 75.4 2 S. Carolina 74.3 3 Wake Forest 74.0 4 Washington 73.7 5 Texas Tech 73.2 6 Providence 73.2 7 Missouri 72.6 8 Oklahoma St. 72.1 9 Syracuse 72.0 10 Georgia Tech 71.7

Next three: 2/19 at UCLA, 2/21 at USC, 2/26 vs. Arizona St.

On The Cusp (in this order): 17. Dayton, 18. Purdue, 19. Xavier, 20. Gonzaga, 21. LSU, 22. Arizona, 23. UCLA, 24. West Virginia, 25. Utah. Then: Syracuse, Cal, Illinois, Texas, Butler, BYU, Creighton, Utah State, Florida State, Penn State and all the other teams whose exclusion makes you want to make me the latest victim of the elbowing epidemic.