ESPN Men's Basketball

1. Duke
2. Villanova
3. Connecticut
4. Memphis
5. Texas
6. Tennessee
7. Gonzaga
8. George Washington
9. Kansas
10. Pitt
11. Ohio State
12. Florida
13. LSU
14. UCLA
15. West Virginia
16. Iowa

Joe Lunardi
There's been considerable movement within the top lines of the bracket just since the beginning of the week. In the duel between Villanova and UConn, which were neck-and-neck for the No. 2 spot behind Duke, the Wildcats creep ahead thanks in part to Connecticut's narrow escape from Notre Dame. Big road wins elevate Tennessee and Ohio State, respectively, and North Carolina makes its first appearance in my Power 16 following a convincing season sweep of NC State. Expect as much (if not more) movement next week with Villanova traveling to UConn and Texas playing host to surging Kansas in Saturday's prime-time matchup.

1. Duke
2. Villanova
3. Connecticut
4. Memphis
5. Tennessee
6. Gonzaga
7. Ohio State
8. Pittsburgh
9. Texas
10. Iowa
11. Illinois
12. North Carolina
13. North Carolina State
14. George Washington
15. Michigan State
16. Florida

Pat Forde
I'm now starting to suspect that the national champion almost has to come from the top five teams, although I'll give Texas an opportunity to win me over again (a 21-point loss at this time of year to an NIT team isn't a ringing endorsement of a team's championship mettle). In Adam Morrison, Gonzaga has a guy who can carry a team to the Final Four (just like his boy, Larry Bird, once did), but there are defensive issues that could stop the Zags far short of that. The committee has two incredibly difficult jobs: wading through the bubble morass to select the field of 65, then seeding the huddled masses between 2 and 12. Good luck.

1. Duke
2. Villanova
3. Connecticut
4. Memphis
5. Ohio State
6. Gonzaga
7. George Washington
8. Tennessee
9. Texas
10. Pittsburgh
11. Kansas
12. Iowa
13. North Carolina
14. Illinois
15. UCLA
16. Florida

Howie Schwab
After the top six or seven teams, there is confusion. Texas lost to Oklahoma State and struggled against Kansas State. Pittsburgh lost to Marquette. Tennessee bounced back from a loss to Alabama and beat Florida. Boston College lost at Virginia. Ohio State showed something by winning at Michigan State as the Spartans continue to confound me; will they make noise come tournament time? I still think so, but I am starting to wonder. Good luck to the selection committee rounding out those top four seeds! Jim Larranaga has done a super job and the Colonial Athletic Association is underrated (I used to live 15 minutes from Hofstra … how many people remember Richie Laurel??). Here we go!

1. Duke
2. Memphis
3. Villanova
4. Connecticut
5. Gonzaga
6. George Washington
7. Texas
8. Pittsburgh
9. Tennessee
10. Ohio State
11. Kansas
12. Illinois
13. Florida
14. UCLA
15. George Mason
16. Boston College

1. Duke
2. Memphis
3. Villanova
4. Connecticut
5. Gonzaga
6. George Washington
7. Texas
8. Pittsburgh
9. Tennessee
10. North Carolina
11. Kansas
12. Illinois
13. Boston College
14. Ohio State
15. Florida
16. UCLA

Jay Bilas
UConn remains my No. 1 team, and Memphis slides into the top four because of Texas' loss. Memphis has not played anyone since Conference USA play began, but a lot of teams have been burned by their leagues. Memphis is good enough to be in Indianapolis, but also could lose in the Sweet 16. UConn made a major move forward against Villanova and West Virginia and played styles that can trip them up in March. The Huskies will get a lot out of last week. Aside from UConn and Duke, everyone else looked human, especially on the road. One thing that stood out last week was the importance of making winning plays. Jonathan Modica's steal and block, as well as Taurean Green's mental letdown in his failure to protect the ball shows you how small the margin of error can be in winning and losing. Bucknell's handling of out-of-bounds situations on both ends cost it a road win at Northern Iowa. In those situations, you need players, not just shooters or scorers. You need guys that can make winning plays. The new entry into the field is Kansas. Bill Self has done every bit as good of a job this year as Bruce Pearl, John Thompson or Roy Williams. He should be getting more attention as a coach of the year candidate.

1. Connecticut
2. Duke
3. Villanova
4. Memphis
5. Texas
6. Pittsburgh
7. Illinois
8. West Virginia
9. Tennessee
10. Florida
11. Gonzaga
12. George Washington
13. North Carolina
14. Michigan State
15. Ohio State
16. Kansas

Doug Gottlieb
As anticipated, this will be the most difficult year ever for the selection committee. While we all drank the Northern Iowa Kool-Aid, we might have forgotten that there are still games to be played. UNI has lost three of four, and the only win was a BracketBusters gift from Bucknell. Compare the Panthers' resume to Houston: UNI has a road win over LSU, so does Houston. UNI has a home win over Iowa; Houston beat Arizona. UNI has lost at home to Indiana State, Missouri State and Bradley; Houston lost at home to Central Florida and on the road at crosstown rival Rice. UNI is fading down the stretch and Houston has won eight in a row. The Cougs have road games at UTEP and Memphis. If they win one of two, why would they not be in? Speaking of Rice, Morris Almond is the best scorer you have never heard of. Rice coach Willis Wilson told me before the year that Almond could lead the country in scoring if he put his mind to it, and while he is not yet Redick or Morrison, the junior is averaging 25 points per game.

1. Duke
2. Connecticut
3. Villanova
4. Texas
5. Memphis
6. George Washington
7. Gonzaga
8. Ohio State
9. Tennessee
10. Kansas
11. Oklahoma
12. Iowa
13. Illinois
14. Florida
15. North Carolina
16. Michigan State

Andy Glockner
I'll be honest and say I had a hard time finding more than about 12-13 teams that really deserved to be in the list this week, so I'll wrap with a couple of the best mids. Villanova jumps UConn on the strength of the head-to-head win and UConn's escape against Notre Dame. On an unrelated note, how deja vu-ish was that ending in Gainesville, where Dane Bradshaw (again) got a layup off a late steal and Chris Lofton (again) iced the game with two late free throws? We've seen more bizarre, late, game-blowing plays lately (see Bucknell-Northern Iowa) than I can remember. I was very disappointed with Memphis and C-USA last night -- the Tigers were ragged at home and still slogged past a UTEP team that lost its best player to injury. That national TV performance might have hurt both teams.

1. Duke
2. Villanova
3. Connecticut
4. Memphis
5. Tennessee
6. Gonzaga
7. Texas
8. Ohio State
9. Kansas
10. Pittsburgh
11. George Washington
12. North Carolina
13. LSU
14. Georgetown
15. George Mason
16. Wichita State