ESPN.com's Power 16: Memphis continues on top

Season: 2008 | 2009 | 2010
Week: 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Memphis continued its quest for an unbeaten season, rallying to beat Houston on Wednesday night. The Tigers are the No. 1 team for the fourth straight week, with Kansas receiving the other first-place vote.

UCLA and Georgetown each dropped two spots after suffering their third losses of the season.

Texas was the big mover this week, climbing to No. 8, while UConn's hot streak carried the Huskies to No. 11.

Please note:
The Power 16 is a composite vote of all the ballots from a panel of ESPN.com experts. It does not reflect any one individual's picks.

This week's Power 16 comments are written by Andy Glockner.



Power Rankings | Voters 1-6 | Voters 7-12
Power Rankings
 RANKTEAMRECORDPOINTSCOMMENTS
1Memphis (11)24-0191The Tigers are in a classic no-win situation. If they trample every C-USA foe, the league gets ripped for being terrible. If Memphis finds itself in a game, which it has three times in its past five league outings, it gets dinged for not being impressive enough. How about we just accept that C-USA has a handful of decent teams besides Memphis?
2Duke22-1175You would figure that the Blue Devils have to have an off night shooting at some point, right? Duke made 54 of 127 shots from 3-point range in its past five games. If the Blue Devils go 11-of-25 from the arc, about their average for those five games, there aren't very many teams in the nation that will beat them.
3Kansas (1)23-2158The offense has been a little inconsistent -- the 27-point second half at Texas and the 20-of-73 from 3-point range in its past five games stand as evidence -- but it is KU's D that has been the real problem. The Texas loss was the third time in five games that KU allowed at least 1.12 points per possession. Prior to that, only one foe had broken the 1.00 PPP plateau.
4Tennessee22-2155It seems like the Vols continue to get overlooked, even though they are No. 1 in RPI. They are in line for a No. 1 seed and have a monster matchup on tap at Memphis on Feb. 23. A large part of the puzzle is the Chris Lofton revival tour. Before Wednesday's quiet night at Arkansas, he had made 34 of 67 shots from 3-point range over his past seven games.
5UCLA21-3146The most surprising thing about the Bruins' loss at Washington was how bad the UCLA offense was. It's a strong bet that UCLA won't shoot 34 percent from the field (including 1-of-16 from 3-point range) again this season, and for it to happen against the Huskies, who are extremely porous defensively, made it all the more shocking.
6North Carolina23-2144How do you inject yourself into the heart of the national player of the year race? By almost single-handedly keeping your team from a four-game losing streak in your point guard's absence. Since Ty Lawson went down at Florida State, Tyler Hansbrough has averaged 28.0 points and 14.8 rebounds a game as the Tar Heels have won three of four -- two in OT and another by one point.
7Stanford20-3110Another team that is taking care of business under the radar. The Cardinal are tied for first in the Pac-10 with UCLA after seven straight league wins. Brook Lopez has blossomed into an elite big man, averaging 18.1 points and 7.9 rebounds in just 28.5 minutes per night. He also had five blocks in three of Stanford's past seven games.
8Texas20-495When you add the victory over Kansas to the UCLA and Tennessee wins from earlier this season, no team in the country has a more impressive marquee. The Horns have beaten three potential No. 1 seeds. That shows their potential, even if there have been some patches of inconsistency. When Damion James produces like he did Monday night, this team is very tough.
9Georgetown20-391The Hoyas continue to live a charmed life, but good teams win close games and the Hoyas have been doing that all season. What is more concerning is that the Hoyas' offense is not nearly what it was late last season. Villanova somehow rallied from 12 down despite shooting 4-of-31 in the second half. That shouldn't happen.
10Xavier21-474Parity is starting to reign in the A-10, but it hasn't reached the Musketeers, who are rolling through a very good conference at 9-1. The next 10 days will provide excellent tests at Rhode Island and Dayton wrapped around a fun home encounter with Duquesne. This team's balance is its greatest asset. You can't stop just one guy and win.
11Connecticut19-561Make it eight wins in a row for the hottest team in the Big East, after the Huskies held off equally game Notre Dame (and big Luke Harangody's 32 points and 16 rebounds). The rest of the Big East slate is pretty soft, so a run at the league title isn't impossible, and things are setting up for a really nice seed come Selection Sunday.
12Butler22-248Butler is like a mini-Memphis. Everyone assumes it should roll through the Horizon, even though there are five or six very capable teams in the conference. The Bulldogs haven't always been dominant, but they have been very good, sitting two shots away from being unbeaten. The Battle of the Bulldogs against Drake in BracketBusters on Feb. 23 should be quite a show.
13Purdue20-542What started as a nice story now is a full-fledged exclamation point. The Boilermakers are in prime position to win the Big Ten, which absolutely no one saw coming this season. In a month, Robbie Hummel has gone from nice freshman to national phenomenon, and Matt Painter is a leading candidate for national coach of the year.
14Wisconsin20-428The Badgers bounced back nicely from their tough loss to Purdue by nipping Indiana on Wednesday in Bloomington. It will be hard to catch the Boilermakers for the 1-seed, as they are a game up and have swept UW, but it's amazing, given what the Badgers lost after last season, that Purdue is the only team to beat them in the past 16 games.
15Michigan State20-428We keep waiting and waiting for the Spartans to hit their best stride, and suddenly it's mid-February and it hasn't happened yet. With road trips to Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio State still on tap, this could get worse before it gets better. MSU still probably qualifies as a team you don't want to face in March, but is that more on rep this season?
16Louisville19-622In the era of freshmen, it's nice to have a senior like David Padgett to hold together a talented team. His return has been a major reason behind the Cardinals' surge that has them in second in the Big East. The rest of the slate is pretty challenging, so we should have a very good idea about the Cards come NCAA time.
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M (16), Drake (14), Indiana (14), Notre Dame (9), Washington State (6), Saint Mary's (3), Vanderbilt (1), Kansas State (1)

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