Is Wake the Nation's #1 Team?
Wake
Currently ranked #6 and #4 in the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls respectively, the Demon Deacons are looking to get back to the top spot in college basketball, a position they held just one week ago.
And not only are they beating good teams, they are doing it in the most difficult of circumstances.
As if Brigham Young isn’t underrated enough as it is, you also have to consider that the Deacons 94-87 win on January 3 came in front of a raucous crowd of 23,000 and ended the Cougars 53 game home winning streak, then longest in the nation. Wake then beat arguably the most talented team in the nation, defeating
Three days later, Wake went to
With arguably Wake’s worst offensive and worst defensive games coming at the same time, the Deacon’s had no answer for the consistent shooting of Virginia Tech, who ended Wake’s undefeated season and short-lived #1 ranking.
But Wake hasn’t been the only team who had trouble holding on to college basketball’s top spot. After UNC was ranked #1 from the preseason all the way to week seven, the title has been plagued, changing hands three times in 2009 already, and will likely change again next Monday with #1 Duke losing tonight.
So the question presents itself, who should be the new #1?
With #3
And while Wake’s good wins look even better the more you look at them,
And if their good wins are looking bad, their only loss is looking really bad. The Huskies sole blemish, an 11-point loss to then #8 Georgetown, keeps looking worse and worse as Georgetown has dropped off the map, losing six of their last eight including losses to Seton Hall and Cincinatti.
Based on the voting patterns of the voters this week,
Photos from the AP
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3 comments
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Comments
Well Said Burke
Wake Forest has a legit claim to be number one again, both teams have solid wins and losses so it will be interesting to see how the voters split this next week, but I fully expect a tight vote total between these ACC and Big East elites.
by RPhilpott on Jan 29, 2009 1:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
#1
While I do think Wake is the more talented team, I think UConn will be #1 based on what should be a 9-1 Big East record come Monday (assuming they can slip past Providence). That compared to a 5-1 ACC record for Wake would keep UConn ahead of them….for now. I could be wrong and I hope I am…but keep in mind that UConn plays Louisville next week where Wake’s schedule is relatively easy compared to the stretch they just came out of. (at GT, at Miami). Away games are always tough, but those are winnable, so my money is that they will be #1 again a week from monday.
by SHammonds on Jan 29, 2009 1:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Luke Winn and SI agrees
Check out the new power rankings:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/luke_winn/01/29/power.rankings/index.html?eref=T1
by WakeJake on Jan 30, 2009 10:10 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

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