Well folks, I told you they would come and here they are. Sundays will be my heartfelt 'this is how I see it' rankings while I have developed a mathematical ranking system which I will explain and leave for Mondays this year. Hope you enjoy.

1 Duke 8-0
2 Pittsburgh 9-0
3 Ohio State 6-0
4 Kansas 7-0
5 Connecticut 7-0
6 Kansas State 7-1
7 Syracuse 8-0
8 Georgetown 8-0
9 Tennessee 6-0
10 Missouri 6-1
11 Baylor 6-0
12 Michigan State 6-2
13 Minnesota 7-1
14 Memphis 7-0
15 San Diego St. 8-0
16 Villanova 6-1
17 Kentucky 5-2
18 Illinois 8-1
19 BYU 8-0
20 UNLV 8-0
21 Notre Dame 8-0
22 Purdue 7-1
23 Texas 6-2
24 Washington 5-2
25 Louisville 6-0

Notes:
- Yes, UNC's win against Kentucky was a big win, but I'm going to need to see another quality win before I put them in my rankings. 
- Vanderbilt is my 26th team for the week. Just missed.
- I don't necessarily think that Syracuse has won by enough in their games to justify a top 10 ranking, but the upside is there so I'm going to leave them at 7 for the time being. Could easily be down in the 15's but they just keep winning. We'll see how they do against Michigan State at the Garden on Tuesday.
- Butler put up more of a fight than I expected them to against Duke, but Duke is far and away the best team in the nation and I don't forsee them losing anytime soon.
- I am still very unimpressed with Baylor.
- Washington is still a quality team no matter how low they drop in the rankings. Losing to KTY and MST and blowing out other opponents by averaging 93.7 PPG.
- Anyone who thinks about giving Gonzaga a vote is a fool. 4-3 with an RPI ranked 143? I don't think so.

Best 2 conferences this year in no particular order are clearly the Big East and the Big Ten (12) this year. I don't want to hear the arguments for other conferences because they just aren't good enough. Sorry.

Numbers in parenthesis are the previous week's ranking in my system.

1. Kansas 10-0 (1) --
2. Syracuse 11-0 (2) --
3. Kentucky 11-0 (3) --
4. Texas 10-0 (4) --
5. Purdue 10-0 (5) --
6. West Virginia 8-0 (6) --
7. Villanova 10-1 (7) --
8. Duke 9-1 (8) --
9. Michigan State 9-2 (13) +4
10. Connecticut 7-2 (15) +5
11. Georgetown 8-1 (11) --
12. Tennessee 8-2 (9) -3
13. Kansas State 10-1 (20) +7
14. New Mexico 11-0 (21) +7
15. Mississippi 10-1 (22) +7
16. UNLV 10-1 (25) +9
17. Florida 8-2 (10) -7
18. North Carolina 8-3 (12) -6
19. Butler 8-3, 1-0 (23) +4
20. Clemson 10-2 (19) -1
21. Ohio State 9-2 (16) -5
22. Texas A&M 9-2 (17) -5
23. Texas Tech 9-1 (18) -5
24. Florida State (NR)
25. Gonzaga 8-3 (14) -11

Last 5 Out:
26. Temple 9-2 (NR)
27. BYU 10-1 (NR)
28. Oklahoma State 9-1 (NR)
29. Georgia Tech 8-2 (24) -5
30. UAB 10-1 (NR)

If you are a fan of college basketball, you'll know that we are entering those few weeks of the season before conference play when the absolute cupcake weeks of the schedule happen. Until Saturday, no ranked team plays another ranked team, making for a boring week of basketball. If you have the patience to wait until Saturday, however, you are in for quite a treat. Here is the listings of quality matchups for Saturday:

#10/10 North Carolina @ #2/2 Texas - 2:00 PM
ESPN

Xavier @ #21/17 Butler - 2:00 PM
ESPN2

#15/15 Gonzaga vs. #7/7 Duke - 4:00 PM
CBS - Game Played in New York City

Portland @ #24/21 Washington - 10:00 PM
all times Eastern.

The only reason I am including the Portland game is that they are one of those teams that you need to prepare well for and watch because if teams just brush them off they will come out to get you. Just look at the Anaheim Tournament, which earned them a spot in the AP Top 25 for one week.

Also, keep watching out for Temple in the future. They've got #1/1 Kansas coming in on Jan. 2, and that should be a pretty good game. They are in the area of 28-30 in both polls, so we could end up with a matchup of ranked teams. The A10 always has some sleepers in it, and by the way Temple beat Villanova and was close to taking down GTown, don't sleep on this team.

Early Saturday Picks:
Texas over UNC*
Butler over Xavier in a very very close one.
Duke over Gonzaga
Washington over Portland

*I am picking Texas here, but if there is a team that is going to get upset this weekend, I think that this is the game where we will see it.

My Pick Stats:
Overall: 5-4
Conference Games: 0-0
Ranked vs. Ranked: 0-1
Ranked vs. Unranked: 4-1
Unranked vs. Unranked: 1-2

Alright folks, here are my Top 25 for the week. I did these last night, I am just copying them over now because, well, it is finals week and I have no time for anything anymore.

1. Kansas 9-0 (1) --
2. Syracuse 10-0 (3) +1
3. Kentucky 10-0 (5) +2
4. Texas 8-0 (4) --
5. Purdue 9-0 (7) +2
6. West Virginia 7-0 (8) +2
7. Villanova 9-1 (2) -5
8. Duke 7-1 (9) +1
9. Tennessee 7-1 (10) +1
10. Florida 8-1 (6) -4
11. Georgetown 8-0 (13) +2
12. North Carolina 8-2 (15) +3
13. Michigan State 8-2 (16) +3
14. Gonzaga 8-2 (17) +3
15. Connecticut 6-2 (11) -4
16. Ohio State 7-2 (12) -4
17. Texas A&M 8-2 (14) -3
18. Texas Tech 9-0 (24) +6
19. Clemson 8-2 (25) +6
20. Kansas State 9-1 (NR) --
21. New Mexico 10-0 (NR) --
22. Mississippi 8-1 (23) +1
23. Butler 7-3 (NR) --
24. Georgia Tech (21) -3
25. UNLV 7-1 (18) -7

Last 5 Out:
26. Cincinnati 6-2 (20) -5
27. Florida State 7-2
28. Wisconsin 7-2 (19) -9
29. Oklahoma State 8-1
30. BYU 8-1

I will post later with some explanations, but you will find that my poll this week is pretty close to what the AP Poll is.

Sunday night I came out with my first top-25 rankings of the season. Now, I generally think I do a good job, and I know I'm not perfect (Notre Dame at #23) but there are a few things in this week's rankings that I just do not agree with.

  #25/NR Portland Pilots
      - Okay, Portland, don't get me wrong. You deserve to be in the hunt for the top 25 especially after your great weekend in Anaheim, knocking off #16/22 Minnesota. But. You crushed a very down UCLA team, and let's not forget that in the championship game you folded big time against a good West Virginia team. If Portland had been within single digits then I would have certainly considered them for my top 25. Keep winning, Portland, and maybe beat Gonzaga while you're at it. Then you'll show me what you are made of.

  #NR/25 California Golden Bears
      - I don't understand how you can put in a 2-loss team such as Cal and shove out teams like Oklahoma State 6-0 and Florida State 5-1. Maybe it's just my way of thinking, but Florida State has only lost to Florida, who is now ranked pretty good, and Cal has beaten no one of significance yet.

My Last 5 out

  26. Cincinnati 4-1
  27. Georgia Tech 4-1
  28. Butler 4-2
  29. BYU 5-0
  30. UNLV 5-0

I don't think it's right to put a 2-loss team in the polls this week, and Butler fits into that category. The only reason I have Miss at 25 and not Cincy is that Cincy lost to Gonzaga, while Miss lost to Nova, who is ranked higher than Gonzaga.

Also, if Kentucky can get past their two huge games this week, expect them to jump up into the top 3 in my rankings this week.

Watch for North Carolina to upset Michigan State at home tonight. Here are my picks for the evening:

  Florida vs. Florida A&M
  Purdue vs. Wake Forest
  Cincy vs. Texas Southern
  Indiana vs. Maryland
  Notre Dame vs. Idaho State
  UNC vs. Michigan State

My Stats
Overall Record: 0-3
Conference Games: 0-0
Ranked vs. Ranked: 0-1
Ranked vs. Unranked: 0-1
Unranked vs. Unranked: 0-1

I'll get better I promise.

To start off I am very excited that this week I'm going to come out with my first top 25 rankings of the season. The first few weeks are really hard to rank since no one really has a body of work, but with the preseason tournaments in full swing we are starting to see a few teams really separate themselves from the pack, and a few teams really start to falter.

Who's Hot?
#6/6 Purdue: 4-0 (0-0)
      - I get concerned with highlighting Big Ten teams because I'm not always sure that the conference has enough offense in it, but their win against #9/11 Tennessee was pretty big in the Paradise Jam. Look for Purdue to be a contender down the stretch.

#10/9 Syracuse: 5-0 (0-0)
      - Syracuse is arguably the hottest team in the nation right now. I can't say best, but in terms of body of work they certainly have the best wins around. Throttling #13/12 California and #6/4 UNC is no laughing matter. If the Orange stay consistent look for them to be dancing deep into March.

#23/NR Notre Dame 5-0 (0-0)
      - Notre Dame will be a disappointment if they do not run the table in their non-conference schedule. They are playing well, but I'm really interested to see what this team looks like going into Big East play. Their toughest non-conference opponent is a down-trodden UCLA team.

Cincinnati 4-0 (0-0)
      - If Cincy beats Gonzaga tonight there is absolutely no way they are not a Top 25 team. Wins against all ranked teams in the Maui Invitational should boost them to around 17-20 I would say.

Who's Not?
#21/22 Maryland 4-2 (0-0)
      - Just as quickly as they burst into the top 25, they are going to freefall right back out of them. Beating New Hampshire and Fairfield by 30 points is all well and good, but when you play the bigger boys, you have to show up and Maryland clearly has not, losing to Cincy and now Wisconsin.

#NR/23 California 3-2 (0-0)
      - Injuries have pestered the team so far this year, but losing twice to ranked teams isn't going to help them later on during the year. Are they still the favorites for the Pac-10? Who knows this year. Just remember when thinking about California is that teams that live by the 3 also die by the 3.

Dayton 2-2 (0-0)
      - Starting off the season ranked is pretty good for Dayton, being in a non-BCS conference, but their consecutive losses to Villanova and Kansas State have them reeling a bit. I still like Dayton, and I think they will make a splash this year in March. The good news is that their losses have been close.

Overrated
#5/5 Kentucky 5-0 (0-0)
      - Okay, don't get me wrong here, I think Kentucky has the potential to go very far this year, but they still need to prove that to me. If they beat UNC on December 5th or UConn on December 9th, Kentucky will not only be taken off of this list, they will shoot right up my rankings. I'm a big advocate of 'prove it on the court' and that is how I base my rankings, so until they do that against a quality opponent I don't think they should be anywhere close to #5 in the nation.

#8/8 West Virginia 2-0 (0-0)
      - More so than Kentucky, WVU not only hasn't played a quality opponent yet, they have barely played anyone yet! The 76 Classic in Anaheim will show what they are made of.. there are some good teams in that tournament. I fully expect them to get beaten by Purdue in December, and end up in the middle of the Big East at the end of the year. Please, Mountaineers prove me wrong.

#18/19 Georgetown 3-0 (0-0)
      - I'm worried that the Georgetown can't score. I've been worried that Georgetown can't score for the past 3 years. They always play great defense, but I don't think that they're going to be able to outscore opponents this year. Every team has bad games, but a 46-45 win over Temple? Just barely getting by Temple is one thing, but only scoring 46 points is absolutely abysmal.

** I would put Maryland on this list as well, but the new week's rankings don't come out until Monday, and I'm pretty sure they won't be in them, so I can't really say that they are overrated based on that.

Game of the Night - Wednesday

Maui Invitational - Championship Game - Honolulu, Hawaii
Cincinnati 4-0 (0-0) vs. Gonzaga 4-1 (0-0)
10:00 PM - ESPN

Game of the Night - Thursday

76 Classic - Quarterfinals - Anaheim, CA
#22/16 Minnesota 3-0 (0-0) vs. #12/10 Butler 3-0 (0-0)
8:30 PM - ESPN2

Game of the Night - Friday

Legends Classic - Semifinals - Atlantic City, NJ
#2/2 Michigan State 4-0 (0-0) vs. Florida 4-0 (0-0)
8:00 PM

My Picks 0-0 on the season, 0-0 in conference games

Cincinnati
Butler
Michigan State

- I know that's a lot to swallow for one post, but enjoy it, and expect to hear a lot more from me this year on college basketball.

The Davidson Wildcats make me laugh quite a lot. They should be renamed the Davidson Curries, after the only guy on the team who can play on a consistent basis.

It's really quite a shame that one of, if not the best player in college basketball could be playing in the NIT this year. It's a very legitimate concern if you are a Davidson fan. If this team can't pull it together and win some games while Curry is out they'll need a conference championship to make the tournament. They've got 4 games left which means that this game against a fading Butler team will be a must-win if Davidson's NCAA Tournament hopes are to be kept alive...

...or they just win the conference tournament and none of this will ever come up again.

Each conference loss for Davidson is a killer, because the teams in the conference are very weak. SoCon is not what you might call the cream of the crop. Where in the Big East it is very possible that a 10-loss team will make the tournament, if Davidson falls to 22-6 this weekend very loud sirens will be blaring in John Belk Arena. Right now, the team is in the hands of their second leading scorer, Andrew Lovedale, who is scoring a whopping 12.7 points a game behind Curry. As we saw in their last game vs. The Citadel, it just wasn't going to cut it.

Now I think that Davidson will win their conference tournament, and this point will most likely become moot, however Davidson hasn't found themselves in the position of "must win" in their conference tournament to make the big dance in a couple of years. They were a great story last year, reaching the Elite Eight and coming ever so close to a Final Four bid.

Clearly the team is a different team without Curry, and clearly they are much worse. So until the Davidson Curries return to the court, enjoy watching the Davidson Wildcats dash their dreams of dancing.