Texas Tech skyrockets into top 10 in latest Power 37 rankings

Five things that caught my eye this past week:

1. Coach John Calipari got the win at Kentucky and handled the return extremely well. He has always said how much he appreciated his time in Lexington, KY. He was always about the players when he was at Kentucky. He won a title. He went to four Final Fours. He didn’t owe Kentucky anything. The parting was essentially mutual.

Of course, some fans would boo him because he went to an SEC rival. But it’s hard to fault anything he did in the lead-up to returning with Arkansas. Kentucky got one of their own in coach Mark Pope. Kentucky will be a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas has quite a hill to get back into the field. There shouldn’t be any negativity. All should just move on. 

2. Randy Bennett never gets the praise he deserves. The Gaels beat Gonzaga and have a three-game lead over the Zags and San Francisco. He develops talent. His teams rarely have stars that are household names. All he does is win. If you’ve been to Moraga you would see that they do quite a lot without high-level facilities. Few coaches maximize the talent more than Bennett. 

3. Hubert Davis said he still hasn’t seen the best of North Carolina. He’s right. And that’s why there should still be hope. As poorly as the Tar Heels played in the first half against Duke (down 22 and eventually 32), UNC showed fight down the stretch. But the turnovers and careless passes gave the Tar Heels no chance in Durham. I’ve seen UNC beat UCLA. I’ve seen them beat Dayton and nearly take down Michigan State. The comeback at Kansas was nearly an epic win.

It didn’t happen, but the Tar Heels still have it in them to make a run to the tournament. Sure, they’ve lost four of five and it could have been all five had it not been for a BC collapse. But the next week will tell if they can do it or not. UNC hosts Pitt on Saturday and then goes to Clemson two days later. Win both and they are right back in the NCAA field. Lose both and they would only have one more chance at a win against a team in the field — Duke. 

4. Chris Collins got emotional announcing that Northwestern senior guard Brooks Barnhizer was done for the season with a foot injury. Few players play as hard as Barnhizer. His season and career ended with the injury. Barnhizer averaged 17 points, eight points, four assists and shot 41 percent. He was always on the floor, winning 50-50 balls. He lost teeth. He got popped in the nose. He played every possession as if it were his last. 

5. The beauty of the college hoops is that we NEVER know what’s going to happen. Kansas State had lost six in a row, wins three in a row, including at Iowa State; Tennessee was down two starters and held Florida to 44 points; Nebraska had lost six in a row and then beat Illinois at home and won at Oregon Sunday; epic comebacks from Arizona at home against Iowa State and Texas Tech at Houston had to be seen to be believed. 

RANKINGS: AP Top 25 Poll | NET Rankings

The March Madness Power 37

1. Auburn (Prev. 1, 20-1): The Tigers have Johni Broome back and he’s in National Player of the Year form again. Oh, Auburn also had a big-time win at Ole Miss. 
2. Duke (Prev. 2, 19-2): The Blue Devils domination of North Carolina was something to see. The season-high of 23 deflections for Duke is a positive sign for the title quest. 
3. Alabama (Prev. 4, 19-3): The Tide are starting to look like a title contender again and join Auburn and Duke as the likely three favorites. 
4. Purdue (Prev. 7, 17-5): The Boilermakers survived a rivalry game from Indiana and have re-emerged as a Big Ten title favorite. 
5. Tennessee (Prev. 9, 19-4): The Vols took down Florida and held them to 44 points despite missing two starters. 
6. St. John’s (Prev. 11,19-3): The Red Storm are rolling and are now the team to beat in the Big East. 
7. Iowa State (Prev. 5, 17-4): I’m just going to see if the home loss to Kansas State was an outlier. Let’s see what happens this week. 
8. Houston (Prev. 3, 17-4): The Cougars gave up a late lead to Texas Tech and were stunned at home, ending the 33-game win streak. 
9. Michigan State (Prev. 6, 18-3): The Spartans suffered their first loss of the Big Ten, falling at USC. 
10. Texas Tech (Prev. 27, 17-4): Time to give the Red Raiders the respect they deserve after beating Houston without JT Toppin and Grant McCasland.
11. Memphis (Prev. 13, 18-4): The Tigers have been challenged in the American but they continue to find a way to keep rolling. 
12. Maryland (Prev. 23, 17-5): The Terps have one of the most balanced and productive starting fives. Look out for Maryland down the stretch.
13. Arizona (Prev. 26, 15-6): The Wildcats have completely turned their season around and are now in the hunt for a Big 12 title. 
14. Missouri (Prev. 17, 17-4): The Tigers had a dominating win over Mississippi State to continue to prove they belong in the SEC chase.
15. Florida (Prev. 10, 16-3): The Gators had an odd outing, only scoring 44 against Tennessee.
16. Wisconsin (Prev. 12, 17-5): The Badgers bounced back from the road loss at Maryland to beat Northwestern. 
17. New Mexico (Prev. 25, 18-4): The Lobos are alone atop the Mountain West after a fantastic, convincing win at Utah State. 
18. Creighton (Prev. 18, 16-6): The Bluejays are in good position to make a case for the Big East title. 
19. Kentucky (Prev. 16, 15-6): The Wildcats were stunned by Arkansas, but have been depleted by injuries of late. 
20. Texas A&M (Prev. 19, 17-5): The Aggies beat Oklahoma and will be a tough out down the stretch. 
21. UConn (Prev. 33, 16-6): Just when it looked like the Huskies were going to fall out of the Power 37, they won at Marquette.
22. Marquette (Prev. 8, 18-4): Big drop? Yes, but the Golden Eagles had been flirting with losses for a while and finally got clipped at home. 
23. Clemson (Prev. 22, 18-4): The Tigers have a major chance for a breakout win against Duke this weekend. 
24. UCLA (Prev. 34, 16-6): The Bruins have officially flipped the script on their season with an offense that is clicking and a defense that can be suffocating. 
25. Saint Mary’s (Prev. 29, 20-3): The Gaels beat their rival Gonzaga and now have a three-game lead in the WCC.
26. Illinois (Prev. 24 15-7): The Illini finally got healthy and delivered a solid win over Ohio State Sunday.
27. Louisville (Prev. 21, 16-6): The Cards’ run to second in the ACC came to an abrupt ending at Georgia Tech.
28. Kansas (Prev. 15, 15-6): The Jayhawks are now outside my top 25 after blowing a massive lead to Baylor.
29. Ole Miss (Prev. 24, 16-6): The Rebels did lose to Auburn, but that was after taking down Texas to earn a spot back in the poll. 
30. Oklahoma (Prev. NR, 16-5): Time to bring back the Sooners after a big-time win over Vanderbilt.
31. Vanderbilt (Prev. 14, 16-5): The Commodores got slammed by Oklahoma after being ranked. 
32. Mississippi State (Prev. 20, 16-6): Rough week for the Bulldogs but they are still worthy of a Power 37 ranking. 
33. Michigan (Prev. NR, 16-5): The Wolverines are back in the rankings after a quality win at Rutgers. 
34. BYU (Prev. NR, 15-6): Quality wins over Baylor and UCF to get back in the rankings. 
35. Utah State (Prev. 28, 19-3): No shame in losing to New Mexico, even at home. The Aggies were banged up during the game, but are still one of the best in the MWC.
36. George Mason (Prev. 35, 17-5): The Patriots are keeping pace with the Rams in the chase for the A-10 title. 
37. Cleveland State (Prev. 37, 17-6): The Vikings have won 13 in a row and will be dangerous in March Madness. 

Dropped out: Texas (31), Xavier (32), VCU (36). 

A look back at Saturday: Reliving the streak-snapping, screwball-like Saturday of men’s hoops

March Madness National Player of the Week

Caleb Love, Arizona: The former Pac-12 Player of the Year was sensational in the second half and overtime of the upset of Iowa State. Love hit a 3-pointer from well beyond half-court to tie the game and send it into overtime. He finished with 22 points in the 11-point OT win. And then in a heated rivalry game (in which he was ejected), Love delivered 27 points against Arizona State. The two wins pushed Arizona to 9-1 in the Big 12, 15-6 overall.

March Madness National Team of the Week

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders pulled off a stunning upset at Houston without JT Toppin and their coach Grant McCasland, both ejected over an errant flagrant 2 — Toppin for the hit to the groin area of Houston’s Joseph Tugler and McCasland for protesting the foul designation with 16 minutes remaining. The Red Raiders ended Houston’s 13-game win streak and 33-straight home streak with the 82-81 OT win. Texas Tech beat TCU earlier in the week and has won six in a row to go to 8-2 in the Big 12, and 17-4 overall. 

March Madness top 10 games of the week

Iowa State at Kansas, Monday: The Jayhawks are 6-4 in the Big 12, while Iowa State is 7-3. Neither is in first place. That goes to Houston and Arizona with one loss each. There’s a lot on the line in this game. 

Duke at Clemson, Saturday: This is one of two likely chances that Duke could lose in the ACC. Golden opportunity for the Tigers. 

St. John’s at UConn, Friday: The Huskies are coming off a massive road win at Marquette. But they’ve got to catch the Red Storm, which is two games ahead in the Big East. 

Michigan State at UCLA, Tuesday: The Spartans suffered their first loss of the Big Ten season while the Bruins have won five in a row. 

Texas Tech at Arizona, Saturday: Both teams are red hot in the Big 12 and Texas Tech is going for the season sweep of the Wildcats. 

Oregon at Michigan, Wednesday: The Wolverines are three games up on the Ducks. Bigger game for Oregon. 

Missouri at Tennessee, Wednesday: Tennessee is two games back of Mizzou in the SEC. Not sure if anyone saw that in the preseason. 

Florida at Auburn, Saturday: The Gators scored only 44 points in their last matchup. But if they get their offense back in gear. Then expect a fun up-and-down game at Auburn. 

Marquette at St. John’s, Tuesday: The Red Storm are alone in first place after Marquette lost to UConn. Massive game for both teams. 

Alabama at Arkansas, Saturday: The Hogs aren’t dead yet. Alabama’s win at Kentucky could continue to change the narrative on the season. Arkansas has wins over Georgie and at UK in two of its last three games.