16. Rutgers

15. St. John's

14. DePaul

13. USF

12. Seton Hall

11.Providence

10. Marquette

9. Pitt- down year for Pitt standards

8. G-Town- Moore comes of age

7. ND- Harangody proves it again; he cannot go it alone- too heavy a load

5b. Nova- excellent ball club but a tad overrated IMO. Interior game has question marks.

5a. UConn- the youth need some time

3b. WVU - looked good so far but only two games into season.

3a. UL- beating most teams like the should (Morgan St is exception).

2. Cincy- Stephenson has been great, Vaughn and Gates make this team a power. Beat two top 25 teams.

1. Cuse- the first few games proved the Cuse as able to compete; cannot say enough on Johnson- he can dominate a game. Absolutely spanked UNC and Cal (both top 15).

I am definitely not ready to rank the teams this early, and I surely wouldn't put Cincinnati at #2 either. We have looked good the last 2 nights, but our first game was horrible. I need to see more games like we have played in Maui before I am completely sold.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Any ranking this early in the season is silly...

And trying to determine WVU's strength is silly, when you consider that Ebanks has yet to play. And when Deniz Kilicli's suspension ends, WVU's depth in the front court will increase considerably. I find it rediculous that they're going to change the rule next year, after Kilicli and WVU get penalize, so that another Turkish recruit, Stoneridge Prep C Enes Kanter will get to play immediately - without any penalty - for Washington. Kilicli, who is in the very same position as Kanter, played for a team that had a player getting paid for playing. But due to the rule change, which takes place in August of 2010, he can play immediately...

Kilicli gets a 20 game penalty, and he didn't even know the guy on his team was getting paid. Kanter did know his teammate was getting paid. But he gets to play with no time lost, and Kilicli loses more than half a season. Deniz should be compensated for his lost time. But even I realize it's a lost cause arguing with a stupid bureaucratic organization like the NCAA, who make up their own rules to suit themselves as they go along, answering to nobody but themselves...

It is way too early for this. For UCONN, we are not even playing with a full team. After Dec 20th, Ater Majok will be eligible which should add some much needed size in the middle. Cincy and Cuse certainly looked good in a couple of games. We won't find out how good they are until they enter the BE meat grinder.

UCONN might end up playing Duke and Kentucky before Ater shows up however. I hope our young pups will be ready for tonight's game against LSU.

Like WVU and UConn, Cincinnati is also waiting for a player to be eligible. Ibrahima Thomas, transfer from Oklahoma St. can't plau until our game with Xavier.