CSN's Bucket List: Chaos, thy name is college basketball

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Each Monday through the Final Four, our own Robbie Buckets -- known in some circles as Rob Snyder, associate producer at CSN -- will take a look at the world of college basketball: Games to watch each week, players who might be on the Celtics' radar come draft time, what's going on locally . . . and, of course, power rankings (which will eventually morph into bracketology). Enjoy!

Total. Chaos. That's what happened this week in college hoops. Losses piled upon losses for the Top 15, and now putting together a decent ranking has been thrown completely out the window. Kansas jumps into the No. 1 spot despite losing a game this week. In fact, 11 of last week's top 15 suffered losses, with only Baylor, Gonzaga, Arizona and West Virginia escaping unscathed. Bracketology can't come soon enough . . . (It's next week!)

POWER RANKINGS

1. Kansas (19-2) - Here's the deal: No one can play in Morgantown. A loss at West Virginia was masked by a great come-from-behind win at Kentucky.

2. Gonzaga (22-0) - Should the 'Zags be number one? I don't think so. While every other team in the country is getting tested, they're beating Pepperdine and Portland.  Not fair

3. Baylor (20-1) - The Bears keep winning with the formula they like. It isn't pretty, but it works. A date at the Phog is next.

4. Villanova (20-2) - 'Nova played two very similar games this week. In one of them, they blew a big lead and lost on the road. In the other, they came back from a big deficit to win at home. The win was against Virginia . . . no slouch.

5. Arizona (20-2) - Arizona may just be the hottest team in college hoops right now.  Their next real test comes at Oregon, which should be quite the showdown.

6. Kentucky (17-4) - Tough loss to Kansas. But even acknowledging that losing to KU is no disgrace, doubts have to be creeping up. As good as they are, Calipari teams just don't lose two home games in a season and don't struggle defensively as much as they have.

7. North Carolina (19-4) --- Literally right before the Miami game I would've predicted UNC to win the title based on potential, explosiveness and experience. Then the Tar Heels laid an egg. They tend to do that against bad teams on the road, which I just can't figure out.

8. West Virginia (17-4) - The Mountaineers are the problem child of college hoops. They're wild, frantic and a little off the rails. However in the end, they just figure out ways to get it done.

9. Louisville (18-4) - These RPI darlings still don't have a bad loss on their resume and are playing well despite (cough) distractions.

10. UCLA (19-3) - Back-to-back losses. Not good. Better fix the defense. Should be lower except for, ya know, everyone losing this week.

11. Virginia (16-4) - Oh so close to one of the best resume building weeks of the season. A win over Notre Dame before coughing up a buzzer-beater against Villanova. Virginia needs more offense to put teams away.

12. Oregon (19-3) - This team looked really hot and then . . . crash.  A loss at Colorado put the Ducks in the Losers Club this week.

13. Wisconsin (18-3) - The Badgers are very good, and they pile up wins, but I'm not all that impressed by their resume. Squeaking out an OT win over Rutgers makes it looks a tad better than if they lost that game.=

14. Butler (18-4) - The Bulldogs have allowed every opponent as of late to be in the game. That came back to bite them this week in a home loss to Georgetown.

15. Florida State (18-4) - The 'Noles looked like the ultimate surprise team in college basketball. Right up until this week, when they lost to Georgia Tech and Syracuse in games that really weren't that close.

LOCAL FLAVOR

Rhode Island (13-7) - Win one, lose one.  That's how it's been for the Rams all season.  I saw one expert with them IN, but I don't think that's the case. The resume is lacking and conference play just isn't what we expected from this team.

Providence (14-9) - The Friars suffered a really bad home loss against St. John's, but followed it up with a nice road win at Marquette. They're still on the outside looking in, but they host Villanova this week and still have games left against Creighton, Butler and Xavier.

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

  • Monday, January 30: Duke at Notre Dame
  • Tuesday, January 31: Creighton at Butler
  • Wednesday, February 1: Baylor at Kansas
  • Saturday, February 4: Arizona at Oregon; Notre Dame at North Carolina; Kentucky at Florida

Follow me on Twitter @RobbieBuckets for college hoops musings and off-the-cuff sports takes.

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