By Soren Petro
PETRO’S AP BALLOT
1. Kansas
2. Villanova
3. Kentucky
4. Baylor
5. Gonzaga
6. North Carolina
7. UCLA
8. Florida St.
9. Virginia
10. Arizona
11. Wisconsin
12. Oregon
13. Louisville
14. Duke
15. West Virginia
16. Butler
17. Purdue
18. Cincinnati
19. Creighton
20. Notre Dame
21. Maryland
22. South Carolina
23. Saint Mary’s
24. Xavier
25. Kansas St.
26. Florida
27. Indiana
28. Iowa St.
29. Northwestern
30. Wichita St.
31. California
32. SMU
33. Miami
34. Marquette
35. Michigan
36. Rhode Island
37. Dayton
38. Texas Tech
39. Wake Forest
40. Virginia Tech
BIG GAMES THIS WEEK
TUESDAY
6P Kansas @ West Virginia – KU begins it’s big three game swing in Morgantown. After this it’s at Kentucky and home for Baylor. Now we find out exactly how good the Jayhawks four guard lineup really is. WVU can probably already kiss the league good bye with their last two losses. They need this one to keep themselves in contention for a top four seed.
7P Virginia @ Notre Dame – Just another war in the ACC. The Irish are currently tied with UNC and Florida St. atop the ACC. Virginia is only one game back.
8P Kansas St. @ Iowa St. – The loser falls to .500 in the league. The winner gets some breathing room. The Cats won their last road game in Stillwater, but are still just 2-17 in their last 19 conference road games. Winning in Ames would back up the win vs. the Cowboys and start to put their road woes in the rear view mirror.
THURSDAY
6P Xavier @ Cincinnati – The Battle for Cincinnati. The Musketeers have lost three of their last four. The Bearcats are looking to make a major jump up the polls with a win.
SATURDAY
5:15P Kansas @ Kentucky – The second of three huge games for the Hawks. Kentucky has the talent in the backcourt to challenge the Hawks. UK and Duke are the two teams with big, talented front courts. We find out how KU will play a bigger team with the smaller lineup.
SUNDAY
Noon Virginia @ Villanova – Nova only has three more games against ranked opponents after this game and two of the three are at home. A win fast tracks the Wildcats to the number one overall seed in the tournament.