College Basketball Top 25 Rankings: Updated January 7th, 2009

Top 25 College Basketball Power Rankings Courtesy of Alex Smart, An Award-Winning Professional Basketball Handicapper featured on Touthouse.com. If you are Betting on College Basketball this season be sure to buy Alex’s Expert NCAA Basketball Predictions—Rankings updated on January 7th, 2009.

1. PITTSBURGH
Just got by Rutgers, but Blair & Co. put on a rebounding clinic at Georgetown in a 70-54 win.

2. DUKE
Duke held visiting VaTech to only 13-second half points on Sunday night; Kyle Singler is the early front runner for ACC Player of the Year.

3. WAKE FOREST
Teague, Johnson, and Aminu are a force to be reckoned with; don’t be surprised to see Wake knock off UNC in Winston-Salem on 1/11.

4. UNC
Turns out that the Heels aren’t invincible after all, as Boston College handed UNC it’s first loss on the season, 85-78 at Chapel Hill on Sunday.

5. GEORGETOWN
The Hoyas scored a monster Big East win over then, undefeated UConn, only to fall later in the week to a stronger Pitt squad.

6. UCONN
After losing to GTown, the Huskies easily bounced back by crushing Rutgers, 80-49 on 1/3.

7. TEXAS
Rick Barnes’ kids had an easy week with only App, State on the schedule; traveling to Arkansas on 1/6 won’t be a walk in the park.

8. UCLA
The Bruins had little trouble getting past the Oregon schools last week; the third of a three-game road trip gets heated with USC next in line.

9. MICHIGAN STATE
Back-to-back road wins over Minnesota and Northwestern was exactly how Tom Izzo needed to start conference play.

10. OKLAHOMA
A loss at Arkansas wasn’t expected, but perhaps for the better as the pressure is now off of the young Sooners; OU rebounded with a 93-62 win over Coppin State.

11. SYRACUSE
Cuse has won five straight, and will ease into the Big East portion of it’s schedule this week with contests vs. DePaul and at Rutgers.

12. CLEMSON
The undefeated Tigers will host Alabama before NC State comes to town to open up play in the ACC; Wake Forest and UNC to follow.

13. MARQUETTE
MU opened up Big East competition with wins over Villanova and Cincinnati; Marquette has won five straight since losing to Tennessee in Nashville.

14. MICHIGAN
Despite losing to Wisconsin, Manny Harris and the Wolverines scored a big win over Illinois in Ann Arbor to close out the week.

15. NOTRE DAME
The true depth and strength of the Big East was put on display when St. John’s upset the Irish 71-65 on Saturday; ND struggled by only beating DePaul by 10 three days earlier.

16. PURDUE
Purdue’s only game this week was an overtime loss to unranked Illinois, 71-67 in West Lafayette.

17. BUTLER
A 13-point road victory over Valpo should provide ample preparation as Wright State and Detroit come to town on 1/8 and 1/10 respectively.

18. WEST VIRGINIA
Will the Mountaineers’ five-game winning streak hold up with Connecticut coming to Morgantown on 1/6? If not, will WVU be able to bounce back at Marquette on 1/10?

19. MEMPHIS
Memphis will begin C-USA play on 1/7 vs. Marshall; the only date to watch at this point on the Tigers’ schedule is the meeting with UT in Knoxville on 1/24.

20. LOUISVILLE
An early week one-point loss at home to UNLV was quickly erased by Edgar Sosa’s buzzer-beater to knock off arch-rival Kentucky on Sunday.

21. WISCONSIN
Opponents can never sleep on Bo Ryan’s squad, who opened 2-0 in the Big Ten with wins at Michigan and vs. Penn State this week.

22. KANSAS
Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich blew past Tennessee on Saturday in Lawrence, giving the Jayhawks a much-needed win over a marquee program.

23. CAL
Remember this name: Jerome Randle…once you see what he and Patrick Christopher did to Arizona and Arizona State, you’ll quickly see why the Bears are to be feared.

24. ARIZONA STATE
The Sun Devils’ 90-60 win over Stanford was abruptly short-lived as the fell to the Cal Bears in Berkeley two nights later.

25. TENNESSEE
Not even Bruce Pearl’s orange jacket would’ve been seen in the Phog on Saturday; a re-match with struggling Gonzaga is next on Rocky Top.