College Basketball Top 25 Rankings: Updated January 28th 2009

College basketball top 25 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 28th, 2009.

1. DUKE
Duke enters the top-spot in style, having beaten rival, Maryland, 85-44 on Saturday. The 41-point margin of victory was the largest in the series’ history. Now the question is whether or not the Blue Devils can hold-serve with a Wednesday showdown at Wake Forest looming.

2. UCONN
Despite Luke Harangody getting the best of Huskies’ center, Hasheem Thabeet, it was UConn that bested No. 19 Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday night.

3. LOUISVILLE
Rick Pitino’s Cardinals notched a pair of wins this past week, including another impressive Big East road victory at Syracuse on Sunday.

4. UNC
With all five starters averaging double-figures in points, the Heels are again starting to scare teams across the country. Since losing to WFU, Carolina has beaten it’s three opponents by an average of 21 PPG.

5. PITTSBURGH
The Panthers embarrassed Syracuse in the second half of last Monday’s Big East showdown. For a follow up performance, Sam Young dropped 22 in Pitt’s 12-point victory at West Virginia on Sunday.

6. OKLAHOMA
Oddly enough, Nebraska gave the Sooners more trouble this week than ranked Baylor was able to on Saturday. POY candidate Blake Griffin recorded his 16th double-double of the season against the Bears, with 20-points and 17-boards.

7. WAKE FOREST
Seth Greenberg’s Hokies are to blame for dethroning the former No. 1 Demon Deacons. Wake fell at home 78-71 to VaTech on Wednesday and to make matters worse, new No. 1 Duke visits next.

8. MARQUETTE
As previously stated, cupcake time is over for the Eagles. After beating Providence and DePaul most recently, MU travels to Notre Dame on Monday, only to return to Milwaukee for a Saturday date with Georgetown.

9. BUTLER
With a perfect 9-0 record in the Horizon League, added to an 18-1 overall mark, Butler is gaining national respect by the basket. Beating UWM by 30 on Saturday also helps.

10. PURDUE
Robbie Hummel only accounted for five-points and seven-boards, but Purdue went up to Minneapolis and buried the Gophers. Hummel will need to step up if Purdue hopes to steal a win from Wisconsin at the Kohl Center on Tuesday.

11. XAVIER
Sean Miller’s squad reeled off a pair of impressive road victories last week, beating St. Bonaventure and LSU by 20 and 10 respectively.

12. TEXAS
The Longhorns seemed a bit lost in their 67-58 win over A&M on Saturday, but no Rick Barnes-lead team could ever stay down for long.

13. MEMPHIS
By no means was it a monumental No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown like last year’s epic battle at the FedEx Forum, but Memphis was able to gain revenge and bragging rights by beating Tennessee 54-52 in Knoxville on Saturday. Tyreke Evans impressed everyone in the second half.

14. MICHIGAN STATE
After getting clipped by Northwestern in East Lansing, MSU regained composure by stealing a road victory of it’s own on Sunday, 78-67 at Ohio State.

15. GONZAGA
Finally, the Zags are playing to their potential. The preseason WCC favorite swept through Cali this week, beating Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount by a combined 47-points.

16. ST. MARY’S
Patty Mills and the Gaels held San Diego to a stifling 14-points in the first half, en route to a 65-42 victory. The first of two contests with Gonzaga takes place Thursday in Spokane.

17. CLEMSON
Clemson was able to stop it’s losing streak at only two-games in the midst of ACC play. The Tigers downed GT by 14 on Sunday and will travel to Blacksburg on Thursday to face Virginia Tech.

18. KENTUCKY
Big Blue Nation held it’s collective breath after learning of Ramon Harris’ collapse at halftime of Saturday’s game at Alabama. Harris is believed to be OK and UK rode the Tide into the ground in the second half behind another stellar performance by Jodie Meeks.

19. ILLINOIS
Having just beaten Ohio State and Wisconsin, the Illini’s record improved to an unexpected 17-3. Perhaps it’s time to start taking this team seriously. All Hail the Chief?

20. ARIZONA STATE
Despite trailing at halftime and shooting just 28.6 percent from the field, the Sun Devils were able to stun the McKale Center crowd on Wednesday night, beating Arizona for the third consecutive time, 53-47. No one’s as smooth with the ball as James Harden.

21. UTAH STATE
The Aggies? Really? Yes, really. Utah State is 19-1, 7-0 in the WAC and looking to improve upon a 14-game winning streak. Nevada and a trip to Fresno State are next on the schedule.

22. NOTRE DAME
Plain and simple: the Irish have lost three-straight to ranked-conference-opponents. Unfortunately, times stay tough as Marquette visits next, followed by a date at Pitt.

23. UCLA
When a PAC-10 team heads up to play the Washington schools, the odds of winning a pair are strongly against you. Case in point, UCLA barely got out of Pullman with a two-point victory and was upset in Seattle two nights later, 86-75 by the host Huskies.

24. VILLANOVA
While the Wildcats put out a strong showing at Connecticut earlier in the week, they were almost embarrassed by Big East bottom-dweller, South Florida, on Saturday. Nova’s nine-point win was closer than it now seems on the box score.

25. SYRACUSE
Much like Notre Dame, the Orange have recently felt the wrath of the Big East. Cuse dropped both of it’s contests this week to Pitt and Louisville respectively. Jim Boheim’s boys are losers of three of their last four.