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Monday, January 13
Updated: January 16, 10:55 AM ET

A-10 Must Stay Top-Heavy

By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

Ramod Marshall
Ramod Marshall and Dayton are flying high in the A-10.
The A-10 finds itself in position to send more than a single team to the NCAA Tournament. How many go dancing, however, depends on Dayton, Saint Joseph's, Xavier and even Richmond separating themselves from the pack, not falling into familiar pitfalls prior to March and taking care of business in the conference tournament. Story

Monday
Missouri at Syracuse (ESPN 7 p.m.): This is the last game the Orangemen have to play without suspended point guard Billy Edelin. But the bigger question is can Syracuse handle Missouri's Arthur Johnson after he scored 30 on Baylor?
Tuesday
Pittsburgh at West Virginia (ESPN2, 7 p.m.): The Mountaineers have already beaten Florida, Tennessee and Miami at home and nearly took out Georgetown on the road Sunday. This could end up being one of the toughest road games for the Panthers.
Wednesday
Virginia at Duke (ESPN 7 p.m.): The Cavs are playing their best basketball of the season, but so is undefeated Duke. And the game is at Cameron.
Thursday
UNLV at BYU: The Runnin' Rebels are quietly emerging as a potential champ in the Mountain West. But winning at the Marriott Center is a rare feat against a Steve Cleveland-coached Cougar team.
Saturday
Connecticut at North Carolina (ESPN, 5 p.m.): The Tar Heels remember getting toasted by the Huskies last season in Hartford and would love to return the favor.
Saturday
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest: The Yellow Jackets have righted themselves, but they've got to pull off a road win in the ACC to make their résumé NCAA worthy.

More games to watch

Player of the Week
Brian Cook F, Illinois
The senior forward is a changed man this season. He has become a true leader for the Illini and is scoring at will for them. Forget the hype about the freshmen because without Cook's presence the Illini would be an average Big Ten team. Cook scored 25 points and grabbed 11 boards in a road win at Minnesota earlier in the week. He then lit up Wisconsin for 31 points in just 26 minutes in a six-point win Saturday. Cook made 12 of 19 shots and led the Illini to a convincing 2-0 Big Ten start.

Past players of the week

Team of Week
Florida
The Gators are probably the most impressive 2-0 team within a conference so far because of who they have beaten and where. The Gators took out Mississippi State in Starkville in a stunning win earlier in the week. Then they dispatched Georgia on a buzzer-beating, 3-pointer on Saturday. Florida will get Christian Drejer back against Tennessee this week, and for the first time this season, be a complete, healthy team. The Gators are looking like a Final Four team in January if they can somehow keep these good vibes going through the rugged SEC.

Past teams of the week

Supporting Cast
ONTARIO LETT, Pittsburgh: The senior forward scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a rout over Notre Dame Monday. He followed that up with 12 points and eight boards in the road win over Rutgers Saturday. If he plays in the post like he has this week then the Panthers could be a national title contender.

DAHNTAY JONES, Duke: Jones has become the vocal leader for the Blue Devils. He scored 22 points in the Wednesday win over Georgetown and then followed that up with 16 in the rout over Wake Forest Sunday night.

MICHAEL SWEETNEY, Georgetown: He's one of the best big men in the country -- when he's not in foul trouble. He couldn't stay on the court against Duke because of some quick whistles and was limited to 25 minutes (he still had 23 points before fouling out). But Sweetney was untouchable against West Virginia on Sunday, scoring 35 points in 41 minutes and grabbing 19 boards. Sweetney got to the line 9 of 13 times for the Hoyas, had five blocks, four assists and three steals. He has to keep scoring because center Wesley Wilson (two minutes and three turnovers) continues to be a mystery.

KEITH BOGANS, Kentucky: Bogans is quietly having a stellar senior season. He scored 20 points in a thrilling victory at Tennessee earlier in the week. He scored only 10 in 24 minutes in the win over South Carolina but he made two critical 3-pointers for the Wildcats, who stayed on course with Florida in the SEC East. Bogans is averaging 18.3 points and shooting 40 percent on 3s.

Freshmen Watch

ANTHONY ROBERSON
Florida
Roberson hit the game-winning 3-pointer to beat Georgia. Roberson scored 23 points in 25 minutes in the game. He was coming off a rather modest 12-point effort in the win at Mississippi State.

DANIEL HORTON
Michigan
Horton was a serious contender for player of the week after scoring 25 points in the win over Wisconsin and then 13 in the win over Penn State. Horton's scoring is one of the main reasons for Michigan's turnaround this season.

STEVEN SMITH
LaSalle
Smith averaged 16.5 points and 9.5 rebounds during a 1-1 week for the Explorers. He had a double-double in a four-point loss at Dayton, but then lit up George Washington for 22 points and nine boards in a convincing win Saturday. The 6-8 forward had three consecutive double-double games prior to GW.

TERRY PETTIS
Fresno State
The 6-2 guard scored 20 points in 40 minutes in a win over Boise State. He followed that up with six points against UTEP, but he dished out seven assists to help the Bulldogs to a 11-2, 4-0 start in the WAC.

On Our Radar
Derrick Tarver, Akron: The 6-4 guard scored 72 points in two games last week. He scored 41 in a four-overtime loss at Ohio and then followed that up with 31 in a home win over Buffalo. He got to the line 12 times against Buffalo and made 10 for the upstart Zips.

Cedrick Banks, Illinois-Chicago: He scored 35 points in 38 minutes in a 10-point win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Flames desperately needed that kind of effort out of Banks after he was held to just four points in a loss to Butler.

Tim Parker, Chattanooga: Parker led Chattanooga with 25 points (9 of 10 from the line) in a 10-point win at the College of Charleston. The win pushed Chattanooga to 3-0 in the Southern Conference, 11-3 overall.

Chris Kaman, Central Michigan: The best center in the MAC scored 14 in a win over Western Michigan earlier in the week and then pounded Ohio for 22 points and eight boards. The three-point win over the Bobcats pushed the Chippewas to 2-1 in the MAC.

Good Wins
Ohio State 81, Indiana 69: The Buckeyes pounded the Hoosiers without two starters -- injured point guard Brandon Fuss-Cheatham and forward Terrence Dials. The Buckeyes had lost to Pitt, Duke and Alabama and were clearly not as bad as their record at one point. Ohio State (8-5, 1-1 in the Big Ten) is still a team to watch for a potential bid and this win helps tremendously.
Kansas State 68, Texas Tech 44: The Wildcats' defense on Texas Tech was extremely impressive. Texas Tech was one of the better scoring Big 12 teams heading into the game but Kansas State locked the Red Raiders down early. Gilson DeJesus scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the impressive win. Kansas State is 10-4 and if nothing else made a case for an NIT bid, if they can stay above .500 in March.
LSU 85, Mississippi State 72: The Tigers proved they could beat an elite team by dispatching of Arizona at home. Taking out the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge this weekend keeps them in the thick of the race in the SEC West. LSU let Mississippi State know early that this is more than a two-team race for the division crown (with Alabama).

Bad Loss
USC 61, Penn 99: This was an Ivy League team whooping a Pac-10 team in L.A. Koko Archibong scored 21 points and grabbed 11 boards in the Quakers' win. Penn was up 40 at one point, prompting a USC fan to yell out "pathetic.'' USC had beaten UCLA earlier in the week.
Wisconsin 65, Michigan 66: This one will sting the Badgers. They had a shot for a decent start to the Big Ten and let this one get away from them in the final seconds. Wisconsin won these type of games last season but is finding closing out games a bit harder this year. This loss could come back to haunt Wisconsin in the chase for the Big Ten title.
N.C. State 61, Georgia Tech 85: The Wolfpack is hard to figure. They lose at UMass and then return home to beat Virginia to open the ACC. Then, N.C. State gets drilled at Georgia Tech. N.C. State could find itself on the bubble come March and road losses like this will stick out and give the committee reason to dismiss them.

Caught Our Eye
Inside the Top 25: Kansas didn't appear to miss forward Wayne Simien (separated shoulder) in an impressive rout of Iowa State last Monday in Ames. The Jayhawks dominated every aspect of the game as Nick Collison (31 points in 35 minutes) had little trouble in the post. Jeff Graves had 10 boards in filling in for Simien. Kirk Hinrich (28 points) got hot against Nebraska on Saturday and the Jayhawks cruised to the win. Kansas is looking more like the team predicted in the preseason to be a Final Four contender with or without a healthy Simien.
Outside the Top 25: California has been golden, winning four straight and seven of its last eight. If the Bears' big three of Amit Tamir, Joe Shipp and Brian Wethers score in double figures, it usually means the Bears win. The test for Cal will be on the road this week at the Washington schools. These are the kind of games the Bears must win to stay in the Pac-10 race. But so far they're looking more like a contender than a pretender for March.

STANFORD: The Cardinal swept the Oregon schools behind Matt Lottich's shooting. He scored 18 of his 23 points in the final 7:32 to beat Oregon State. He connected on five 3s to help beat Oregon Saturday.

RUTGERS: The RAC is no longer impenetrable. Pitt was the only team to win there last season. So far, Pitt, Virginia and LaSalle have won on the Knights' home court.

ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils swept the Washington schools at home. Tommy Smith was sensational in beating Washington with 13 points, 16 boards, six blocks and five assists.

MINNESOTA: The Gophers can't afford to lose home games and stay in the race. Falling to Illinois at home isn't a bad loss, but it sets this team back.

WEST VIRGINIA: John Bielien is the early favorite for coach of the year in the Big East. West Virginia is essentially down to eight contributing players. But West Virginia took Georgetown to overtime before losing Sunday in D.C. and has already beaten Tennessee, Florida and Miami at home.

OREGON: The Ducks are getting pounded on the backboard. Oregon got swept in the Bay Area and is now 1-3 in the Pac-10. If it weren't for a second-half comeback against the Sun Devils, Oregon would be 0-4 in the Pac-10.

OKLAHOMA: The Sooners were impressive in beating Connecticut and Colorado at home this week to remain unbeaten in Norman.

TEMPLE: The Owls were down 13-0 to Richmond and are simply a bad offensive team right now. The Owls may struggle to get to double-digit wins this season.

RICHMOND: Jerry Wainwright has done a sensational job with the Spiders. Richmond went into Xavier and upset the Musketeers before pounding Temple at home Saturday.

SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks beat Ole Miss but lost at Kentucky, which is essentially par for the course.

MAJESTIC MAPP: Mapp completed a tremendous comeback by playing two minutes for Virginia on Saturday after missing the last 70 games with four knee surgeries. Mapp could be an inspirational leader for the Cavs down the stretch, not to mention provide valuable minutes at the point.

MISSISSIPPI: Ole Miss could be headed toward the NIT if it has more weeks like the last one -- losing at South Carolina and at home to Tennessee.

UAB: Mike Anderson is doing a sensational job in his first year on the job. The Blazers won at South Florida and are an impressive 10-3 overall, 2-0 in Conference USA.

MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans beat Ohio State, but then lost late at Iowa. The Spartans are turning the ball over too much and not getting the boards they need for their system to flourish.

SYRACUSE: The Orangemen keep winning at home and are putting themselves in position where only a collapse could keep them from making the Dance card.

SAINT JOSEPH'S: The Hawks simply keep winning. Unheralded guard Delonte West has averaged 17.7 points in the Hawks' last three wins.

HAWAII: The Rainbows took care of business by beating SMU and Louisiana Tech at home. Hawaii has only two losses so far -- at San Diego State and a late-possession defeat at Boise State.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: The Cougars are looking more like this season's Ball State (beat Kansas and UCLA in 2001 Maui but didn't make NCAA tournament). Losing to Chattanooga isn't a bad loss, but it gives the committee yet another reason to strike against Charleston despite the Great Alaska Shootout title.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY: The Terriers held off Vermont to stay with Hartford atop the America East.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies beat Toledo and then Ball State to move to 2-2 in the MAC, 6-8 overall. NIU is officially a pest in the MAC this season.

MARYLAND: The Terps got the scoring and leadership they needed from Drew Nicholas and Ryan Randle this week to re-assert themselves as an ACC title contender.

BOWLING GREEN: Somehow Dan Dakich is pulling this off with only seven quality players. Bowling Green snapped Kent State's 17-game MAC win streak, moved out to a 4-0 start in the MAC, and is emerging as the favorite in the West Division.

ST. JOHN'S: The Red Storm lost to Providence but then beat UCLA for a decent week for an average team.

SOUTHERN MISS: Huge win for James Green's team when they beat Memphis on Saturday at home. Southern Miss looks like a team ready to stay with Memphis throughout the season.

AUBURN: The Tigers are 13-2 overall, but the question no one knows is: "Just how good is this team?"

IOWA: Glen Worley scored 29 points in the win over Michigan State. Steve Alford, criticized in the offseason for some defections and off-court trouble with players, is having his best coaching season. Iowa is 10-3, 2-0 in the Big Ten and looking like its not going away anytime soon.

VANDERBILT: Vandy could make it so 11 of 12 SEC teams are in the postseason after the Commodores beat Alabama at home.

BUTLER: The Bulldogs continue to own the Horizon regular season. Butler beat Detroit and Darnell Archey keeps hitting free throws. The Bulldogs are 13-1 overall, 3-0 in the Horizon.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Watch, a look back at the week and a preview of the week ahead, runs every Monday.