The Bulldogs are much closer bunch this season. One reason why Mississippi State is 14-1.

The Bulldogs of Mississippi State like each other a bit more this season than last. Sounds trivial, but it's not. And it could be the reason the Bulldogs reside in the top 25 and are a team to be reckoned with for the rest of the SEC.

"We have better chemistry and we have better skill level and better shooters," said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury.

The Bulldogs always had the talent to be one of elite teams in the SEC West. But MSU ended up in the NIT last season, not to mention a disappointing 7-9 in the SEC West. This season, however, the Bulldogs are 14-1 and riding a wave of confidence after beating Kentucky in OT as part of "Upset Saturday."

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Gonzaga at New Mexico, Monday (ESPN,Midnight ET): The Lobos blew each quality non-conference chance, losing to Cal, Stanford and West Virginia, which is even a reach to call the Mountaineers a high-profile win right now. This is their final chance to make a name. Gonzaga hasn't been rattled in any environment and the Pit shouldn't be any different. Michigan State at Indiana, Tuesday (ESPN, 7 ET): The Spartans might not have Marcus Taylor (back spasms) or at least at full strength. Adam Ballinger is hurting, too. The Hoosiers desperately need a big-time win and some good news here at the start of the Big Ten after beating Northwestern and Penn State as an appetizer. Mississippi State at Arkansas, Tuesday (ESPN, 9 ET): The Razorbacks are one of the hottest teams no one is buzzing about nationally. Arkansas' smaller lineup is creating turnovers and their finishing, something they didn't do as effectively earlier in the season. Georgia at Kentucky, Wednesday: The timing is bad for the Bulldogs. Kentucky rarely loses two straight in the SEC, but could have been vulnerable had they beaten Mississippi State. In theory, the Bulldogs shouldn't compete with the Wildcats on the glass, but Georgia has overachieved on the boards all season. UCLA at USC, Thursday: USC continues to play under the radar screen nationally and this is the Trojans' chance to knock UCLA down a peg and reclaim their status as a Pac-10 title contender and a player in the national polls. Kansas at UCLA, Saturday: UCLA could re-establish itself as a Final Four contender with a win over the Jayhawks. Kansas has shown no fear going on the road this season as evident by their win at Arizona. SMU at Hawaii, Saturday: The Mustangs replaced Louisiana Tech as the surprise team in the WAC with a win last week. Beating Hawaii on the road would cement them as a contender. Indiana at Iowa, Sunday: Luke Recker loves this game and he'll probably have his best outing again. Indiana might be overmatched inside if George Leach isn't healthy enough to help out on Reggie Evans. San Diego at Gonzaga, Sunday: The Bulldogs toughest tests this season will come from San Diego, Loyola-Marymount and Pepperdine on the road in the WCC. Home games shouldn't be a problem. More games to watch

Player of the Week Melvin Ely Melvin Ely, C, Fresno State This award could have gone to a number of players but Ely's numbers Saturday against Tulsa were simply amazing. Ely scored a career-high 35 points, grabbed 16 boards and had nine blocks. He has been on a mission since being reinstated by the school (and in some sense by the NCAA although they could still pull him if they wanted to for further questioning). Ely is hitting mid-range jumpers, up-and-under fakes for layups, baseline dunks and having an overall presence in the middle. If he continues to be a force then the Bulldogs do have a legit chance of being the WAC favorite again and a team to beat in the NCAA Tournament. He's also clearly helping himself in the NBA draft. His game has pushed further to the 3-point line and he's become a more consistent player around the basket. He used to go up soft and try awkward angles. But he's now looking to flush anything close to the basket and when he does he usually gets fouled. Past players of the week Top Five Mario Austin, Mississippi State: Austin is finally living up to his high school hype. He scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the upset win over Kentucky. He even made a 3-pointer. If Austin is a dominant player then the Bulldogs do have the goods to make a run at the SEC West title. They already had the role players. Dan Dickau, Gonzaga: Dickau made money after money shot to beat Saint Joseph's last Monday night in Philadelphia. He made five 3s, scored 25 points and iced the game with a 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds left. The Hawks defended him well, but not well enough as he elevated up over Na'im Crenshaw for the trey. Dickau doesn't back down from a miss and didn't in this game. Billy Knight, UCLA: Role player? Come on. Knight (15.2 ppg) is looking like a main man with 32 points in the win over Washington State Sunday. Knight made six 3s and connected on all eight of his free throws. The Bruins desperately needed another scorer to emerge with the over-reliance on Jason Kapono and the inconsistencies surrounding Dan Gadzuric. Nile Murry, Temple: Where did this come from? Murry scored 33 points and had nine rebounds in Temple's win over Fordham. Murry didn't even score against DePaul on Dec. 22. Lynn Greer said he was tired after the loss to Memphis. He needed help. Maybe Murry heard the plea. If he can make shots like that and bury 3s (7 of 11 against Fordham), then the Owls could be a tough out again in the A-10. Drew Gooden, Kansas: Gooden scored 20 of his 30 points against Valparaiso in the second half. He then scored 27 and grabbed 14 boards in the Big 12 opening win at Colorado. Gooden is clearly becoming the go-to player for the Jayhawks and more than just a bookend to Nick Collison. His athleticism in the post made him a tough matchup and he's increasing his range. Gooden has surpassed Kareem Rush to date as the player of the year in the Big 12, at least the most consistent of the stars. Team of the Week Florida State Pittsburgh had the honors before Sunday. But it was hard not to give the nod to the Seminoles after beating South Florida on the road and then shocking No. 1 Duke on Sunday night for their fourth straight win. Steve Robinson is one of the good guys in the sport. He is well-liked and well respected. But the reality is the Seminoles had won 18 games his first season and an NCAA Tournament first-round game. Year Two produced 13 wins, Year Three 12 and Year Four just nine. He needed to win this season to feel more secure and after losses to American and Western Carolina at home, Robinson has this team turned around and ready to damage in the ACC. He has Monte Cummings playing at a high level and so too is Delvon Arrington to give the Seminoles a productive backcourt. Nigel "Big Jelly"' Dixon is logging contributing minutes in the paint, too. But they can't afford to flop from here on out. Florida State needs to build off this win, which didn't happen last season when the Seminoles shocked Maryland at Cole Field House. Past teams of the week

Rising	Falling
Pittsburgh: The Panthers are turning out to be one of the most disciplined teams in the Big East, let alone the country. BC's Troy Bell had a hand in his face with every shot. Beating St. John's at home convincingly and then handing BC a home loss was worthy of team of the week status. But the Panthers will have another shot. They have a team that is looking like a 20 to 25-win team.	Fordham: The Rams lost by 20 to Holy Cross and then got waxed by Temple. Cori Spencer is bolting and the rest of this season doesn't look too bright. The Rams need something good to happen and fast.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks humbled Memphis on the road and then dispatched Auburn for a turnaround week. The Razorbacks' defense is getting tougher to score on and their getting production out of Jannero Pargo, enough to warrant an all-SEC look if he keeps it up over the next two months. Arkansas blew some chances against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State but the Razorbacks could be like Georgia was last season - a team that is even better in the SEC and gets into the NCAAs with an above .500 record in the league.	Massachusetts: UMass' offense was downright offensive Saturday against Saint Joseph's. Kit Rhymer couldn't score and the Minutemen didn't do much better in putting up 38 points. How much different do you think Oregon and UMass are since the Minutemen beat the Ducks in November?
Texas: The Longhorns beat Oklahoma State without Chris Owens but that wasn't a surprise to the staff. James Thomas was ready to take over his role, at least as an understudy and the guards were never a question with T.J. Ford, Royal Ivey and Sydmill Harris part of one of the best backcourts in the league. Not having to play against Maurice Baker certainly helped but the Longhorns are a legit team to make the NCAAs, even without Owens.	Texas A&M: Losing to Oklahoma was expected but dropping a road game at Centenary (why are they going there?) is hard to explain. The Aggies are really struggling and look like the worst team in the Big 12. A decent recruiting class doesn't make that look better.
Kent State: Trevor Huffman led the Golden Flashes to three wins this week, averaging 23.7 points a game in the wins over Marshall, Ball State and St. Bonaventure. The Flashes got off to a bumpy start but have resumed their place as the favorite in the MAC, largely because of Huffman. Adjusting to Stan Heath's more set play-oriented system was an issue early but not anymore.	Iowa: The Hawkeyes made a decent comeback against the Buckeyes but they still got essentially run in Columbus. The team that blitzed Missouri needs to show up more often for the Hawkeyes to be taken more seriously as a potential Big Ten title and Final Four contender.
N.C. State: Princeton offense or not, the Wolfpack are winning and that's all that matters. The victory at Virginia and the fact that the game was played at N.C. State's pace was a credit to Herb Sendek and his staff. He did a remarkable job of preparing the Wolfpack for what should have been one of the toughest games of the season. N.C. State has a legitimate shot for an NCAA berth and that alone should quiet Sendek's critics.	Georgetown: Why can't the Hoyas just pound the ball into Michael Sweetney? They haven't done that and being a jump-shooting team isn't working as well for them right now. They need to stop the bleeding fast so they can resemble a little of the team that went to the Sweet 16 last season.
Wisconsin: The Badgers weren't discouraged by the road loss at Iowa and beat Illinois to put keep them on the board for a potential bid. They also sent a message to the rest of the Big Ten that they will be a factor, especially at the Kohl Center, in every game. Bo Ryan's offense is taking shape with each game and it's making scorers out of a team that was once offensively deficient.	Big East middle of the pack (Seton Hall, St. John's, West Virginia, Providence): This crew is sinking fast. The Pirates looked like they were going to be a factor in the Big East race when they nearly beat Duke in Maui but they still haven't been consistent. St. John's has one awful game followed by a good game and that trend can't be sane. West Virginia was doing the same thing and Providence just can't close teams out defensively.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils simply had to sweep the Oregon schools to have a chance at a potential NCAA berth. They did and they've saved their season for now. Arizona State got inspired play out of Chad Prewitt and are at least back in business before going north to the Washington schools.	Defense at the South Florida-TCU game: Yes, it must have been great theatre to play that old style offense, the kind of NBA games that George Gervin would have probably been involved in when the Spurs and Nuggets used to run up the scores. But was there any defense played in the 117-108 South Florida win?
SMU: Undefeated in the WAC? Mike Dement couldn't have imagined the start could have been this good, so fast. It could come crashing down with the road trip to Hawaii but beating Louisiana Tech certainly gave them credibility in the league.	Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets lost to Penn at home and then IUPUI. Georgia Tech lost to Clemson, too, in the ACC at home, the same Clemson team that lost to Yale at home. Georgia Tech has the big-time recruiting class coming, led by Chris Bosh of Texas. But these players have to improve for that to matter as much next season.
Rutgers: Gary Waters made our list of top 10 coaches at a new job for a reason - he's winning without a lot of talent. Rutgers beat Georgetown after giving Syracuse a game earlier in the week. Having Herve Lamizana eligible has meant a world of difference for the Scarlet Knights but Waters has Rutgers playing better defense and their self-esteem and confidence continues to grow.	Purdue: The Boilermakers started the Big Ten losing the first two games, including a game at Michigan. During the Big Ten tipoff meeting in October, Purdue was discussed as the sleeper team in the league. Well, it's time to wake up if that's going to be the case.
Cal: The Bears held serve with the win over Stanford Sunday and splitting the weekend series with their arch-rival. Cal still needs to pick up a significant road win, any road win, and will have a tough time this weekend at the Oregon schools. But they're at least on target to finishing in the top four, a pre-requisite for a chance at an NCAA bid.	Marquette: It's hard to single the Eagles out because of their schedule but the reality is they have lost three of their last four games with the only win coming against Morris Brown. Marquette has a younger team and a losing skid, at least against big-time competition, could be hard to overcome.

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.