The Syracuse Orange men's basketball program should move up to No. 2 in the college basketball rankings, which will be released later Monday afternoon (approximately 1 p.m. ET). The Orange (22-1, 9-1 Big East) earned two solid victories this past week downing the Cincinnati Bearcats on the road, Jan. 23, and then edging the West Virginia Mountaineers Saturday, 63-61. Combine that with the loss of the Missouri Tigers losing to the Oklahoma St. Cowboys Wednesday, 79-72, and Syracuse should move up to No. 2 in the AP Poll.
The Kentucky Wildcats will remaining No. 1, while Ohio St. Buckeyes, Baylor Bears, North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan St. Spartans should all move up a bit because the Kansas Jayhawks loss Saturday to the Iowa State Cyclones.
Two programs cracking the top 25 will be the Gonzaga Bulldugs and Vanderbilt Commodores, while the Connecticut Huskies and Kansas St. Wildcats will each fall out of the rankings.
Here's how I think the polls will look Monday afternoon (note: projections are based of last week's rankings in the AP Poll and the opinion of the author):
1.) Kentucky Wildcats (21-1)
2) Syracuse Orange (22-1)
3) Ohio St. Buckeyes (19-3)
4) Baylor Bears (19-2)
5) North Carolina Tar Heels (18-3)
6) Duke Blue Devils (18-3)
7) Michigan St. Spartans (17-4)
8) Missouri Tigers (19-2)
9) Kansas Jayhawks (17-4)
10) Murray St. Racers (21-0)
11) UNLV Runnin' Rebels (20-3)
12) Florida Gators (17-4)
13) Marquette Golden Eagles (18-4)
14) Creighton Bluejays (20-2)
15) Virginia Cavaliers (17-3)
16) St. Mary's, Calif. Gaels (21-2)
17) Georgetown Hoyas (16-4)
18) Wisconsin Badgers (17-5)
19) San Diego St. Aztecs (18-3)
20) Indiana Hoosiers (17-5)
21) Michigan Wolverines (16-6)
22) Mississippi St. Bulldogs (17-5)
23) Florida St. Seminoles (14-6)
24) Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-3)
25) Vanderbilt Commodores (16-5)
Out: Connecticut Huskies (14-5); Kansas St. Wildcats (14-4.
SB Nation's blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician is all about the Orange. For more on Big East basketball, visit the SB Nation blog Big East Coast Bias. If you're a college basketball nut, well, SB Nation's college basketball hub will solve your hoops cravings.