The No. 3-ranked Syracuse Orange played admirably in Monday night's loss, 74-66, to the Pittsburgh Panthers (No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) but it wasn't enough to save their top-spot in the latest SB Nation Big East Basketball Power Rankings released on Tuesday. The Panthers (17-1, 6-0) selection for the No. 1 spot came after it's ninth straight victory over the Orange (18-1, 5-1), who haven't beaten Pitt since the 2006 Big East Tournament championship game.
The UConn Blog's Andrew Porter gives the layout of the rankings:
"Pittsburgh had the first perfect week of the year, collecting all 10 first-place votes," wrote Porter Tuesday. "Syracuse followed them despite the loss (a sign of well-deserved respect), while UConn edged out Villanova for the third spot thanks to their win yesterday."
"Louisville and St. John's each stepped up a spot in the polls (the Cardinals are having a hell of a season by the way, I feel like they're never mentioned). West Virginia and Marquette both stepped up too. You can't say that for Notre Dame though, who fell from No. 4 to No. 7 after a pair of 15+ point losses and Georgetown who continues to struggle."
Read the complete 16-team rankings and who Porter gave the Homer and Hater votes to at SB Nation's The UConn Blog.