FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

The North Carolina Tar Heels are now the new (for this week at least) #1 ranked team in the nation according to the latest College Basketball poll released a few minutes ago.  The Tennessee Volunteers were only able to hold onto the top spot for 1 week despite Bruce Pearl pleading his case. The Vols beat previously top ranked Memphis Tigers last week but then lost to #14 Vanderbilt a few days later.

The Tar Heels (27-2) were the preseason #1 and spent the first 10 weeks of the season in that spot. The UCLA Bruins moved up from 4th to 2nd, the Memphis Tigers are ranked 3rd followed by Tennessee and the Duke Blue Devils who are ranked 5th.

Here are the full top 25 college basketball rankings for the 17th week of the 2007/2008 College Basketball season.

1. North Carolina (19) 27-2
2. UCLA (6) 26-3
3. Memphis (6) 28-1
4. Tennessee 26-3
5. Duke 25-3
6. Kansas 26-3
7. Stanford 24-4
8. Wisconsin 24-4
9. Texas 24-5
10. Georgetown 24-4
11. Xavier 25-4
12. Butler 27-3
13. Louisville 24-6
14. Connecticut 23-6
15. Purdue 23-6
16. Vanderbilt 24-5
17. Indiana 24-5
18. Michigan State 23-6
19. Notre Dame 22-6
20. Marquette 21-7
21. Drake 25-4
22. Washington State 22-7
23. Gonzaga 23-6
24. Brigham Young 23-6
25. Mississippi State 20-8

I would hate to be any top team that has to play the Vanderbilt Commodores - especially on their home court. Last night the 14th ranked Commodores knocked out the soon to be previously ranked #1 Tennessee Volunteers 72-69. This is the 4th time this season that Vandy has taken out a top ranked team on their home court. All I have to say to anyone that has to play the Commodores in the NCAA Tournament…watch out.

The Commodores (24-4) were led by Senior Guard / Forward Shan Foster who put up a game high 31 points and Sophomore guard Jermaine Beal who put in 17.

Vandy should be heading into the NCAA Tournment with as much confidence as anyone, the one thing the Commodores need to work on is closing out games earlier instead of saving it for last minute theatrics. “We feel like we’re the best team in the country in terms of winning games down the stretch,” said Shan Foster after the game. “We’ve proven that time and time again, winning games that are close. When you do that over and over like we have, it gives you an edge. It gives you an air of confidence to where you play calm. We’re more calm at the end of games than we are at the beginning of games, as crazy as that may sound.”

The Volunteers (25-3) were led by senior guard Chris Lofton who scored 25 points and sophomore forward Tyler Smith who put in 11 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. The Volunteers were killed by poor shooting all night long - shooting just 32.8% from the field will not win you games. Maybe the Bruce Pearl video and / or Erin Andrews distracted the team? She is HOT.

With another #1 team losing next weeks NCAA College Basketball Polls will have yet another “new number 1″ team. If North Carolina wins their games they should hop to the top.

After Saturdays night game between then #1 ranked Memphis Tigers and #2 Tennessee Volunteers there was no shock when the College Basketball Poll’s were released today. With the 66-62 victory, the Volunteers are now the number 1 ranked team in the nation - they received all 31  first-place votes.

The loss by the Tigers, which ended their 47 home court winning streak, dropped them to the 3rd spot in the rankings. The North Carolina Tar Heels moved up one to the 2nd spot. The Duke Blue Devils, after losing again last week dropped to #6 - honestly I am shocked they did not drop even more.

Here is the full top 25 College Basketball rankings for the 16th week of this College Basketball Season.

1. Tennessee (31) 25-2
2. North Carolina 26-2
3. Memphis 26-1
4. UCLA 24-3
5. Texas 23-4
6. Duke 23-3
7. Kansas 24-3
8. Stanford 22-4
9. Wisconsin 23-4
10. Georgetown 22-4
11. Xavier 24-4
12. Indiana 23-4
13. Butler 25-3
14. Vanderbilt 23-4
15. Michigan State 22-5
16. Connecticut 21-6
17. Notre Dame 21-5
18. Louisville 22-6
19. Purdue 21-6
20. Drake 24-3
21. Marquette 20-6
22. Washington State 21-6
23. Saint Mary’s 23-4
24. Kent State 23-5
25. Brigham Young 21-6

After the Tennessee Volunteers upset the top ranked Memphis Tigers last night, ESPN reporter (and hotty) Erin Andrews grabs coach Bruce Pearl for a post-game interview - well Pearl did some of his own grabbing. I haven’t felt this awkward since the drunk / horny Joe Namath episode from a few years back.



In what was by far the game of the day - maybe the year, the #2 ranked Tennessee Volunteers came to Memphis and took out the top ranked Tigers 66-62.

The Tigers played very well but the Volunteers were just the better team tonight. The two teams kept it close for most of the game with both teams switching leads throughout both periods. In the end it came down to clutch free-throw shooting by the Volunteers - in the last 6 minutes the Volunteers when 4 for 5 while the Tigers went 1 for 6.  In a close game like this free throw’s take on even more importance - for the game the Volunteers shot 66% and the Tigers shot a horrendous 47%. You will not win big games shooting below 50% at the free throw line.

The Volunteers (25-2)  were led by forward Tyler Smith who had 3 16 points & 6 rebounds, sophomore forward Wayne Chism who had 13 points & 7 rebounds. J.P. Prince came off the bench to give the Volunteers a much needed spark putting in 13 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. The Tigers (26-1) were led by freshman guard Derrick Rose who had a game high 23 points and junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts who put in 14 points.

Now it will be interesting to see how the Memphis Tigers rebound from this game. All season long I have questioned just how good they are, this game did not prove anything except that they are good, but not how good. All will be found out in a few weeks when the NCAA Tournament starts.