Well, midterms are over and house ball is back, all is right with the world. As we approach the last few games of the regular season, let's take a look at this week's edition of the power rankings.
() Indicates previous ranking; [] Indicates record
1. (2) [5-1] Duke
The Blue Devils continue to hover at the one and two spot, and rightfully so. The only team remaining with only one loss on the season, Duke has been the model of house ball consistency. Although this team has been playing great, I don't have anything new to say about them. As we all know, Justin Vandy Graff (!!) and Sean Collins are a solid duo at the point and have been leading this team in every way possible. Mike Neary continues to be solid in the paint, while Ryan Griffin has had a perfect attendance record this season (this kid has heart!). So yeah, this team is very good and are likely to make a deep run in to the playoffs.
2. (1) [4-2] Washington
Washington has been solid throughout this season, and in my opinion have the best team chemistry in the league. Though they don't look too strong on paper, they're a team who can do pretty much anything, whether it's grabbing boards on knocking down mid range jump shots (shoutout to Sherlock) the Huskies have gotten the job done. Kevin Grune has been the star of this team, but has missed a couple games now due to a swimming commitment. Kevin, come on now man, I know you're reading this, PRIORITIES. Anyway, other offensive production has come from sophomores Hank Rech, Max Gasvoda, and Henry Adiletta. The Huskies will face Syracuse this Sunday.
3. (3) [4-2] Georgetown
I know the Hoyas lost to Washington this past Sunday, but this team will remain at the number three spot this week. Led by sophomores Craig Triano and Will Rooney, Georgetown has proven that they have the ability to make a run in this years playoffs. Rooney has been almost unguardable in the paint while Triano has nailed some clutch shots all season long. I couldn't mention this team without giving a shoutout to their ruthless enforcer Will "Cully" Culliton. In watching Cully, he reminds me of Doug Glatt from the hockey movie Goon. I'm not going to explain the plot of the movie right here, but if you have not seen it, it would be a great way to spend your makeup day. (Available on Netflix)
4. (9) [4-2] UConn
The Huskies make a huge jump in the rankings this week, as they made easy work of Kentucky in their game this past Sunday. Before I continue to write, though, I want to make everyone aware that I am on Kentucky, but I am in no way bitter towards the Huskies for what they did to us on Sunday. Anyway, it seemed that the chocolate milk (sorry Joyce, you're not living this one down) that drenched Jack Joyce the day before ha no effect on his game, as he hit some really lucky threes and got a lot of help from the ref. Some curly haired freshman nailed like four threes, and yeah that's pretty much it. That wasn't biased at all, right?
5. (5) [4-2] Kentucky
The Wildcats have dropped two of their past three games and seem to be in a bit of a slump. Fin Batson and Alex Murray have continued to play solid for this team, hitting outside shots and driving to the lane well. While freshman Brian Wright continues to be nothing less than a beast in the paint, blocking shots and pulling in boards. The Wildcats look to pick up a win this Sunday against a very strong Duke squad.
6. (6) [4-2] Michigan
The Wolverines are a team that I myself don't really understand. They'll blow at a team one week and then get dominated in the next. Two weeks ago, though, the Wolverines beat the very strong Washington Huskies by 15 points. I wasn't there but I was told that Nick Green literally put the team on his back, giving Justin Canelli a piggy back ride for the entire 2nd half. Most recently, Michigan beat in-state rival MSU (the worst team in the league) by a margin of only 2 points. We'll see how the rest of the season goes for this squad, as they face off against UConn this weekend.
7. (7) [3-3] Syracuse
The Orangemen continue to hang around right in the middle of the pack so far. This team's front court is arguably one of the best in the league, with big men Harry Rayhill and Alex Phillips down low. Although that has been solid, they have not had very solid guard play, besides freshman Jack Bogdan. Bogdan has had a big load to carry this season and has done okay, but I think someone else will need to step up for these guys if they want to do anything in the playoffs.
8. (8) [3-3] Stanford
Before I say anything else about this team, I need to address Max Grant's shot. With no time remaining, Grant pulled up and hit a 3 point buzzer beater to win it for his team and avoid OT against Maryland. I witnessed what happened, and let me tell you, it was just as miraculous and clutch as it sounds, as it may go down as one of the best plays this season. Anyway, the Cardinal are another team that has been inconsistent all season. As I previously mentioned, they be a Stanford last Wednesday night, and somehow beat UConn the week before. But this week, the Cardinal lost to one of the worst teams in the league in Providence. Besides Max Grant and Cole Stevenson, the Cardinal don't have too much talent that could carry them too far for the rest of the season.
9. (4) [2-4] Maryland
I don't know what happened to the Terps, but within the blink of an eye they now have four losses on the season. Although their two wins were against fairly strong teams in UConn and Kentucky, the rest of the Terps games have been colossal struggles offensively, at they only have 192 points for this season. Not surprisingly, Teddy Brannigan has been a bright spot in this squads tough year, but Brannigan needs more help if they want to start winning more games. Will Rehm has had his strong moments, but hasn't been consistent enough to get this team a winning record. We'll see if the Terps can turn things around come playoff time.
10. (10) [2-4] North Carolina
To put it lightly, the Tar Heels are not a very good team. They have looked to Sophomore David Volz for production offensively, while Tommy Murphy, Jack Gordon, and Henry Nolte have been an ok supporting cast. This team sounds pretty solid, but what they lack is size. I have an easy fix for that, though, if the rest of this team played half as hard as Tommy Murphy did, they would be the best team in the league in a heartbeat. I mean come on, have you seen how much the kid sweats? He is the poster child of effort and heart, but should probably lower the amount of sweat he produces during games.
11. (12) [1-5] Providence
The Friars finally got a win! Taking down Stanford by three points. Although they got the win this week, this team is pretty bad. Brian Minicus has been playing solid so far on offense while Connor Tienken has been strong on defense. But I think this team needs to let Glen Fay shoot more. This kid is honestly the Stephen Curry of house ball and should be taking at least 10 threes a game.
12. (11) [0-6] Michigan State
Um, I don't really know what to say without sounding like a jerk, but this team has had quite a rough season. They have allowed the second most points per game while they are one of the worst scoring teams in the league (that's not good). It seems that they're having fun out their though, which is all that matters, right?
Weekly Awards
MVP: Jack Joyce
Big Man of the Week: Alex Phillips
Defensive Player of the Week: Connor Percarpio
The "I didn't know someone could sweat that much in that amount of time": Tommy Murphy
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