By Adam Kiefaber

What will happen to Kelvin Sampson?

The whole college basketball world is waiting.

CBS.sportsline.com is reporting that five players, including Eric Gordon and D.J. White, said that they will quit if Sampson is fired. The writer, Gary Parrish, also looks at what’s next for Indiana.

Foxsports.com is reporting that Sampson was informed early Thursday that he will not be coaching the Hoosiers for at least the remainder of this season.

Stay tuned for that, but for now enjoy the latest version of the CBR Top 25

This weekend is also a great time of the year for college basketball because of the BracketBusters games. Most notable games include Drake at Butler and Kent Sate at Saint Mary’s - Click here for the entire schedule.

1) Memphis 26-0 (12-0 C-USA) (last week: No. 1)
John Callipari received this 400th win this week in the Tigers 97-71 victory over Tulane. Next up is the much anticipated game with Tennessee on Saturday. If Memphis wins that game, it should remain undefeated for the rest of the way leading up to the NCAA Tournament. However, there is that game against UAB on March 8th.
2) Tennessee 24-2 (11-1 SEC) (last week: No. 3)
Is somebody actually paying $10,000 for a ticket to this Saturday’s Memphis/UT game? A win should lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, as long as the Vols go on to win the SEC tourney.
3) Kansas 24-2 (9-2 BIG 12) (last week: No. 5)
KU fans were devastated with the loss to Texas last week, but the Jayhawks took out their frustrations on lowly Colorado with a 69-45 win last Saturday. I expect more of the same this Saturday against Oklahoma St. Two tough games remain for Kansas, against Kansas St. (March 1) and at Texas A&M (March 8).
4) North Carolina 25-2 (10-2 ACC) (last week: No. 4)
The Tar Heels are benefiting from the recent and unexpected collapse of the Duke Blue Devils. UNC should win the next three games, before a showdown at Duke on March 8th.
5) UCLA 23-3 (10-2 PAC 10) (last week: No. 6)
The Bruins got their revenge against USC in boring fashion last Sunday. Actually UCLA didn’t really earn the win, USC just played terrible and repeatedly turned the ball over. UCLA will play Oregon this Saturday and will continue to be challenged in the nation’s toughest conference.
6) Duke 22-3 (10-2 ACC) (last week: No. 2)
The Blue Devils were cruising until this past Sunday, then losses to Wake Forest and to Miami (Fla.) have people scratching their heads. I expect Duke to bounce back and with a convincing win over St. John’s this Saturday.
7) Texas 22-4 (9-2 BIG 12) (last week: No. 8)
The Longhorns are starting to look scary. They have won six in a row since their 63-80 loss to Texas A&M. Texas got revenge against Texas A&M this week with a 77-50 victory. UT plays Oklahoma on Saturday and is at Kansas St. on Monday.
8) Stanford 21-4 (10-3 PAC 10) (last week: No. 9)
The Cardinal defeated Arizona on the road by only one point last Saturday. They play California this Sunday and end their season with road games against UCLA (March 6) and USC (March 8)
9) Xavier 23-4 (11-1 A-10) (last week: No. 10)
Xavier isn’t winning games by much, but it is winning games against teams in a very tough conference. XU will play a hungry Dayton team this Sunday at UD Arena.
10) Georgetown 21-4 (11-3 BIG EAST) (last week: No. 7)
Last weekend’s loss to Syracuse hurt GTOWN’s rankings in both major polls. In my opinion, this team as yet to click on all cylinders, which is kind of scary since GTOWN is 11-3 in the BIG EAST. The Hoyas will play Cincinnati on Saturday.
11) Wisconsin 22-4 (12-2 BIG TEN) (last week: No. 13)
The Badgers move up with a couple easy wins over Minnesota and Illinois. Wisconsin will visit Ohio St. on Sunday and then will play Michigan St. on Thursday.
12) Indiana 22-4 (11-2 BIG TEN) (last week: No. 15)
Despite all the distractions concerning their coach Kelvin Sampson, the Hoosiers are playing their best basketball of the year right now. IU beat Michigan St. on Saturday and then knocked off Purdue on Tuesday. IU should cruise past Northwestern on Saturday even if they don’t have a coach.
13) Connecticut 21-5 (10-3 BIG EAST) (last week: No. 16)
UCONN has won 10 in a row and seems unbeatable in the BIG EAST. The rest of schedule isn’t that difficult for BIG EAST standards. However, three of the five remaining games will come on the road. This Saturday, the Huskies will visit Villanova.
14) Purdue 21-6 (12-2 BIG TEN) (last week: No. 11)
The Boilermakers saw their 11-game winning streak end on Tuesday with a 68-77 loss to Indiana. The next four games should be easy wins for Purdue with the exception of a road game at Ohio St. on March 4th.
15) Louisville 21-6 (11-3 BIG EAST) (last week: No. 17)
The Cardinals are another team that is contending for a BIG EAST title after a rocky start to the season. Louisville has won its last six, including a win over Georgetown. Louisville will visit Pittsburgh on Sunday.
16) Notre Dame 20-5 (10-3 BIG EAST) (last week: No. 19)
The Irish continue to play well and defeated Pittsburgh last night by the score of 82-70. ND has won seven of its last eight games within the BIG EAST conference. The Irish will play Syracuse this Sunday.
17) Washington St. 21-5 (9-5 PAC 10) (last week: No. 20)
WSU has finally started to turn its season around by winning four straight conference games. The Cougars will play Arizona this Saturday.
18) Michigan St. 21-5 (9-4 BIG TEN) (last week: No. 14)
MSU has lost three of the last five games, including an embarrassing 76-85 loss to Penn St. The Spartans received their revenge on Wednesday with a 86-49 blowout of the Nittany Lions. MSU will play Iowa, another bad team that has already beaten MSU this year, this Saturday.
19) Butler 25-2 (14-2 Horizon) (last week: No. 22)
The Bulldogs have a good team and will be in the NCAA Tournament, but how can you rank a team No. 8 (ranking in both major polls) after losing two games in the Horizon league.
20) Vanderbilt 22-4 (7-4 SEC) (last week: No. 25)
The Commodores looked impressive in the blowout win over UK, but a win against Florida on Saturday made them look even better. Vandy will play Georgia this Saturday.
21) St. Mary’s 23-3 (10-1 WCC) (last week: No. 24)
The Gaels are playing great basketball right now. St. Mary’s next three games should be very interesting. St. Mary’s will play Kent St. on Saturday, San Diego on Monday and are at Gonzaga on March 1st.
22) Texas A&M 20-6 (6-5 BIG 12) (last week: No. 12)
As soon as I say that the Aggies are back in the race for the BIG 12 crown, they turn a five-game winning streak into a two-game losing skid. Texas A&M will play Nebraska on Saturday.
23) Drake 23-3 (14-2 MVC) (last week: No. 23)
I don’t want to take anything away from Drake’s magical season, but the MVC seems to be having a down year. That being said, it is still a challenging conference and the Bulldogs should be ranked higher. The loss to Bradley on Tuesday doesn’t help things. Drake plays a very interesting road game this Saturday against Butler.
24) Marquette 19-6 (9-5 BIG EAST) (last week: not ranked)
The Golden Eagles are back in the top 25 after winning three straight conference games. The most impressive was the 72-54 beatdown of Pittsburgh. Marquette will play Rutgers on Saturday and will then visit Villanova on Monday.
25) BYU 21-5 (10-1 MWC) (last week: not ranked)
The Cougars play in a very tough conference and yet have only lost one game in the MWC. In fact, they have won nine conference games in a row. One thing that I am confused with is how does BYU lose to to UNLV by a score of 41-70, then turn it around and defeat UNLV a month later by the score of 74-48. BYU will visit San Diego St. this Saturday.

Dropped Out: No. 18 Kansas State, No. 21 Pittsburgh

This entry was posted Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm and is filed under CBR's Top 25 rankings. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.