Oh the HUMANITY! Last week's college hoops action was chock full of shockers, highlighted by Boston College's Sunday night thrashing of a dominant North Carolina team. Things were beyond wacky in the Big East, as Connecticut got crushed by Georgetown. Then the Hoyas went on to get crushed by a Pitt team that barely squeaked by a feeble Rutgers squad earlier in the week. Oklahoma got knocked off upset-style, as did Purdue and Notre Dame. And don't even get me started on all those teams battling for the bottom part of the Power Rankings. But enough intro talk, let's get down to the rankings. (NOTE: All stats and records through Sunday.)

NCAA Hoops Power Rankings 1 Last Week: 3 Pittsburgh Panthers (14-0) Ladies and gentlemen, your new Number 1! Just how crazy was last week? I was fully prepared to drop Pitt in the Power Rankings after seeing them struggle against Rutgers on Wednesday. After their lackluster performance, I assumed they'd go into Georgetown and get crushed by the red-hot Hoyas. Instead, they didn't just beat the Hoyas, Pitt dominated every part of the game. Right now, there's not a better trio in college basketball than Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, and Levance Fields.   2 Last Week: 1 North Carolina Tar Heels (13-1) I thought the Heels would trip up eventually, but not at home, and not against Boston College. But that's what happened Sunday night. Point guard Ty Lawson had been the best point guard in the country, but he was thoroughly out-played by BC's Tyrese Rice. Maybe UNC got caught looking ahead. After all, they go to Wake Forest on Sunday night.   3 Last Week: 4 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-0) Do not underestimate Saturday's win at BYU. Not only is BYU a legitimate top 25 team, but Provo, Utah is one of the toughest places to play in the country. The Deacs went in and snapped the longest home win streak in the country at 53 games. They're playing as well as anyone heading into Sunday night's monster showdown with North Carolina.   4 Last Week: 6 Duke Blue Devils (12-1) That December loss in Michigan is now a distant memory. Since their lone loss, the Blue Devils have won four games, all by 18 points or more. They started out ACC play the right way on Sunday night, blowing away a Virginia Tech team that usually plays them tough.   5 Last Week: 7 Michigan State Spartans (11-2) There's no doubt that the Spartans are back to being a Final Four contender. They ended Minnesota's perfect season, in Minnesota, on Wednesday and have looked close to unbeatable since big man Goran Suton returned from a knee injury. Even better, speedy sophomore point guard Kalin Lucas looks like a star after some early-season struggles.   6 Last Week: 14 Georgetown Hoyas (10-2) What a wacky week for the Hoyas. They went into Connecticut and destroyed the unbeaten Huskies on Monday night. Then they came home on Saturday and got destroyed by Pitt. These things happen to young teams. And while the Hoyas have plenty of talent, they're going to get burned by a lack of rebounding and depth.   7 Last Week: 2 Connecticut Huskies (12-1) UConn had one of the worst efforts you'll ever see from a top team, essentially forgetting to show up in a loss to Georgetown on Monday night. But I guess that if you're going to have a stinker, you want it to be in January instead of March. The Huskies bounced back by destroying Rutgers 80-49 on Saturday, and have a very tough game at West Virginia on Tuesday.   8 Last Week: 8 Texas Longhorns (11-2) It was a quite week for the Horns, who had just one game (a blowout win over Appalachian State). On Tuesday night they'll visit Arkansas, and I'll give Texas the same warning I gave Oklahoma before the Sooners visited Arkansas: Bud Walton Arena is one of the toughest places to play in college basketball. Oklahoma lost there last week. Texas will be in for a battle.   9 Last Week: 5 Oklahoma Sooners (13-1) Don't say I didn't warn you, Sooners. I said Oklahoma would be in for a tough one when they visited Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena last Tuesday. And sure enough, OU went down with their first loss of the season. Oklahoma still needs to prove themselves on the road.   10 Last Week: 12 Syracuse Orange (14-1) It wasn't the prettiest week for the Orange, but they out-gunned Seton Hall on Tuesday, then gutted out a road win at South Florida without their second-best player, forward Paul Harris. Harris is expected to return this week, and SU should be able to handle DePaul at home and Rutgers on the road.   11 Last Week: 17 UCLA Bruins (12-2) The young Bruins are coming together nicely. They went up to Oregon last week and recorded comfortable wins over Oregon and Oregon State, giving them eight straight wins. Sunday night is their city rivalry game with USC.   12 Last Week: 9 Baylor Bears (12-2) Baylor's perimeter defense failed them in a one-point loss to South Carolina Friday night. They'll have a chance to redeem themselves against Texas Tech in Saturday's Big 12 opener.   13 Last Week: 10 Purdue Boilermakers (11-3) Just when it looked like the Boilermakers were over their early-season shooting woes, they go all "brick city" in an overtime loss to Illinois on Tuesday.   14 Last Week: 13 Tennessee Volunteers (9-3) There's no shame in losing to Kansas at Phog Allen, the toughest place to play in the nation. And the good news is that forward Wayne Chism is emerging as a force lately, averaging 16.8 points and 11.5 rebounds over his past four games.   15 Last Week: 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-3) The Irish seem capable of playing up to or down to the level of any competition they face. Saturday was a case of playing down to their competition's level, as Notre Dame went ice cold from the perimeter and lost to St. John's. Things won't get easier against Georgetown on Monday night.   16 Last Week: 18 Memphis Tigers (10-3) Super frosh Tyreke Evans is still struggling with his shot, but he's doing a better job of finding his open teammates. That's how Memphis pounded Cincinnati on Monday en route to a 3-0 week.   17 Last Week: 22 Clemson Tigers (14-0) The Tigers just keep on winning. They handled South Carolina on the road with relative ease, and disposed of East Carolina at home. They have an interesting match-up with Alabama on Tuesday night.   18 Last Week: unranked Boston College Eagles (13-2) The Wiz did not see that one coming. The Eagles had looked pretty ordinary all season, but on Sunday night they came out and blitzed North Carolina on the road. Star point guard Tyrese Rice owned UNC star Ty Lawson, going for 25 points and eight assists while Lawson had just 10 and four. And sophomore guard Rakim Sanders played the game of his life, scoring 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting (including 4-for-7 from three) and adding seven steals! BC has now won 10 straight; they're shaping up to be a dangerous team in the ACC.   19 Last Week: 15 Gonzaga Bulldogs (8-4) The Zags still have Final Four talent. But someone has to wake up the big men. Josh Heytvelt and Austin Daye should be a dominant frontcourt tandem, but instead they've combined to shoot 17-for-54 from the field in two straight upset losses (a pathetic .315 percent!). The Bulldogs lost to Utah on Wednesday, giving them three straight losses.   20 Last Week: 16 Arizona State Sun Devils (12-2) It was a weird week for the Sun Devils, who made their northern California road trip. On Friday, they looked like Final Four contenders in blowing out Stanford by 30! Then, on Sunday, their defense disappeared in a 10-point loss to California.   21 Last Week: 19 BYU Cougars (11-2) Saturday's loss to Wake Forest was another heartbreaker for the Cougars. They led by six with less than 10 minutes to go before a shooting slump cost them the game. Make no mistake that BYU is for real. Their only other loss this season was by one point at Arizona State, when their game-winning shot was waved off after review.   22 Last Week: 21 Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-1) The Gophers saw their perfect season end when Michigan State beat them on Wednesday. But Minnesota bounced back nicely, handling Ohio State at home on Saturday.   23 Last Week: 24 Davidson Wildcats (10-2) Stephen Curry and company have one more chance to impress in non-conference play. They'll visit Duke on Wednesday night.   24 Last Week: unranked West Virginia Mountaineers (11-2) The Mountaineers are simply smothering opponents with their man-to-man defense lately. Their last four games -- including road wins at Ohio State and Steon Hall -- have been wins of 26 points or more. The healthy return of guard Alex Ruoff has been a big boost, as he averaged 22 points over those four wins. Tuesday night is a huge match-up at home against Connecticut.   25 Last Week: 25 Maryland Terrapins (11-2) The Terps are flying under the radar in the ACC, but they've won seven straight and have victories over Michigan State and Michigan this season. A big reason for their fast start has been star guard Greivis Vasquez, who has cut down on his turnovers (4.4 per game last year, 2.5 this year) and improved his three-point shooting (.309 percent last year, .370 this year). Vasquez leads the Terps in scoring (18.0), rebounding (6.2), and assists (4.9).   JUST MISSED THE CUT: Marquette, UNLV, Ohio State, Butler, Illinois, Arkansas, Villanova, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Texas A&M.

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