Saturday results worth noting:
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Colorado absolutely manhandled pathetic Oregon State, representing the Big 12's only win of the day in the Hardwood Series, but the announcers spent the whole game talking about the Buffaloes' bright future in the Pac-12, so in my book, it still was a Big 12 loss. Adding injury to insult were Iowa State's 3-point loss at home to Cal and Texas Tech becoming the fourth opponent to yield more than 100 points to Washington this season.
- Duke pulled away from Butler only after Ronald Nored had foul trouble and Shelvin Mack left with cramps. If they had stayed available, I think the Bulldogs could have kept it close, especially considering how much Kyle Singler was struggling, but as usual, Kyrie Irving flipped the switch to "amazing mode" and put the game away. Not sure what it means, other than that Butler's defensive style seems to match up pretty well with the Blue Devils.
- Despite a wonderful game from Denzel Bowles, James Madison lost on a last-second layup on the road to Georgia State in its CAA opener. That heralded a depressing series of results for our non-conference opponents: Gonzaga was lit up from 3-point range by Illinois (the Illini made 10 of their first 11), despite playing in front of a "home" crowd in Seattle; North Florida lost at home by 10 to Stetson; Savannah State lost by 22 to at Indiana; Texas Southern lost at home to North Texas; and UMKC simply was annihilated by Oakland.
- Our next game against an opponent with a pulse, Loyola Chicago, looks to be manageable on a home court where the Ramblers have lost two straight, to conference opponents Butler and Valparaiso.
- Oklahoma State used a spectacular 30-point, 18-rebound effort from Marshall Moses, who for my money already is an early candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year, to survive a trip to Philadelphia in a narrow, double-overtime win over La Salle.
- Presbyterian has won two of its last three, including Saturday's conference win at VMI. The Keydets regularly score in the 90s and 100s, so for the Blue Hose to hold them to 78 and beat them at their own game (shooting) is impressive.
- UNLV won its eighth straight game, tying the 1990-91 team that started 34-0. It's looking like the Hy-Vee Wildcat Classic could be a match-up of top-10 teams and our second-toughest game at Sprint Center this season.
- Bonus update: Fred Brown has 18 points in a 58-67 loss to Louisiana Tech, while Bob Huggins suffered a surprising loss at Miami.
AP Ranking = 5
ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 5
Overall Record = 7-1
RPI = 11
SOS = 16
Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = none
Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = Virginia Tech
Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none
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James Madison (6-2, 0-1 CAA) | RPI = 112: Loss at Georgia State (63-64)
- Virginia Tech (4-3) | RPI = 58
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Presbyterian (3-5, 1-1 Big South) | RPI = 107: Win at VMI (92-78)
- No. 24 Gonzaga (4-3) | RPI = 140: Loss to No. 21 Illinois (61-73)
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No. 1 Duke (8-0) | RPI = 5: Win over Butler (82-70)
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Texas Southern (1-6) | RPI = 216: Loss to North Texas (64-70)
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Emporia State (5-3, 2-0 MIAA*): Win over Missouri Western* (91-69)
- Washington State (5-1) | RPI = 118
- Alcorn State (0-6) | RPI = 283
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Loyola Chicago (7-2, 0-2 Horizon League) | RPI = 183: Loss to Valparaiso (56-66)
- No. 16 Florida (5-2) | RPI = 17
- No. 23 UNLV (8-0) | RPI = 9: Win at Nevada (82-70)
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UMKC (4-3, 0-2 Summit League) | RPI = 272: Loss at Oakland (62-99)
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North Florida (4-4, 1-1 Atlantic Sun) | RPI = 126: Loss to Stetson (64-74)
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Savannah State (1-9) | RPI = 313: Loss at Indiana (57-79)
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Oklahoma State (7-1) | RPI = 90: Win at La Salle (92-87 in double overtime)
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Colorado (4-3) | RPI = 265: Win over Oregon State (83-57 in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series)
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Texas Tech (5-4) | RPI = 167: Loss at No. 22 Washington (79-108 in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series)
- No. 8 Missouri (6-1) | RPI = 36
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Texas A&M (7-1) | RPI = 76: Win over Pacific (79-59)
- No. 10 Baylor (6-0) | RPI = 42
- No. 4 Kansas (7-0) | RPI = 7
- Nebraska (5-2) | RPI = 138
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Iowa State (6-2) | RPI = 100: Loss to Cal (73-76 in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series)
- Oklahoma (3-4) | RPI = 234
- No. 20 Texas (6-1) | RPI = 20
*Division II