Radical thought: If Purdue beats Michigan State on Sunday, the Boilermakers should be the nation's No. 1 team.

Practical thought: Kansas – despite losing at Oklahoma State – still boasts the NCAA's most impressive overall résumé and should remain No. 1. (Though it would feel strange).

Overwhelming thought: Does it really matter?

Monday is March 1. And that means we're just weeks away from Selection Sunday and no one will care about the rankings, just about seeding.

And right now, Kansas, Syracuse and Kentucky are all No. 1 seeds.

Perhaps Duke or Kansas State or Purdue or even Ohio State could slide into that final No. 1 spot. We'll see. What's important is that we're heading into a tournament where the rankings don't determine the eventual national champ. The teams will. Right now, the polls are just for bragging rights and posturing.

But if it does matter ... then make the Orange No. 1. Even if it is for just a week or two.

After drilling Villanova, they've earned it.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

OK. Forget the computer ratings. New Mexico can play.

A win in Provo proves it.

After an 83-81 victory – capped by a game-saving block by do-everything junior Darington Hobson – against No. 13 BYU, the Lobos are now 27-3 and 13-2 in the Mountain West. They've won 13 straight games and are 6-0 vs. ranked teams, which includes wins against Cal, Texas A&M and a sweep of BYU.

"Our guys have proven themselves all year on the road," Lobos coach Steve Alford said. "To win back-to-back championships in a conference like this is saying something, and to win 13 in a row is saying something."

Ease those doubts about them as a Top 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. They're every bit as worthy as Georgetown, Michigan State, Pitt, Wisconsin or whomever else you want to throw out there. (And I'm not alone in this statement.)

Sure, New Mexico still lags in conference efficiency margin because of an average defense, it's one of those teams that manages to win games by any style and has the talent to pull it off. Hobson's an NBA-caliber player, while Dairese Gary and Roman Martinez are a pair of underrated perimeter players.

Maybe the Lobos caught a break with Jimmer Fredette nursing a stomach bug and missing most of the second half. But sometimes being lucky is part of being good.

How long being good and lucky lasts is the question most major conference schools don't want to find out in March.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images Just how good are Darington Hobson and New Mexico? Depends who you ask.

Pick a Top 10. Any Top 10. Chances are there's no two alike.

Take the three rating systems I consult most frequently: the AP poll, Sagarin and kenpom. The first one takes votes from basketball writers around the country, compiles them and the result is essentially a reflection of who's won, while teams with recent losses tend to take a drop. The other two rate teams according to future performance, which is helpful when teams pile up victories, but that's it.

There's some consistency, but all three have some interesting divergences. (Ignore the numbers in Sagarin and Kenpom; I included them only to show how close the teams were in relation to one another.)

AP poll                Sagarin                    Kenpom

1.    Kansas           Kansas 95.84           1. Duke .9818

2.    Kentucky        Syracuse 92.60        2. Kansas .9799

3.    Purdue           Duke 92.56              3. Syracuse .9638

4.    Syracuse        Kentucky 91.31        4. BYU .9618

5.    Duke             Purdue 90.30            5. Purdue .9617

6.    Kansas St.     W. Virginia 89.84        6. W. Virginia .9553

7.    Villanova         Kansas St. 89.75      7. Kentucky .9581

8.    W. Virginia      Villanova 89.67          8. Ohio State .9578

9.    Ohio State      BYU 89.23                9. Texas .9561

10. New Mexico    Texas 89.00             10. Wisconsin .9549

Kansas is close to a consensus No. 1, save for Kenpom, (for which Pomeroy caught a modicum of grief on Twitter last night), while Syracuse, Duke and Purdue all in each one's Top 5. AP voters like Kentucky slightly more than Sagarin and Pomeroy.

Oddly enough, all three are the next closest on West Virginia (8, 6, 6), though I'm sure the Mountaineers will take a hit in next week's poll and not drop that much in the computer ratings. Any team in the Top 10 of all three is a good Final Four bet.

So what to make of the others? Glad you asked.

Villanova (AP 7, Sagarin 8, Kenpom 14)
Kenpom hits the Wildcats hard for their inefficient defense. They also get dinged in Sagarin for their close wins. But voters like 'Nova, despite the two recent losses. Maybe it's a residual effect from their 11-game win streak or their lofty Big East standing. Regardless, be wary of the 'Cats in March. Teams with a low scoring margin can run out of luck at the wrong time.

Ohio State (9, 13, 8)
The opposite of 'Nova. Buckeyes drop in Sagarin due to their low score in "elo chess," which rates teams only by winning and losing. However, they get a bump in future predicted performance, which reflects their higher ranking in Kenpom. Also, the voters seem to like how Evan Turner & Co. are playing. Take note: Ohio State's offense revolves around its good shooting more than most teams. As a result, it stinks at offensive rebounds. When do Buckeyes go cold?

New Mexico (10, 22, 43)
A 26-3 record and a 12-game win streak vaulted the Lobos into the Top 10. However, the computer ratings hate them. Sagarin's ratings don't foretell much future success (N.M. is behind Wake, UTEP and just ahead of ODU there); same goes for Kenpom. The problem is an inefficient defense and a decent offense. Tempo-free conference stats say the Lobos are worse than BYU and SDSU and marginally better than UNLV (and Colorado State, judging by Tuesday's night's win). Still, Darington Hobson is the kind of player capable of carrying a team to a couple of Big Dance wins. After all, worse teams have piled up wins and made Sweet 16 runs.

Texas (21, 10, 9)
Losing six of 10 will drop you in the polls. But is Texas still as good as their computer numbers? Their offense and defense has been hit and miss lately, and it just lost starting PG Dogus Balbay. Put it this way: When it comes to the tournament, Texas could steamroll foes and make the Elite Eight or be out after two games. Neither would be a surprise.

BYU (13, 9, 4)
The Cougars haven't won an NCAA tournament game since 1993. In seven trips since, they've been an 8 or a 12 seed with no success. Perhaps this is the year they win because they're going to be a 5 at worst. Still, how good can they be? They're similar to Ohio State, in that they have a star player (Jimmer Fredette) and shoot well, but can get into trouble when shots aren't falling. This is your mid-major with the greatest upside.  

Wisconsin (17, 11, 10)
Yes, the Badgers can look ugly at times. But few teams squeeze more out of every possession, especially on offense. Teams have hit their shots against Wisconsin lately (six of the last eight had an eFG% of at least 51.0), which is the only reason it's lost three of those games. Opponents don't get second-chance points. Combine that with the maniacal way Trevon Hughes handles the ball, and foes have to hit shots. A team like Georgetown or Cornell would be trouble.

If you're only as good as your point guard, West Virginia's title hopes may be kaput.

Truck Bryant and Joe Mazzulla share PG duties for the Mountaineers. And if Jeff Goodman's right, they could be the biggest reason why Bob Huggins' team falls short in March.

Here's a point guard ranking of teams ranked in the Top 10 in either poll this week. Goodman slots the Bryant/Mazzulla combo 12^th, just behind Dairese Gary of New Mexico. Purdue's mix of Lewis Jackson/Keaton Grant/Kelsey Barlow ranks 10^th.

Not sure the W.Va. pair would be much better compared to the rest of the Top 25, either. I'd put BYU, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Temple, Texas A&M and Baylor all ahead of Bryant and Mazzulla, too.

So who's the best?

On Goodman's list, Sherron Collins, John Wall, Evan Turner, Jon Scheyer and Corey Fisher make up the Top 5. Collins gets the nod for his toughness and experience.

Not sure you'd go wrong with any of the top three, which is something to keep in mind when it comes to Ohio State in March. Turner could carry his Buckeyes a long way.

Mike Miller's also on Twitter, usually talkin' hoops. Click here for more.

OK, so everyone (me included) who didn't include Syracuse on their preseason Top 25s turned out to be dumb. Only the coaches' poll listed the Orange, and they were No. 25 in that.

But after crushing Cal (then ranked 13^th) and North Carolina (No. 6) last week, Syracuse vaulted to No. 10 in the AP poll, one of the biggest jumps in the poll's history. Only two teams went from unranked to higher – and both 'em logged more impressive wins, hard as that is to believe.

The most impressive move from unranked to ranked was Kansas' jump in to No. 4 in 1989 after beating No. 2 LSU, No. 1 UNLV and No. 25 St. John's in the Preseason NIT.

Second on the list was Arizona coming in at No. 8 in 2001 following wins over No. 2 Maryland and No. 7 Florida in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and a victory over No. 23 Texas.

Still, give the Orange their props. No team's had a better start thus far. (No other team's played two Top 15 teams either, but hey, just sayin'.)

Should they be higher, lower? Does it matter? Now they'll do the slow burn to Big East conference play, with only a Dec. 10 showdown against Florida looming as a possible stumbling point. 'Cuse is going to be a Big East title contender, though BP's John Gasaway says there one important thing to note about the start: The offense probably can't play any better.

Me, paraphrasing: 'Cuse is making 63 percent of its twos (only Georgetown's made more than 57.7 percent of their twos in conference play in the last seven years), scored 1.16 PPP vs. Cal and UNC (insanely good) and Wesley Johnson, as good as he is, probably won't continue to make 47 percent of his 3s and 62 percent of his 2s. If he does, he should go No. 1 in the draft.

So Syracuse is playing really, really good right now. Don't expect it to get better … but that wouldn't be possible, right?

Follow me on Twitter (@BeyndArcMMiller) and get more college basketball news at NBCSports.com.

If you've ever wanted to aggravate a team's fan base with a compliment, click here.

By ranking Maryland's Greivis Vazquez as the second-best shooting guard in the country (pretty good right?) and Scottie Reynolds No. 7, Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News managed to spur non-stop banter about his basketball acumen. Namely that he didn't have any.

Readers were miffed that Vazquez wasn't listed among the top point guards, and weren't happy to see him among the shooting guards.

How does someone with such a tiny amount of knowledge/insight about the game write for a living about college basketball? Seriously no Vasquez from MD? He is the best point guard in the ACC and at least top 5 in the country.

If that wasn't enough, DeCourcy's graf on Vazquez aggravated the guys at Turtle Soup, who saw it as a backhanded compliment.

For a guy who doesn't make many 3s, he has tried a lot of them — because the Terps have needed somebody to try something. They should be more complete this season, allowing Vasquez to be more judicious.

OK, so DeCourcy didn't laud Vazquez's aggressiveness or his playmaking skills. But it reminds me of Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame induction speech: No praising, just an honest assessment. Did Vazquez shoot too much last season? Probably. But somebody had to carry the Terps.

Note to self: On the safe side, refer to Vaquez as a point guard…

The 2009 national title game settled the conventional argument of the "team of the decade." North Carolina and Michigan State each entered the game with one title, both reached four Final Fours and had similar overall records.

And when the Heels won, it assured them bragging rights. But what about everyone else?

For that, we turn to the fine folks at Rush the Court.

Their hybrid analysis ranking system (their term) considered several factors, notably titles, Final Fours, conference crowns, draft picks and All-Americans, among others. The methodology passes the sniff test. The results pass the eye test, too.

Their list will complete tomorrow when (presumably) UNC assumes the top spot. In the meantime, click here to read their posts on teams 2-10.

Of the schools involved – Kansas, Florida, Duke, Michigan State, UConn, UCLA, Memphis, Syracuse and Maryland – only two didn't claim NCAA tourney titles. All of 'em reached the Final Four and won at least one conference crown, etc., etc.

With any luck, RTC also will do a follow-up post on other colleges considered. How close were programs like Texas, Gonzaga, Stanford, Pitt, Illinois or Xavier? How much did the lack of NCAA tourney success hurt those schools?

So many questions. So many answers. After all, there's no perfect way to do something like this. But RTC did it well.

The post-Final Four, pre-NBA draft, mid-late-signing period 2008-09 preseason college basketball rankings can be tricky.

Thankfully, the Web is here to help.

SI.com's Luke Winn updated his power rankings Monday. Boosted by Hasheem Thabeet's return, he puts UConn No. 1. Smart move. The Huskies are coming off a 24-9 season, return all five starters and should have point guard A.J. Price healthy for the start of the season. (Even if he's not ready for the opener, Price's return would be the equivalent of Brandon Rush's torn ACL for Kansas last year – it assured the team's most indispensible player would be back in uniform, even if he was sluggish to start.)

The rest of his top 10 – UCLA, UNC, Duke, Purdue, Pitt, Louisville, Tennessee, Texas, Notre Dame – sounds about right, though I'd drop UCLA a couple spots. Darren Collison's return gives the Bruins arguably the nation's best backcourt, but where their frontcourt scoring will come from, I don't know. Certainly not from Luc Richard Mbah a Moute or James Keefe.

It seems likely that both Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington will return to Chapel Hill. With Tyler Hansbrough already in pocket and more frontcourt recruits coming in, the Heels remain one of the teams to beat. (That doesn't include Obama suiting up).

Oddly enough, Vegas has it even right now between UConn, Louisville, Pitt and Georgetown. I know Greg Monroe's good, but he better be Beasleyesque to make up for the loss of Roy Hibbert and Vernon Macklin.

The one surprise omission from Winn's group has to be Wake Forest.

The Deacons finished 17-13 last season, and if not for a 1-5 finish, a squad primarily of freshmen and sophomores would've been in the NCAA Tournament. Adding a top-flight recruiting class for 2008 should make Wake a top 15 team next season (think Purdue).

The remaining wild-cards for next year? Signing any remaining high schoolers, and seeing who stays in the draft and how those moves affect any transfers or incoming freshmen.

An example: this excellent piece from ESPN's Dana O'Neil traces Scottie Reynolds' arc from Oklahoma to Villanova in 2006. Reynolds committed to the Sooners, changed his mind once Kelvin Sampson took the Indiana job, and waited to see if 'Nova's Kyle Lowry would stay in the draft (he did) before settling on Jay Wright's Wildcats.

The remaining prep stars have until May 21 to sign, while the last day for underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA draft is June 16. (List of early entrants can be found here.)

That leaves us with a post-Final Four, pre-NBA draft, post-late-signing period rankings, the post-draft, late summer rankings (this is getting complicated) and (finally) the preseason rankings to come.

Better do all those in pencil…

Enjoyed a week off to celebrate the holidays – and a sweet win for Kansas in the Orange Bowl. Not ready to anoint the Jayhawks as the latest football/basketball power, but it was a sweet present, nonetheless.

However, the week left me behind the curve on conference play beginning, so I'll offer up some of the best looks at college basketball's second season.

The Big 12 has been better than expected, writes our own expert, Ken Davis. Sure, we all knew Kansas would be a title contender (and after a thrashing of Boston College on Saturday, the Jayhawks earned some serious props for their play thus far. Then again, BC lost to Robert on Monday. Hold off on that title talk.), but Texas, Oklahoma and A&M are all capable of reaching the Elite Eight.

There's a rundown of all six BCS conferences from FOX Sports' Jeff Goodman, who points out the Cal Bears should be a darkhorse teams coming out of the Pac-10. If that's true, it'll be because of their offense, which rates among the Top 10 on kenpom.com's adjusted efficiency. Between Ryan Anderson, DeVon Hardin and Patrick Christopher, Cal has the size and skill to hang with most teams. Defense, though…

Speaking of Pomeroy, he and John Gasaway cover a lot of ground in their latest back and forth. My favorite aspect? Tubby Smith. His Gophers have lost two straight, but opened plenty of eyes after a close loss to Michigan State on Saturday. They may squeek into the NCAA Tournament this season with the same personnel that was 9-22 last season.

Smith's old school? After a start most 'Cats fans will have nightmares about the rest of their lives, Billy Gillispie's been trying to stay positive. It'll be tough. Kentucky will be pushed to finish above .500, which, as Jerry Tipton points out, isn't good for the SEC as a whole.

We're down to six unbeaten teams (after UNC escaped by the skin of its teeth on Sunday night). Here's a comprehensive rundown of the schools and what could derail their perfect starts. Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy says one of those, Vandy, gets its chance to silence all doubters on Jan. 17 at Tennessee. (That's if the Commodores get by Kentucky…)

When it comes to mid-major analysis, always turn to Kyle Whelliston. His rundown of non-BCS schools who could be contenders is good reading, but his Boubacars on the midmajority.com are essential reading. Insight, wit and statistics all in one package.

Finally, here's one for everybody thinking ahead to their brackets.

SI.com's Luke Winn compared the teams in the Top 25 to adjusted efficiency ratings on kenpom.com, which he's done for the last two seasons. (When we should've known teams like Alabama and Oklahoma State might not have been as good as their rankings.)

Important findings to consider:

But there's one issue I have with Winn's elite teams. Those three may be ranked among the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency, but that doesn't mean his tier 2 and tier 3 teams aren't as dominant. More than a dozen teams have at least a 30-point margin between their AdjO and AdjD. Last year, UCLA's margin was 32.8 and they were as dominant as any team in the country.

Also, Kansas and Duke have the highest margin between their AdjO and AdjD, but the strength of schedule for both teams is around 100. Meanwhile, a team like Arizona is 9-4, has the 3^rd toughest schedule in the country, and still ranks among the elite offensive teams in the country. Memphis, Xavier and Texas have played top 25 schedules, and are dynamite in adjusted efficiency.

It's one thing to statistically judge teams, but not considering the quality of their opponents is foolish. (Which was the downfall of Oklahoma State and Clemson last year.)

Check out this week's Top 25, and specifically, the top teams in it. Washington State, Georgetown and Indiana all have strengths of schedule in the 200s. Ole Miss is close at 186.

If you're looking for some teams who may be overrated, they would be a good place to start. Watch them closely during conference play.

In a season where few teams have been actual surprises to start the year – Ole Miss, Miami (Fla.), Saint Mary's, Drake, among the most notable – the most impressive group start has to be from the Atlantic 10, where the conference is off to its best start since St. Joseph's stole the hoops spotlight in 2003-04.

Huh. Has Jameer Nelson really been in the NBA four years? Doesn't seem that long ago when Nelson was leading St. Joe's to a 30-2 season and just missing out on the Final Four. His Hawks and Xavier, which also reached the Elite Eight that season, helped make the A-10 one of that season's big stars.

That hasn't been the case for the A-10 the last few years.

The league was ranked 15^th, 11^th and 10^th in conference RPI the seasons following St. Joe's run. Usually a multiple-bid conference, only George Washington and Xavier have made the NCAA Tournament the last three years, a reflection of poorer league play as others, like the Missouri Valley and the Mountain West, featured deeper and far better teams.

This year, the A-10, which has two ranked teams in this week's AP poll in Dayton and Rhode Island, is just behind the MVC in conference RPI. A-10 teams have a .632 winning percentage against non-conference foes, the league's best since 1997-98. More impressive are the teams the teams at the top. UMass and Xavier join Dayton and R.I. in the top 25 in RPI – tied with the Big 12 for most teams in the top 25.

(For those who quibble with the RPI – which has its problems, but is one of the main considerations when it comes to at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament, so you have to reference it – the A-10 isn't as hot in pomeroy ratings or on bbstate.com. Only Xavier is in Pomeroy's top 25; St. Joe's and Xavier are ranked in bbstate's top 25.)

Leading the way are Dayton – properly lauded by multiple pundits for their impressive win over Pittsburgh on Saturday – and Rhode Island.

And few saw starts like that coming.

The Flyers (11-1) are off to their best start since 1955-56, when they won their first 14. Wins against Pitt, Louisville and an underrated Miami (Ohio), with an All-American caliber player in Brian Roberts give them a good chance at a run in the Big Dance.

Rhode Island (13-1) has an even more historic start, its best since 1946-47. The Rams' only loss is to B.C., and have beaten Providence, Syracuse. They're not as impressive on paper as Dayton, but can't be overlooked.

Both will be gunning for the A-10 title, but Xavier, UMass, St. Joe's and even Duquense (8-3, its best start since 1979-80) could make that conference race interesting for once. And maybe even result in 3-5 bids in the NCAA Tournament.

 Now that would be a pleasant surprise reward for a proud hoops league.

Jeff Green never put up big stats for Georgetown last season, but everyone knew how integral the junior swingman was to the Hoyas' Final Four run. The Big East player of the year was arguably the nation's best defender, Georgetown's go-to guy in the clutch and set the tone for efficient, solid play that typified a 30-7 Georgetown squad.

But was Green so good that his early departure to the NBA is scaring off supporters for another run to the Final Four? The Hoyas are slated by a few outlets (Blue Ribbon, Athlon) to reach the Final Four, but none of the bigger media like SI.com, CBS, FOX (and, to be fair, msnbc.com) favor the Hoyas to return to the Final Four.

Seems a little crazy to me.

Green was indeed one of college hoops' best players last season, but that shouldn't make Georgetown any less dangerous this season. The beauty of coach John Thompson III's system is how it relies on every player, not just one. Center Roy Hibbert may be the focal point, but guards Jonathan Wallace, DaJuan Summers and standouts Patrick Ewing Jr., Vernon Macklin, and Austin Freeman should make up for that absence.

And I think that consistency and ruthless efficiency – not to mention stellar defense – Thompson's teams have become known for make them the team to beat in San Antonio.

And the other contenders? Here's a list of who should be playing after the NCAA Tournament's first weekend. Submit your own in the comments field below.

Champion: Georgetown

Final Four: Kansas (runner-up), North Carolina, Memphis

Out in Elite Eight: Indiana, Louisville, Tennessee, UCLA.

Out in Sweet 16: Arkansas, Davidson, Kentucky, Marquette, Michigan State , N.C. State, Texas, VCU.

Everyone's got an opinion when it comes to who's No. 1 in men's basketball. And it's one of those season when it doesn't look like there's going to be a consensus.

But after a season where Florida rolled to its second-straight NCAA Tournament title, a little variety at the top will be refreshing.

Our preseason Top 25 is available here. Ken Davis has tabbed North Carolina (the 2005 champs in one of those season where most everyone picked the Heels to win before everything started), as the team to beat, followed by UCLA, Louisville and Memphis. Not bad.

(If you disagree, cast your vote here and check in here to see what our readers think of the Heels' chances during the season.)

And, because it's still two weeks before the polls come out, not everyone has tabbed their champion yet. FOX Sports' Jeff Goodman rolled out No. 23 in their season preview on Saturday. CHN is doing the same thing, though UCLA was No. 1 in its preseason top 50 that was published in June.

But ESPN's Jay Bilas also likes UNC, as does SI.com's Luke Winn, who places the Heels atop their power rankings. CBS Sports.com's Gary Parrish, however, likes Memphis.

Sporting News writer Mike DeCourcy thinks it's UCLA, after back-to-back Final Fours, are ready to cut down the nets, mostly because of fab freshman Kevin Love.

Me? I'm still working my way through all the season preview material (including at Basketball Prospectus, which has two of my favorite tempo-free writers -- Ken Pomeroy and John Gasaway -- doing the previews) and will probably settle on a favorite later next week.

Kansas could be the 1, but that's just the fan in me talking. For now.