| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Syracuse | Syracuse remains unbeaten after knocking off Providence and a scrappy Marquette team last week. | 1 |
| 2 |  | Kentucky | The Wildcats had little trouble in their SEC opener, but they do hit the road this week against Auburn and UT. | 2 |
| 3 |  | North Carolina | North Carolina won their conference opener with no trouble and there may not be trouble until they play Duke. | 3 |
| 4 |  | Baylor | Baylor beat a good Texas A&M team and won at TTU this week. The road tests get tougher starting on Tuesday. | 5 |
| 5 |  | Ohio State | Ohio State finally played well in a road game and they have another tough one against Illinois on Tuesday. | 4 |
| 6 |  | Kansas | Kansas knocked off Kansas State and Oklahoma last week. This week the victories should continue rolling in. | 11 |
| 7 |  | Duke | Duke is having trouble on the road and that showed last week when they lost to Temple and barely beat GT. | 6 |
| 8 |  | Michigan State | The Spartans knocked off Wisconsin in the Kohl Center last week and this week they face Iowa and Northwestern. | 12 |
| 9 |  | Georgetown | Georgetown had a nice win against Marquette, but hitting the road against WVU proved to be more difficult. | 8 |
| 10 |  | Missouri | Missouri hit the road for the first time in conference play and the KSU defense shut down their explosive offense. | 9 |
| 11 |  | Indiana | The Hoosiers knocked off Michigan and Penn State this week and some early road tests are now paying off. | 15 |
| 12 |  | Connecticut | Connecticut and the road…not a good combination and they proved it last week. Next road game in South Bend. | 7 |
| 13 |  | Florida | Florida went into Tennessee on Saturday and lost pretty bad. This Saturday they'll have to hit the road again. | 13 |
| 14 |  | Michigan | Michigan could not squeeze out a victory at Indiana, but they sure gave it to Wisconsin at Crisler Arena. | 18 |
| 15 |  | Louisville | Louisville has now lost three of their last four. Providence and DePaul this week should get them back on track. | 10 |
| 16 |  | UNLV | UNLV opens up Mountain West conference play with what should be a great game at San Diego State on Saturday. | 19 |
| 17 |  | Virginia | It wasn't pretty, but Virginia got a couple big wins this week against LSU and Miami. Duke will pose a bigger problem. | 21 |
| 18 |  | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt is back in business after their slow start to the season. They only allowed Auburn to score 35 points. | 22 |
| 19 |  | Murray State | Murray State handled a decepitvely tough game at Austin Peay on Saturday. They may not lose until March. | 20 |
| 20 |  | Alabama | Alabama beat both Georgia Tech and Georgia last week and square off against LSU and Mississippi State next. | 24 |
| 21 |  | Creighton | Creighton didn't have a tough time last week, but they face UNI, Illinois State and Southern Illinois this week. | 25 |
| 22 |  | Kansas State | Kansas State lost to Kansas early last week, but they handed Missouri their first loss of the season on Saturday. | NR |
| 23 |  | Wisconsin | The Badgers are playing Wisconsin basketball. The turnovers are low, but nobody can consistently score. | 17 |
| 24 |  | Mississippi State | Mississippi State allowed Arkansas to score 98 points. The defense better improve for Tennessee and Alabama. | 14 |
| 25 |  | Marquette | Marquette kept it close on the road against Georgetown and Syracuse. There is no shame in losing those games. | 16 |
1/9 Men's Basketball Top 25
Sun, 01/08/2012
