My Sports News Digest

As we head down the final stretch to March Madness, here is a Top 25 Power Ranking for NCAA Basketball:

1. Kansas  28-2
2.  Syracuse 28-2
3. Kentucky 28-2
4. Duke 25-5
5. Kansas State 24-5
6. Purdue 25-4
7. Ohio State 24-7
8. New Mexico 28-3
9. Villanova 24-5
10. West Virginia 23-6
11. Butler 26-4
12. Michigan State 23-7
13. Vanderbilt 23-6
14. Brigham Young 27-4
15. Tennessee 22-7
16. Wisconsin 22-7
17. Pittsburgh 23-7
18. Gonzaga 25-5
19. Georgetown 19-9
20. Baylor 23-6
21. Temple 25-5
22. Maryland 22-7
23. Texas A&M 21-8
24. Xavier 22-7
25. UTEP 23-5

Top 25 NCAA Basketball rankings are provided courtesy of LinesMaker.com, the premire destination for sports betting lines and odds.

In the next few weeks running up to the start of March Madness and finally to the NCAA Championship on April 5th, bettors and fans alike will be analyzing the NCAA’s Division I men’s basketball tournament field of 65, looking at who’s in, who’s out and how teams have been seeded.

Here’s LinesMaker review of some of the movers and shakers are fairing so far:

Moving Up

Favorites Kansas are not so much moving up but staying exactly where they have been. With wagering odds of 2.8 to win the championship they have remained consistently at No.1 giving it up briefly to Texas and Kentucky.

Louisville is back on track, they upset no 3 Syracuse Orange last Sunday 66-60 after losing against St. John’s by 19, the Cardinals (16-9).

On Saturday, in overtime, the New Mexico Lobos (23-3) beat Utah at home 68-65 and look to be heading for their first NCCA tournament since 2005.

The Butler Bulldogs’ (23-4) last loss was to Alabama-Birmingham on Dec. 22. The Bulldogs have won 15 games in a row since then, the have already won the Horizon League championship.

Ohio State (20 -6) were victorious over host Illinois 72-53 Sunday and to move into a first-place tie with Michigan State in the Big Ten at 10-3.

For the first time since 2004 the Richmond Spiders (20-6) are playing their way to the tournament.

Shaking Down

Connecticut’s Huskies lost 60-48 against Cincinnati on Saturday in Hartford. Their coach admitted he was embarrassed and it was the worst performance he seen since in his 24 years at UConn.

The Northwestern Wildcats lost 9-17 to Iowa on Wednesday, ruining any chances of them making the tournament.

The Florida Gators (17-8) lost to South Carolina and Xavier last week. They haven’t made the NCAA tournament in the last two years, since winning national titles in 2006 and 2007.

Despite a promising start the Blazers drop to 19-5 after losing three of their last four games.

The South Florida Bulls (15-9) lost against Notre Dame and Marquette after upsetting Pittsburgh and Georgetown.

Back by popular demand! LinesMaker is offering customers their free March Madness Bracket Buster contest along with great betting odds throughout the tournament.

Home team South Carolina showed Kentucky they need to fight to keep their top NCAA ranking. The Wildcats saw their first loss of the season on Tuesday losing 68 – 62 to the Gamecocks. Devan Downey, the SEC’s leading scorer, hit 30 points for the fourth time in six league games for the Gamecocks (12-8, 3-3).  Kentucky was a 7 point favorite at LinesMaker and betting action saw over 70% of bettors backing them.

South Carolina fans were ecstatic as was president Obama who, earlier that day, had commended them for raising over $1 million for the Haiti earthquake victims The Wildcats have been ranked No. 1 since 2003, every one of their opponents plays their best game in the hope of knocking them out. After their performance the Gamecocks may be on the bubble when March Madness come around.

The Gamecocks will play the Georgia Bulldogs at home on Saturday. Kentucky will play Commodores at home this Saturday and will need to tighten up their game to stay at the top.