Sports Illustrated Releases Post-Spring Top 25

As the title says, Sports Illustrated has released some power rankings of the Top 25 teams in college football based off last year, and everything that happened during the spring. The Buckeyes currently sit 11th, the lowest they've been since the opening of the 2007 Preseason. Here's the rankings:

1. Oklahoma
2. Oregon
3. Alabama
4. LSU
5. Stanford
6. Texas A&M
7. Oklahoma State
8. South Carolina
9. Florida State
10. Boise State
11. Ohio State
12. Nebraska
13. Arkansas
14. Michigan State
15. TCU
16. Wisconsin
17. Missouri
18. Auburn
19. Virginia Tech
20. West Virginia
21. Notre Dame
22. Mississippi State
23. Arizona State
24. Maryland
25. Utah

Overall not too bad of a list, but I would definitely change some things. I'm sure along the way this summer we will have a first look at a preseason poll. For now, we will just have to take a look at these rankings and hope for the best as far as when August comes around.

NCAA Basketball Power Poll: Elite Eight

Giving the Top 8 Teams in the country.

Welcome, faithful readers, to Inside The Shoe's first basketball power poll of this young season. Fair warning: This is not a compilation of all ITS's writers, it is solely my opinion. I will try to be as objective as possible, but college basketball is vastly different from college football.

There are hundreds of more basketball games per week in the season than there are football games, and regular season losses don't mean nearly as much. It is great to go undefeated, but realistically all you have to do is make the tournament and you have a chance. While reading through these rankings, you will notice there are some really big games this week,

Enough talk, here are, as of December 6th, the top eight teams in the country:

1. Duke: Any surprise here? No, there is no surprise here. Duke won the championship last year, brought back some big pieces from that team, namely Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. They have already knocked off two top six (at the time) teams, plus perennial mid-major powerhouse and last year's national runner-up Butler. They are #1 until they lose, and possibly even after that.

2. Ohio State: The Buckeyes have looked very impressive so far this year. They ran away from a ranked Florida team on the road, and took care of business against a very good defensive team in Florida State. OSU has blown out the cupcakes on their schedule, as expected, and is ready to make a run at the Big Ten (national?) Championship.

3. Connecticut: I might be drinking the UConn kool-aid a little bit, but they beat two top ten teams on a neutral court, and have the early season favorite for Player of the Year in Kemba Walker. How many other teams can say they have those things? None.

4. Kansas: Unlike the first three teams, I haven't had a chance to see the Jayhawks play yet. But they are a team led by juniors and seniors, and have one of the top coaches in the country in Bill Self. Their signature wins include Arizona and UCLA, which don't mean quite what they would used to, but at 7-0 there is no reason this team shouldn't be in the top four. Big Upcoming Game: December 7th vs. #14 Memphis