1. Duke (Last week: 1)
( Jason Williams, Johnny Dawkins, Grant Hill, ELTON BRAND, Christian Laettner )
You won me over, folks. Shane Battier heads to the bench, allowing Brand to give the Devils more rebounding up front.
2. Michigan (LW: 2)
( Rumeal Robinson, Jalen Rose, Glen Rice, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber )
No changes here, though a few readers tried to get me to replace Robinson with Gary Grant. No dice.
3. North Carolina (LW: 3)
( Kenny Smith, GEORGE LYNCH, Jerry Stackhouse, Antawn Jamison, BRAD DAUGHERTY )
True, NBA No. 1 pick Daugherty deserves the center spot ahead of Rasheed Wallace. And Lynch wins the 2-guard spot by a hair from Vince Carter (Carter the college player, remember).
4. Kansas (LW: 4)
( Jacque Vaughn, Rex Walters, Paul Pierce, Danny Manning, Raef LaFrentz )
The Jayhawks aren't deeper than Kentucky -- just a fraction better.
5. Kentucky (LW: 5)
( WAYNE TURNER, REX CHAPMAN, Jamal Mashburn, KENNY WALKER, Antoine Walker )
Wholesale changes for the Wildcats, which indicates how much talent has sailed through Lexington. Turner's in to give us a true PG (gotta follow the rules), while we plain old omitted Sky Walker. Several readers persuaded me to insert Chapman for Tony Delk. Tough, tough team.
6. Georgetown (LW: 8)
( CHARLES SMITH, Allen Iverson, Reggie Williams, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo )
Victor Page, we'll tell you the same thing the NBA said: You're not wanted here. Enter Smith, which (considering we underrated these guys last week) moves the Hoyas ahead of rival Syracuse.
7. Syracuse (LW: 6)
( Sherman Douglas, Billy Owens, John Wallace, Derrick Coleman, RONY SEIKALY )
Seikaly moves in, creating a bigger lineup as Lawrence Moten heads to the pine. Pearl Washington is in fact age-eligible, but I'll still go with Douglas instead.
8. UNLV (LW: 7)
( Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt, SHAWN MARION, Larry Johnson, Armon Gilliam )
Marion enters for J.R. Rider, who was suspended by Jerry Tarkanian for an "undisclosed" violation.
9. Maryland (LW: 14)
( Steve Francis, Juan Dixon, WALT WILLIAMS, Len Bias, Joe Smith )
Forgot the Wizard -- sorry, brain lock. Keith Booth takes a seat, and the Terps move up.
10. Connecticut (LW: 10)
( Khalid El-Amin, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Donyell Marshall, CLIFFORD ROBINSON )
My bad for failing to name an eminently qualified UConn big man last week. Robinson in, Tate George out.
11. UCLA (LW: 9)
( Baron Davis, Reggie Miller, Tracy Murray, Ed O'Bannon, Don MacLean )
No changes.
12. Michigan State (LW: 11)
( Mateen Cleaves, Shawn Respert, Scott Skiles, Morris Peterson, Steve Smith )
No changes.
13. Indiana (LW: 17)
( Steve Alford, Calbert Cheaney, A.J. Guyton, ALAN HENDERSON, BRIAN EVANS )
An improvement in the frontcourt: Henderson in for Dean Garrett, Evans in for Kirk Haston.
14. LSU (LW: 13)
( Chris Jackson, RANDY LIVINGSTON, JOHN WILLIAMS, Stromile Swift, Shaquille O'Neal )
Gooden kept telling me all last week I should add Livingston for Ricky Blanton, so here it is, pal. Hot Plate replaces another talented blimp, Stanley Roberts.
15. Arizona (LW: 12)
( Damon Stoudamire, Mike Bibby, Sean Elliott, Chris Mills, BRIAN WILLIAMS )
In a quest for height, Williams beats out Loren Woods in a battle of head cases to replace Miles Simon. Lots of votes to bring in Khalid Reeves, Steve Kerr, Jason Terry and Michael Dickerson, but whatever way you look at it, this team is loaded at the guard spots.
16. Cincinnati (LW: 15)
( Nick Van Exel, Ruben Patterson, HERB JONES, Danny Fortson, Kenyon Martin )
Mel Levett gets benched in favor of Jones. Still the best defensive team on the list.
17. Louisville (LW: NR)
( DeJuan Wheat, Milt Wagner, Billy Thompson, Clifford Rozier, Pervis Ellison )
Never Nervous Pervis was a sweet college player. Whiffed on these guys last week.
18. Georgia Tech (LW: 16)
( Kenny Anderson, MARK PRICE, Dennis Scott, Matt Harpring, John Salley )
In the interest of team play, Stephon Marbury takes a seat for Price.
19. Arkansas (LW: 18)
( LEE MAYBERRY, Scotty Thurman, Todd Day, Joe Johnson, Corliss Williamson )
Mayberry takes over for Corey Beck. Duh.
20. Cal (LW: 19)
( Jason Kidd, Kevin Johnson, Lamond Murray, Sean Lampley, Shareef Abdur-Rahim )
A solid team. And far better, surprisingly, than rival Stanford.
21. Ohio State (LW: NR)
( Scoonie Penn, Michael Redd, Jimmy Jackson, Dennis Hopson, Brad Sellers )
With Jay Burson coming off the bench (post-halo removal, of course) and Ken Johnson for a little defensive intimidation.
22. Alabama (LW: NR)
( James Robinson, Latrell Sprewell, Robert Horry, Derrick McKey, Antonio McDyess )
What's Wimp Sanderson up to these days, anyway?
23. Illinois (LW: 20)
(Frank Williams, Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson, KEN NORMAN, Deon Thomas )
Buh-bye, Marcus Liberty !
24. Oklahoma State (LW: NR)
( Maurice Baker, Randy Rutherford, Desmond Mason, Byron Houston, Bryant Reeves )
Richard Dumas was going to start ... until he failed to show up for practice.
25. Utah (LW: NR)
( Andre Miller, Brandon Jessie, Keith Van Horn, Hanno Möttölä, Michael Doleac )
Jessie pulls the Utes down a bit, but the rest of the lineup is dangerous.
26. Oklahoma (LW: NR)
( Mookie Blaylock, Corey Brewer, Eduardo Najera, Harvey Grant, Stacey King )
Regardless of how terrible the officiating is, please do not throw things on the court!
27. Wake Forest (LW: NR)
( Muggsy Bogues, Randolph Childress, Rodney Rogers, Darius Songaila, Tim Duncan )
Nice team. Songaila and Bogues are the weak links, though.
28. St. John's (LW: NR)
( Mark Jackson, Malik Sealy, Ron Artest, Walter Berry, Jayson Williams )
Walter Berry -- now there's an eye-catcher from the past.
29. Missouri (LW: NR)
( Melvin Booker, Anthony Peeler, Kareem Rush, Derrick Chievous, Doug Smith )
Those Tigers teams from the early '90s could really play some ball.
30. DePaul (LW: NR)
( Rod Strickland, Quentin Richardson, David Booth, Tyrone Corbin, Dallas Comegys )
Bring back Ray Meyer to coach and you might have something here.
31. Notre Dame (LW: NR)
( David Rivers, Monty Williams, Troy Murphy, Pat Garrity, LaPhonso Ellis )
God knows why the Irish haven't had more success in the NCAA tournament.
32. Iowa State (LW: NR)
( Jamaal Tinsley, Jeff Hornacek, Jeff Grayer, Marcus Fizer, Kelvin Cato )
Fred Hoiberg, Lafester Rhodes and Dedric Willoughby provide bench strength.
33. North Carolina State (LW: NR)
( Chris Corchiani, Rodney Monroe, Chucky Brown, Tom Gugliotta, Todd Fuller )
This team would perform better with Chris Washburn and Charles Shackleford off, not on the bench.
34. Stanford (LW: NR)
( Brevin Knight, Casey Jacobsen, Mark Madsen, Adam Keefe, Jarron Collins )
With Todd Lichti as the sixth man.
35. Villanova (LW: NR)
( Alvin Williams, Kerry Kittles, Tim Thomas, Michael Bradley, Jason Lawson )
Remember, Kittles was a genuine college star.
36. Temple (LW: NR)
( Mark Macon, Eddie Jones, Aaron McKie, Mark Karcher, Kevin Lyde )
Owls would probably draw Duke in a mythical tournament -- and lose, naturally.
37. Florida (LW: NR)
( Jason Williams, Vernon Maxwell, Mike Miller, Andrew Declercq, Udonis Haslem )
I pray to you, resist the urge to start Dwayne Schintzius.
38. Massachusetts (LW: NR)
( Edgar Padilla, Carmelo Travieso, Monty Mack, Lou Roe, Marcus Camby )
Remember when UMass used to be good?
39. Iowa (LW: NR)
( B.J. Armstrong, Roy Marble, Ed Horton, Matt Bullard, Acie Earl )
As much as I wanted to put Brad Lohaus on here, I couldn't bring myself to do it.
40. Seton Hall (LW: NR)
( Terry Dehere, John Morton, Andrew Gaze, Eddie Griffin, Luther Wright )
Came oh-so-close to the 1989 national title.