College Basketball Rankings - Week 16 Top 25

      Here are this weeks College Basketball Top 25 rankings by Joey the NCAA Basketball Cat Analyst. Joey Baloney the Cat is getting excited for the NCAA Tournament just around the corner. This season, the NCAA Selection Committee again has given us a small glimpse in February of the Tourney team rankings up to that point. Most are split on whether this is good or bad but for the crazy zealous fans this is exactly what they crave and desire. Team are jockeying and fighting to be higher seeds and also there are many teams on the bubble and have to wait until Selection Sunday to see if they are in or not. Virginia remains in the top spot, for the 2nd consecutive week. Michigan State remains in the 2nd spot followed by Villanova in the 3rd position and Gonzaga and Xavier filling out the Top 5. The next 2 weeks will be exciting as the college basketball season comes to a close and we move on to conference tournaments and then onto the NCAA Tournament.  March Madness is almost here and as it was last year, Joey again will pick his 64 teams and His bracket selections.  Last Year Joey finished an amazing 55-8 including having the 3 of the the Final 4 picked correctly as well as the Championship winner  Stay tuned this year to see how He does again.
     Late last week, Yahoo sports Pete Thamel, published a follow up story about the alleged Corruption case against top Collegiate Basketball Programs and how it will change the landscape of College basketball forever. In his story, He maintains that a possible 50 programs are involved and Hall of Fame Coaches, Top programs and lottery pick players will all go down when all this plays out in court. Also, the story said that at least 16 teams that were displayed in the NCAA Selection Committee show for the upcoming NCAA Tournament in March may have to vacate their appearance in this years Tournament.  Only time will tell what has transpired and if anything has taught us is that this could take years to play out in court and if we will ever see all the documents and information the FBI truly has as it relates to the alleged paying of top college players in exchange for them to go to certain schools.
     The NCAA upheld its sanctions and penalties against the University of Louisville and ex Coach Rick Pitino. A sad day for all as the penalties include; ordering the school to vacate its 2013 championship amid sex parties and paid escorts. The program must vacate 123 wins in which athletes were ineligible from the 2011-12 through the 2015 academic years. The wins include a 2012 Final Four appearance and the 2013 National Championship. It is the first time in Division I men's basketball history that a championship has been vacated. NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions also upheld a ruling in which Louisville must return all revenue they earned for appearing in the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments.
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NCAA Tournament #1 seeds are ; Virginia, Michigan State, Villanova, Xavier

Joey's CBB Top 25 for Week 16:

1.  Virginia
2.  Michigan State
3.  Villanova
4.  Gonzaga
5.   Xavier
6.   Texas Tech
7.   Duke
8.   Kansas
9.   Purdue
10. Cincinnati
11. North Carolina
12. Wichita State
13. Auburn
14. Michigan
15. Clemson
16. Ohio State
17. Arizona
18. Rhode Island
19. St. Mary's
20. Tennessee
22. Nevada
23. West Virginia
24. Middle Tennessee
25. Houston
Others receiving votes; Baylor, Arizona State, Kentucky, Florida State, Creighton, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Miami (Fla),  New Mexico State,  TCU, UCLA, Penn State,St. Bonaventure, Arkansas, Nebraska, Texas A&M, East Tennessee State, Boise State
            

Joey, NCAA Cat Analyst after His week 16 CBB Top 25 Rankings