The Year of Three #1s

It usually doesn't take me all that long to fill out my weekly Top 25 for the college hoops blogpoll. I usually have a general idea where I want to go with it and I'm done in a few minutes. But this latest ballot? I was stuck for close to an hour. Mainly, I had a hard time convincing myself that Kansas should be ranked #3 after completely dismantling a tournament-bound Oklahoma squad. Yet #3 is where you'll find the Jayhawks on most ballots, right behind fellow unbeatens North Carolina and Memphis.

But despite how impressive the Jayhawk's have been with their extraordinary depth, scoring balance and offensive firepower, it's just as hard to convince yourself that they belong above Memphis and North Carolina. The Tigers are just as deep as the Jayhawks, boast a better defense and have more quality wins. North Carolina might actually may have the most explosive offense of three, and are lead by All-American candidates Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington. Seriously, just try and separate these teams. We are currently in the season of three #1s.

So with such little separation between these three elite teams, I'm not going to rank one above the other until something happens. It's 1a, 1b, and 1c from now on. And just thinking about a Final Four that may include Kansas, Memphis, UNC and either UCLA, Tennessee, Duke or Indiana has me so excited I can hardly type.

And with all of these elite teams in what has been a fantastic year to date, thank the sweet lord that this is college basketball and not college football.