Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger earned top honors in ESPN’s Weekly Watch as far as top performances go in college basketball last week.  “Sullinger scored 27 points and grabbed 16 boards in Ohio State’s 73-68 win over Illinois in Champaign,” writes Andy Katz.  “But more than just the raw numbers, Sullinger had an answer for the Buckeyes every time the Illini made a run late in the second half.  Ohio State knew the Illini couldn’t stop Sullinger, so they had to foul him.  The 6-foot-9, 280-pound forward ended up going to the line 15 times, converting 13.  He also committed only two fouls in 40 minutes.”

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The Ohio State Buckeyes are the number one team in this week’s ESPN NCAA Basketball Power Rankings.  “The Buckeyes handled their newfound fame atop the polls with aplomb … but that was against Penn State and Iowa,” it said on ESPN.com.  ”Now Ohio State finally starts to feast on the meat of the Big Ten schedule, with a game at Illinois and then home versus Purdue.  This week OSU will truly earn its ranking.”  Ohio State wasn’t a consensus number one this week, as Kansas received two of the 16 votes.  Their big win over Baylor did a lot of their reputation this season.

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ESPN NBA Draft expert Chad Ford has San Diego State forward Kahwi Leonard soaring up his draft board.  “Last season, Leonard was one of the better kept secrets in college basketball,” Ford writes.  ”When we first wrote about him in early March, only a handful of GMs had given him a careful look.  That’s changed this season.  Every team in the league has been out to scout Leonard multiple times, and that San Diego State is ranked No. 6 and remains one of the few unbeaten teams in the country doesn’t hurt.”  The Aztecs certainly seems to be for real this season and Leonard has been a huge part of their success.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide scored a major upset when they took down SEC rival Kentucky last night by a score of 68-66.  The unranked Tide nearly squandered a 20-point lead, but was able to hang on to defeat the number 12 team in the nation.  “It was an all-out effort for everybody,” Crimson Tide forward JaMychal Green told reporters.  ”That’s what it’s going to take for us to win games.”  Green led the Tide in scoring with 18 points and also chipped in 11 boards in the contest.  Fellow forward Tony Mitchell was the only other Alabama player to score in double figures in the game.

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The #4 Pittsburgh Panthers took down the #3 Syracuse Orange in one of the better matchups we’ve seen this season, winning the contest last night by a score of 74-66.  The beginning of the game was exceptionally odd, as Pitt jumped out to 19-0 lead only to all but squander it by the half.  “We got off to a horrible start and Pitt got off to a great start,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told media members following the game.  ”We had a long way to come from back from the beginning. … That’s as good a Pitt team as I’ve seen.  That’s probably the best team we’ve played.”

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The Ohio State Buckeyes are now the number one team in the nation, thanks to a loss by previous number one team Duke last week.  The Buckeyes were all on a bus home from the airport last week when they heard the news of Duke’s loss.  However, head coach Thad Matta said his team didn’t react in the way most people would probably assume a group of young men would in that situation.  “There wasn’t one word said,” coach Thad Matta told reporters Friday.  ”Maybe it was 11:30 at night, but these guys were kind of like, ‘Hey, what are we going to do to beat Penn State?’ as they got off the bus.  That’s what I love about this team.”

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ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb breaks down the Pac-10 by ranking all of the teams.  He has the Washington Huskies as his number one team right now.  ”Despite a pending sexual assault investigation that Lorenzo Romar has said is “very serious” and despite losing Abdul Gaddy for the season, UW is still the team to beat in this league,” Gottlieb writes.  ”In addition to Isaiah Thomas at the point and Matthew Bryan-Amaning inside, the Huskies have Aziz N’Diaye, a massive 7-foot center and a terrific shot-blocker who can change the game with his sheer mass.”

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The number one-ranked Duke Blue Devils are undefeated no more.  The Dukies were upset by the unranked Florida State Seminoles in just the third team in Duke’s conference play.  The Seminoles took home the 66-61 victory by winning both halves.   Derwin Kitchen scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half in leading the ‘Noles to the upset victory.  Coach K gave FSU all the credit in the world after the game.  “Tonight wasn’t about us being bad,” Krzyzewski told the media.  ”They were really good.  They played with a verve.”

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Jimmer Fredette was on fire last night; there’s no other way to put it.  The BYU senior guard led his team to a 104-79 win over Utah last night by scoring a season-high 47 points in the contest.  Fredette flirted with going to the NBA after his junior season, a season in which he led the Cougars to the NCAA tournament.  However, his decision to return looks like a smart one right now, as BYU is currently the 10^th-ranked team in the nation.  Fredette hit 16 of his 38 shot attempts and nailed six of nine from distance.

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According to ESPN’s NBA Draft expert Chad Ford, Baylor forward Perry Jones has the pole position for the number one pick in the 2011 draft right now. Jones is not a household name and has not dominated in his freshman season like a lot of top picks do, but his talent is so tantalizing that NBA executives are drooling over his potential.  “He’s the most talented guy in the draft, and he also has the most upside,” one NBA executive told Ford.  ”Baylor doesn’t really know what to do with him, but all of my scouts feel he’s got the most potential; 6-10 players with that sort of athleticism are just hard to come by.”

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