Yo. I'm Thomas Inskeep, host of the mostly-music (and blog-related) oh, manchester, so much to answer for (a/k/a "submeat"), and am thankful to Steve for allowing me to join him here at CA. College basketball is one of my greatest passions, and it's the start of a new week, so let's get to it, people!

As I expected, and deservedly so, Louisville and Kentucky each jumped 4 spots in the new ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, to numbers 2 and 3, respectively. I think they should be 1-2, with Arizona third - c'mon, can you honestly tell me that the 'Cats are playing the best ball in the country right now, or are the best team? Ridiculous. 'Zona's proven they're vulnerable, and likely won't make it through the back-to-back Cal and Stanford games unscathed at months end.

Kentucky, on the other hand, could really run the table in the SEC - the biggest bumps in their path are a pair of games with Georgia (at home tomorrow, in Athens 3/02) and their regular-season finale at Florida 3/8 (think the Gators'll be thinking revenge for their nationally-televised humiliation last Tuesday?). Not to mention that if the 'Cats lose one game, and Florida goes unbeaten the next 3 weeks, the SEC East title will come down to that one game. Mmmm...

Louisville looks even better, and could also go undefeated in conference play. They've reeled off 16 straight wins - no small feat - their lone loss coming in their second game of the season, to Purdue in the Wooden Tradition (yeah, I'm partisan - and more on the Big Ten later). The big date to circle on your Cardinals calendar is this Saturday, when they're at Marquette. The Golden Eagles have their toughest games behind them, save a trip to Louisville 2/27, and are only half a game behind Pitino's boys in the C-USA American standings. [Even after their impressive win over Oklahoma State yesterday, I don't see Cincinnati knocking off L'ville, even at home. The C-USA regular season trophy will finally get a new home this year.]

A look at the week ahead, and the always-bruising Big Ten, later this evening. In the meantime, enjoy the new edition of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology.