Musical Chairs

So far this season, 17 different teams have been ranked among the Elite Eight in the ESPN/USA Today weekly poll in NCAA men's basketball.

Of the eight teams ranked among the elite in the first poll of the season, only three remain in the fold and Arizona is likely to vanish after its stunning upset at USC this past Thursday.

Two of the original eight -- Michigan State and Missouri -- couldn't muster so much as a single vote in last Monday's poll.

Conversely, Georgia Tech didn't receive a single vote in the first weekly poll.

The other 14 highly regarded teams have bounced up and down the rankings like so many kids on a teeter-totter.

Someone explained this phenomenon as occurring because of parity in the college ranks.

More likely it occurs because voters have no idea how to discern a good team from a poor one.

It also occurs because the pre-conference season doesn't offer much in the way of solid evidence about a team's qualities.

The 17 highly regarded teams feasted on a steady diet of home games (75% of the aggregate schedule) against the likes of Wofford, Sacred Heart, Elon, Liberty (served as dessert to two of these teams), Fort Hays State, Binghamton (also on the menu twice), Hofstra, Alabama A&M, Winthrop, Coastal Carolina, Colgate and the always dangerous Quinnipiac.

Just to balance the plot, Missouri suffered the embarrassment of losing to Belmont, famous for being Al McGuire's first head coaching stop.

Suffice to say, it is difficult to evaluate the comparative merits of these wanton slaughters of willing victims.

The situation is further confused by the fact that the 17 highly regarded teams have had less than spectacular success against Top 25 competition.

Michigan State is the extreme example, of course, losing to six teams in the current rankings.

On the other end of the spectrum, Syracuse has yet to play a team in the current Top 25.

In between, Arizona is 2-2, Connecticut is 1-2, Florida is 1-3, Kansas is 0-1, Oklahoma is 0-1, Texas is 1-2, Missouri is 1-3 and Wake Forest is 1-2.

This isn't parity; this is mediocrity.

This is a couple handfuls of decent teams exploiting the lower end of the food chain and then choking on the bigger fish in the sea.

All of which makes me blush with embarrassment for the poor soul who writes about Bracketology for ESPN.com.

When you are forced to operate without facts, you often are made to look silly.

It is far too early for conjecture about brackets or even invitations, but here are my assessments of performances to date.

Far and away the best team in the country has been Duke.

Chris Duhon is having a marvelous senior campaign and Coach K. is reinventing the modern line-up configuration around a three-guard alignment. Watch for everyone else to copy his technique.

Best of the rest is Stanford, which seems made to order to be the Maid of Honor.

This is a roster full of kids you don't know but will soon learn to appreciate.

Connecticut has the best stats among the 17 highly regarded teams, but among this group, only Oklahoma and Syracuse have played weaker schedules.

Most underrated teams in the hunt are Georgia Tech and Texas. If they were stocks for sale on an exchange they would be cheap at twice the price (14th and 16th respectively in the polls).

The biggest challenge facing Rick Barnes is managing the rotational chaos caused by the wealth of diverse talent in Austin.

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is proving that quickness is a more valuable physical asset than height, and that team chemistry is more important than high school reputations.

The most dangerous team in the rankings is Cincinnati.

With a tough coach and tough kids, the Bearcats have two of the three most important ingredients for a National Champion.

It is their turn to receive the third ingredient -- good fortune.

The most overrated team in last week's poll was Oklahoma, but that will be corrected in this week's poll.

Although I take my hat off to the Hawks of St. Joe's for playing a schedule comprised of known names with nine games on the road, I have to say that any Mid-Major ranked in the Elite Eight is overrated, by definition.

Oh, you didn't know the A-10 was a Mid-Major Conference?

Well, the Myth of the Mid-Major is the subject of another column, so for now, you'll just have to trust me.

St. Joe's is the only team in this group that is getting out-rebounded by the competition and they have only played one Major Conference opponent so far.

All of the other teams in this group are equally flawed with Achilles' heels ranging from short benches to lacking a tough coach; from being overly dependent upon one player to not having a primary player to depend upon; from an inexperienced point guard to having no point guard.

Well, maybe that is the definition of parity.

Thankfully, relief is in sight.

The conference seasons have begun and the true tests are underway.

No more creampuffs for breakfast; no more home cooking for dinner, either.

Everyone will play an equal number of home and road games and everyone will play all the bullies in their neighborhood.

Now we'll see who's really good and who's not.