Syracuse moves back into familiar territory after beating the previous #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Even more impressive is that the win came at Notre Dame. Syracuse now has 5 top 20 wins! People making a case for Penn State need to recognize that 5 top 20 wins and 1 top 20 loss, trumps a team that has only played one team in the top 20.  

Penn State skyrocketed up the rankings this week after earning their first top 20 win in decisive fashion vs Ohio St. Penn State might be the real deal. With four ranked opponents in their future, they have a chance to earn and hold that top spot. 

They look really good! They were really good before winning face-offs and now that they are winning at a high rate, they are a scary team. Another fun fact is that Connor Fields is producing at a pace they would surpass Lyle Thompson's single-season scoring record. 

Unfortunately, they do not have any top twenty wins to prove just how good they are. Maryland and Yale should provide outstanding benchmarks. 

Everything instinct says to drop UNC out of the rankings until you really look at it.  Yes, they have five losses, that is bad, the most of any ranked team. Providence only has one loss. The reason that UNC stays in is because they have a great win at Denver. They have also only surrendered games vs teams ranked ahead of them. The other teams that may try to take UNC's spot have multiple losses to unranked teams or they lack big wins like Providence. 

This is also where I have to add the tie breaker question: in a head-to-head battle, who would win? Providence or UNC.... I think 90% of people would pick UNC. 

Virginia, Syracuse, and Notre Dame are the three remaining games before the ACC Tournament. If UNC wins these games, things will get really interesting. If UNC proved anything last year, it's never count them out. Once they get rolling they are a force!