Turned in my top 15 coach of the year candidates to the Naismith Award committee. 

Here are my choices with an order that remains fluid:

1. Bruce Pearl, Auburn: Coaching the No. 1 team in the country and the national title favorite. 
2. Dusty May, Michigan: May has the Wolverines atop the Big Ten in year one in Ann Arbor.
3. Kelvin Sampson, Houston: The Cougars consistently win and are now the team to beat in the Big 12. 
4. Greg Gard, Wisconsin: The Badgers were picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten. The offense has been revamped and they are in the league title chase. 
5. Grant McCasland, Texas Tech: McCasland has the Red Raiders in contention in the Big 12, which was not predicted in the preseason. 
6. Richard Pitino, New Mexico: The Lobos lost key members of their MWC tournament title team, only to be even better with all-American candidate Donovan Dent and are now the team to beat in the Mountain West. 
7. Pat Kelsey, Louisville: The Cardinals were in an abyss the last two seasons and Kelsey has resurrected the program to become a top-three ACC contender. 
8. Jon Scheyer, Duke: The Blue Devils do have the potential player of the year, but Scheyer has the pieces fitting well to be a title contender and to dominate the ACC. 
9. Matt Painter, Purdue: The Boilermakers lost the two-time player of the year but have two all-American candidates in Braden Smith and Trey Kauffman-Renn and are in contention for the top of the Big Ten. 
10. Mark Pope, Kentucky: The Wildcats have dealt with a slew of injuries and yet Kentucky has a stellar resume with plenty of Quad 1 wins in Pope’s first season. 
11. Nate Oats, Alabama: The Tide were my pick at No. 1 in the preseason and still could finish as the top team in April. 
12. Todd Golden, Florida: The Gators are in the top four in the SEC and are a legit Final Four contender. 
13. Ben McCollum, Drake: The Bulldogs are alone in first in the Missouri Valley in McCollum’s first season since arriving from D2 power Northwest Missouri State. 
14. Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s: The Gaels, not the Bulldogs, are the top team in the WCC. 
15. Tony Skinn, George Mason: The Patriots are the team to beat in the A-10, which was not the preseason prediction (see VCU and Dayton). 

Power 37 rankings

Let’s take a look at how the top contenders are shaping up:

1. Auburn (4, 23-2): The Tigers answered the challenge the past week after losing at home to Florida by winning at Vanderbilt and at Alabama. The Tigers were the unanimous No. 1 for the selection committee and will likely keep that position in a month. 
2. Florida (2, 22-3): The Gators are a game behind Alabama in the SEC standings after winning their fourth in a row.  
3. Duke (3, 22-3): The Blue Devils got the ACC Bay Area sweep at home. 
4. Alabama (1, 21-4): The Tide lost at home to Auburn, causing the flip in our rankings. 
5. Houston (8, 21-4): The Cougars have won four in a row and have a two-game lead in the Big 12. 
6. Wisconsin (16, 20-5): Time to give the Badgers their due. They won at Purdue and are in the thick of the Big Ten title race. 
7. Michigan (21, 205): The Wolverines have won six in a row and are alone in first place in the Big Ten. 
8. Texas Tech (10, 20-5): The Red Raiders have been one of the surprise teams this season with JT Toppin one of the top transfers. 
9. St. John’s (7, 22-4): The Red Storm clipped Creighton to give themselves a two-game cushion in the Big East. 
10. Iowa State (13, 20-5): Don’t look now but the Cyclones have won three in a row and are back to being one of the best in the country again. 
11. Maryland (14, 20-6): The Terps have won three in a row and have one of the best players, not just freshmen in the country, in Derik Queen. 
12. Tennessee (6, 21-5): The Vols did lose at Kentucky, but then bounced back to beat Vanderbilt.
13. Texas A&M (19, 20-5): The Aggies are in a tie with Florida for fourth and are going to be a tough out in every game going forward. 
14. Arizona (9, 17-8): The Wildcats have lost two in a row with a monster game coming up at Baylor.
15. Purdue (5, 19-7): The Boilermakers dropped two games last week, losing at Michigan and at home to Wisconsin. 
16. New Mexico (17, 22-4): The Lobos beat Utah State to take a two-game lead on the Aggies in the Mountain West standings. 
17. Memphis (11, 21-5): The Tigers got clipped by Wichita State in OT, but that’s not enough to drop them more than a few spots. 
18. Michigan State (12, 20-5): The Spartans got a critical road win/sweep of Illinois to give Tom Izzo the clinching win to pass the late Bob Knight as the all-time winningest coach in the Big Ten. 
19. Clemson (20, 21-5): The Tigers have won three in a row and are moving up the seed lines in the bracket.
20. Kentucky (30, 17-8): The Wildcats beat Tennessee at home before losing at Texas. But keep in mind the Wildcats have been down to no point guards with the latest rash of injuries. 
21. Mississippi State (31, 18-7): The Bulldogs got the season sweep of their rival Ole Miss. 
22. Louisville (23, 19-6): The Cardinals have kept pace with Clemson for second in the ACC. 
23. Illinois (26, 17-9): The Illini beat UCLA but then lost at home to Michigan State. 
24. UCLA (15, 19-7): The Bruins got a must-needed win at Indiana after falling at Illinois. 
25. Missouri (27, 19-6): The Tigers have won two in a row to get back in the thick of the race for a top-four SEC finish. 
26. Ole Miss (28, 19-7): The Rebels got clipped again by their rival Mississippi State. 
27. UConn (17-8): The Huskies got the win at Creighton, only to lose in the final seconds at Seton Hall. 
28. Creighton (18, 18-8): The Bluejays have lost two in a row, likely losing their chance to win the league.
29. Marquette (32, 19-6): The Golden Eagles beat DePaul to end a three-game slide. 
30. BYU (NR, 17-8): The Cougars have won two in a row, including at West Virginia and host Kansas in a potential NCAA bid-type game.
31. Kansas (22, 17-8): The Jayhawks are one of the most frustrating teams to follow. You never know which Kansas team is going to show up. 
32. Utah State (34, 22-4): No shame in losing at the Pit. The Aggies are still in a strong position for a bid. 
33. San Diego State (NR, 17-6): The Aztecs have won two in a row and host the Lobos next week. 
34. Wake Forest (NR, 19-7): The Demon Deacons got a critical road win at SMU. 
35. Saint Mary’s (33, 23-4): The Gaels bounced back after the loss to the Dons to win three in a row. 
36. George Mason (37, 21-5): The Patriots have won 11 in a row. 
37. Bradley (NR, 21-6): The Braves’ Duke Deen converted a dunk with 10 seconds left to upset Drake in Des Moines and pull within a game of the Bulldogs in the Valley. 

Dropped out: Nebraska (25), Vanderbilt (29), Kansas State (35), Drake (36).

RANKINGS: AP Top 25 Poll | NET Rankings

March Madness National Team of the Week

Auburn: The Tigers snapped back from the nine-point home loss to re-assert themselves as the best in the SEC and ultimately the country with two strong road wins — at Vanderbilt by 12 and at rival Alabama by nine. The latter came on the heels of the announcement that Auburn was the unanimous No. 1 overall seed in the top 16 projection from the men’s basketball selection committee. Auburn should continue to roll with three straight home games before going to Kentucky and Texas A&M and hosting Alabama to close out the regular season. 

March Madness National Player of the Week

John Tonje, Wisconsin: The Badgers had one game last week and made the most of it as they shocked Purdue 94-84 at Mackey Arena behind Tonje’s 32 points. Tonje was efficient, scoring on 10 of 15 shots, 4 of 9 3s and converting 8 of 9 free throws. The Colorado State/Missouri transfer is making the most of his one season with Wisconsin. He essentially made his mark by dropping 41 in a home win over Arizona in game four of the season and has been in double figures all but two games this season. He’s making a strong case for first-team all-Big Ten with 19.2 points a game. The Badgers are now 10-4 in the Big Ten, two games out of first place, a game out of second and tied with Purdue in the loss column for third and fourth double-byes in the Big Ten tournament. 

Missed out on Saturday?: No. 1 Auburn survives No. 2 Alabama, No. 16 Wisconsin knocks off No. 7 Purdue in thrilling men’s hoops Saturday

March Madness Top 10 Games to Watch

Michigan State at Michigan, Friday: One of the top two rivalries in the Big Ten meets for the first of two times with first place on the line. The Spartans got their mojo back with the road win at Illinois. Crisler should be rocking Friday night. 

Iowa State at Houston, Saturday: Houston is the best team in the Big 12. Iowa State is behind Texas Tech and Arizona and if it wants a shot at the title then it must pull off an upset at Houston. 

Duke vs. Illinois, MSG, Saturday: The Blue Devils will be at Cameron north. MSG loves the stars and Cooper Flagg will be on center stage. The Illini have the personnel to make this an entertaining affair but must play their A-game to have a chance. 

UConn at St. John’s, Sunday: The Garden will still be hot after Saturday night when the best rivalry in the Big East now of Pitino and Hurley is on display Sunday afternoon. The Huskies are three games back of the Red Storm and this is a must-win to have a chance at the regular-season title after losing to St. John’s at home. 

Purdue at Indiana, Sunday: I don’t care who is struggling because this game never disappoints. The Hoosiers nearly won at Mackey a few weeks ago and are in desperation mode with still an outside shot at a bid. Expect Bloomington to be wild for this one on a Sunday afternoon. 

Tennessee at Texas A&M, Saturday: The Vols started the week two games back of the Aggies and any chance to finish in the top four would be aided by a road win in College Station. 

Texas A&M at Mississippi State, Tuesday: The Aggies have to get past the Bulldogs first and that won’t be easy after Mississippi State beat Ole Miss and to draw even in the SEC at 6-6. 

Kentucky at Alabama, Saturday: The first game was taken by the Tide but the Wildcats have been injured and inconsistent since then, going 3-4. Alabama is coming off a tough home loss to Auburn. Kentucky will play host to Vanderbilt first and Alabama will be at Missouri prior to this game. 

Saint Mary’s at Gonzaga, Saturday: The Bulldogs are two games behind the Gaels and already lost in Moraga. This is a must-win if there is a chance to get a tie for the title. Saint Mary’s should beat Portland but the Zags will have to take care of Washington State to ensure this game has significant meaning. 

San Diego State at Utah State, Saturday: The Aztecs need to pull off this win if they want to have a chance to finish in the top two in the Mountain West. They should beat Fresno State before to set up a showdown. San Diego State already lost by one to Utah State at home.