Parity or putridity?

I just took a look at the Top 25 Coaches Poll for college basketball and couldn't believe what I saw.

The top four looked as it should, with Connecticut, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Pittsburgh leading the pack.

Then it became a mishmash of teams who could be ranked near the bottom of the poll without me batting an eyelash:

5- Michigan St. (20-4) The Spartans four losses aren't exactly inspiring. At home against Northwestern. At home against Penn St. At home against North Carolina (by 35). And, oh yeah ... on a neutral floor against Maryland ... by 18.

7- Louisville (19-5) Like Michigan St., the Cardinals losses are awful. Sure, they have some nice wins, but when you have the opportunity to win twice a week against Big East-caliber teams, that's bound to happen. Louisville has lost to Western Kentucky (by 14), Minnesota(a shaky Big Ten team), UNLV (at home), UCONN (at home, by 17) and at Notre Dame (by 33).

8- Wake Forest (19-4) This is the enigma of the bunch. They have already beaten UNC, Duke and Clemson, but have lost four of their last six, including to unranked Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and North Carolina St. Their fourth loss? To unranked Miami ... by 27.

9- Duke (20-5) Probably the best team of this group, but lack consistency on both ends of the floor. North Carolina exploited their defense to the tune of 101 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Clemson shut down their explosive offense in a 74-47 shellacking two weeks ago. They've also dropped games to Wake Forest and Boston College on the season and still have Wake, UNC (on the road), Virginia Tech and Florida State on the horizon. Counting the ACC Tourney, nine losses isn't out of the question for the Blue Devils as they enter March Madness.

10- Missouri (22-4) The Tigers didn't even receive a Top 25 vote in the Coaches Poll until Week 4, have lost by 16 twice since and once to Nebraska. They have two semi-impressive wins in Big 12 play (by 4 over Texas and by 2 over OK State). Yet somehow, they are a top-10 team. I don't get it...

11- Arizona St. (20-5) Two wins over an overrated UCLA team isn't much to write home about. Neither are losses to Baylor, Cal (who Missouri beat by 27), USC (another Tigers victim) and home losses to WSU and Washington, both by double digits.

The list goes on: Illinois, Kansas, Washington and Gonzaga are top-2o squads and Purdue, Utah St. and LSU are in the top 25. Of those schools, Purdue, Gonzaga and Kansas were the only top 25 schools, while Illinois and Utah St. didn't receive a vote in the preseason poll. Sure, this type of thing happens year in and year out, but this is different. Is it parity or putridity?

Putridity.

If the tournament was seeded according to the rankings, Michigan State, Memphis, Louisville and Wake Forest would be the 2-seeds.

Would you be quick to pencil in any of those teams over a 15-seed without second thought except for Memphis? What if Portland State plays Michigan State in the first round? I'm picking the Vikings, I promise you.

The three seeds would be Duke, Missouri, Arizona State and Marquette. Are there any gimmes in that group?

The 5-12 teams, which are notorious for first-round upsets, would be Xavier, Kansas, Washington and Gonzaga. Could this be the year all four 12-seeds advance to the second round?

Last year was the first time in history all four top seeds advanced to the Final Four. I'm thinking we're about a month and a half away from seeing it happen again.