Power Sweet Sixteen Rankings

As we did last year, tonight marks the annual debut of the March Madness All Season Power Rankings. Every Sunday until we begin to release full weekly brackets in February, March Madness All Season will be making a Power Sweet Sixteen Ranking. It differs from the the normal weekly top-25 rankings as this takes RPI, SOS, quality wins, etc. into account as opposed to the "Who didn't lose this week?" mentality of the polls. Anyway, here is the inaugural ranking for 2009:

- Standard bracketing rules apply (no two teams from the same conference in the same half-bracket, etc.)

- Numbers in parenthesis next to the team indicate what 1-16 ranking it is

Indianapolis Region:

1. Duke (3)

2. Connecticut (6)

3. Texas (12)

4. Ohio State (14)

Boston Region:

1. Pittsburgh (1)

2. Clemson (8)

3. Xavier (10)

4. Arizona State (16)

Arizona Region:

1. Oklahoma (4)

2. Georgetown (5)

3. Wake Forest (9)

4. West Virginia (13)

Memphis Region:

1. North Carolina (2)

2. Michigan State (7)

3. Syracuse (11)

4. Butler (15)

17th Team: Tennessee

Others Considered: Purdue, California, Saint Mary’s