We promised you last week that these College Basketball Power Rankings would fluctuate all season long, and that’s exactly what happened over the past seven days, as we welcome in four new teams.

As with any year in college basketball, it is right around the middle of December, and the elite are starting to rise to the top of the sport. Villanova and Kentucky improved with signature wins last week, while Kansas and Texas continued to roll through the opposition. Michigan State and North Carolina? Well, they’ve got some work to do.

For some, the Thanksgiving holiday is filled with massive food and football consumption. But for many, it’s also a chance to see many of college basketball’s top teams battle in some good early season tournaments.

It’s hard to believe, but as the calendar turns to November, it’s time to tip off another college basketball season. And with it, here is the first College Basketball Power Rankings for the 2009-2010 season.

The University of Connecticut’s basketball season ended Saturday night with an 82-73 Final Four loss to Michigan State. While stars like A.J. Price and Hasheem Thabeet get much of the credit for this team’s success, it may have been small forward Stanley Robinson who played best this postseason.

There’s only one man that Mitch Barnhart needs to call, and when he makes that call, needs to refuse to take no as answer. That man: John Calipari. He is everything that Kentucky and their fans want. And he’s everything they need, if they’re serious about getting back to college basketball’s elite.

Well, the NCAA Tournament field has been trimmed from 65 to 16, with that number set to be dwindled to four by the end of the weekend. Before we get there though, a lot of good basketball is still to be played. Here is what to look out for this weekend.

Every year players emerge from no-where to become household names come NCAA Tournament time. Here are five, that you’ll need to know before filling out your brackets this March.

It takes a full season to get to this point. We dissect teams, watch hundreds of games and learn the smallest nuances about our favorite schools and players. While picking your NCAA Tournament bracket will always be an inexact science, there are trends that stand out year to year that can help you when making those tough picks.

Each time anyone hit a basket to start the game, it felt like the roof was about to blow off. The same at the beginning and end of each overtime. And when the game finally did end, there was both cheering and relief from Syracuse nation, and likewise from UConn fans. There are many things that I will carry with me from attending this game, well beyond what the final scoreboard read.