By Joe Sullivan, Globe Staff

Baylor: The Bears were undefeated but hadn’t proven anything. Now they have after winning at Brigham Young in a hotly contested game before a raucous crowd Saturday. Perry Jones was immense with 28 points.
Michigan State: After opening 0-2 (losing to North Carolina and Duke), Sparty has won nine straight.
Oregon State: The first brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, has the Beavers off to their best start since 1997-98 at 9-2. The Beavs have scored over 90 points in three straight games.
Virginia: The Cavs are 9-1 and notched a good road victory Sunday at Oregon. There’s no doubt Tony Bennett can coach.
Yale: Competition for Harvard? The Elis won at Rhode Island Sunday and are now 8-2 with a six-game winning streak.

Five falling:

Alabama: Once ranked, the Tide has lost three of four and have some offensive problems as they’ve failed to score more than 62 points in those four games.
Memphis: The Tigers are slumping, losing their last two (to Murray State at home and at Louisville).
Vanderbilt: The Commodores are officially overrated. They keep getting nationally ranked but lost at home to another tough mid-major Indiana State.
Washington: The Huskies barely got past UC Santa Barbara on Friday night but then lost to South Dakota State Sunday. The Jackrabbits ended the Huskies 32-game non-conference home-court winning streak.
Xavier: The suspensions for fighting cost the Muskies, who were beaten by Oral Roberts Sunday.

The week’s George Mason (best mid-major): Murray State

This week’s Final Four: North Carolina, Ohio State, Kentucky, Missouri

This week’s national champion: North Carolina