We can expect some shuffling when the national men’s basketball rankings are released on Tuesday, and The Scrum’s weekly poll is no different where six of the top eight teams in last week’s offering lost at least one game.

What does it all mean? Don’t ask me, I just work here.

Here’s one man’s view on the Canada West totem:

1.(1) Calgary Dinos (12-2) — There was nowhere to go but down for the Dinos this week but they hardly struggled with Lethbridge and now the Central Division bye is basically theirs.

2.(5) Victoria Vikes (12-4) — Sure, they still are a game back of UBC and don’t have the same record as the boys directly below them here, but they took care of business on home floor this weekend and it’s about time we give them a bump. Now, if they can only do something about that less-than-encouraging 4-4 road record.

3.(2) Brandon Bobcats (12-2) — This is where we had questions marks. The Bobcats got a big win over UBC only to follow it up with a season-low 60 points in a loss at Vic. So where does all of that put them? Heck if I know. Stevens Marcelin battled a groin injury and played just three minutes on Saturday, and it seems any time the Bobcats have injury trouble, questions over their depth come into play. Consider this one of those times.

4.(3) UBC Thunderbirds (12-3) — Surely UBC was thankful that the schedule went Brandon/Friday, Regina/Saturday and not the other way around. Sniper Chris Dyck got to rest his injury on the back end of the series and the Thunderbirds weren’t plagued with having to play a heavy-hitter to wrap up a rare three-game week.

5.(4) Alberta Golden Bears (9-5) — Little did they know at the time but their squeaked-out win against Winnipeg ended up being pretty large. They drop a bad one the next night against Manitoba and suddenly the once-impressive Bears are a far-from-shiny 2-2 in 2008.

6. (6) Simon Fraser Clan (8-7) — How much does the schedule suck for the Simon Fraser Clan? Not only did SFU have to play three games last week, it has to do it AGAIN this week with three roadies (Tuesday at UBC, Friday at Alberta, Saturday at Saskatchewan). The Clan can count themselves fortunate if they even get one win out of that stretch.

7. (9) Winnipeg Wesmen (7-7) — U-Dubs has won three out of four coming out of the break and while we’re not ready to loft them into our top five, their effort this weekend was worthy of regard. What’s more, they’ve done it by getting production from players not named Erfan. Matt Opalko, nice to see ya.

8. (8) Regina Cougars (7-7) — Bryden Wright is seemingly getting more and more comfortable as the season goes along but nothing even their fifth-year leader can do will wipe the dirt off this: Regina is 0-6 in conference play away from home and Jeff Lukomski — the sophomore of the 15.1 points per game — is averaging 8.3 ppg and shooting 28 per cent in those six defeats. This is not a road warrior team.

9. (11) Fraser Valley Cascades (6-10) — The Christmastime addition of Doug Plumb has made Fraser Valley deeper but you can’t like losing three of your first four out of the break. Let’s see what they do with the Winnipeg/Manitoba combo coming to Abbottsford this week and a playoff spot right within their grasp.

10.(7) Saskatchewan Huskies (7-7) — Kyle Grant hits nine threes and posts a career-high 30 points, Andrew Spagrud gets his regular double-double (22 an 12) and Rob Lovelace adds in a nice 17 points and you still lose. Why? The rest of your team combined for 16 points. A pretty inexcusable weekend from the Huskies who can start making plans for being swept two straight in Edmonton around Feb. 15-16.

11. (10) Trinity Western Spartans (6-10) — We’re taking Trinity out of the playoff race now. Yes, they’re tied for the final playoff spot in the Pacific but their final seven games come against teams with a combined 36-22 record and TWU is 1-7 against teams that are .500 or better this season.

12. (13) Manitoba Bisons (3-11) — Little to cheer about this season at the IGAC but the Bisons’ first two-game win streak of the season is at least a measure of success. The Bisons deserve all the credit in the world for winning two tough ones at home. Lakeland College transfer Clarence Smith — a 6-foot-8 shooter — had his best weekend of the season averaging 14 points and five rebounds and Brian Crowe tossed in 16.5 points for the weekend. It was said in this space before the Bisons had to have someone else step up and do something. This weekend they got that.

13. (12) Thompson Rivers WolfPack (2-14) — Hey, did you know the Wolfpack are still officially in the playoff hunt? Yeah, we don’t care either.

14. (14) Lethbridge Pronghorns (0-14) — Alright, here we go, bold prediction time: The Pronghorns get off the schneid Jan. 25 against TRU. Bold Prediction No. 2: When it happens, they’re still not climbing out of this basement.