- Baylor (+2) – Road wins at Texas Tech AND Kansas, the toughest road environment in the country? Yeah, that’s a hell of a week. I’ve been higher than most on Baylor all season, and I’m sure there will be some who won’t rank them #1, but in my eyes, this is the clear best team in the country right now.
- Gonzaga (-1) – After starting WCC play with a couple closer than expected victories, the Bulldogs went on the road and absolutely throttled San Diego and Loyola Marymount, winning by 44 and 25, respectively. Gonzaga returns home this week for a pair of tougher matchups, with a home game against a Santa Clara team coming off a road upset of Saint Mary’s followed by a weekend battle against BYU.
- Duke (+1) – Duke was challenged on Wednesday night by a pesky Georgia Tech team, but Tre Jones led the way with a strong performance highlighted by some vicious Cassius Stanley throwdowns. The Blue Devils returned home and beat down on Wake Forest over the weekend. They’ll face their first top 25-level competition in a month and a half when Louisville comes into Cameron this weekend, which should serve as a good barometer for both programs.
- Auburn (+1) – Auburn remained undefeated this past week with two home games against Vanderbilt and Georgia. While the game against Vandy was closer than expected, the Commodores that were crushed by Texas A&M on Saturday certainly aren’t the same team without the SEC’s leading scorer Aaron Nesmith. Regardless, Auburn followed up that win by pounding Georgia by 22 and containing freshman sensation Anthony Edwards. Auburn’s greatest strength is its balance, as 4 different players have led the team in scoring the last 4 games.
- Kansas (-3) – The Jayhawks began the week in strong fashion, dominating Iowa State in Hilton, but were completely stunned by Baylor over the weekend as they suffered their first home loss of the season. What was most shocking was how plainly Baylor dominated the game – the Jayhawks hung with them and were down just 27-24 with two and a half minutes left in the first before Baylor finished the half on a 10-0 run. From there on, the closest Kansas could get within was 5 points, and they didn’t get within single digits the final 9 minutes of the game.
- Butler (–) – Butler took care of business this week once again, going on the road and taking down Providence to hand the Friars their first loss in Big East play. Circle Wednesday night on your calendars, as Butler welcomes Seton Hall, the only other undefeated Big East team, to Hinkle Fieldhouse.
- San Diego State (–) – This week’s summary for the Aztecs will probably be able to be copy and pasted several more times this season. San Diego State did what they needed to do this past week, beating Wyoming on the road and Boise State at home and refused to fall into a trap game. This week presents tougher challenges in Fresno State on the road and with Nevada coming to town, but those are both games the Aztecs *should* win.
- Oregon (+1) – The Ducks had a big week, taking down both schools from Arizona in the span of three days, including a thrilling 1 point OT win against Arizona. This week, the Ducks have to go on the road but face winnable games against a bad Washington State team and a Washington program in freefall and without star PG Quade Green due to academic ineligibility.
- Dayton (+2) – The Flyers won’t have many opportunities to pick up statement wins to catapult themselves up the rankings, so in order to climb, they, like San Diego State, have to continue to win and wait for carnage around them. Dayton did just that this weekend, blasting UMass by 28 points in their lone affair. This week, however, presents multiple big opportunities – VCU comes to town on Tuesday night, and Dayton travels to a tough Saint Louis squad on Friday night. Hopefully star F Obi Toppin is available for both after spraining his ankle on Saturday.
- Florida State (+3) – The Noles did what they needed to in Wake Forest Wednesday night, beating the Demon Deacons by 10 to improve to 4-1 in ACC play, good for 2nd place behind Duke. Prior to traveling to Miami next weekend, the Seminoles will take on a Virginia team in freefall and in desperate need of a win to right the ship. While it’s a down year in the ACC for sure, neither of these games will be gimmes for Leonard Hamilton and company.
- West Virginia (+4) – After one lone down year that featured a CBI appearance, the Mountaineers are unequivocally back and while it’s not the “Press Virginia” that Jevon Carter led, this team still plays suffocating defense. They went into Stillwater this past week and choked Oklahoma State to just 41 points, and held Texas Tech to just 54 in a win over the weekend. UVA still technically has the best defense according to KenPom, but West Virginia is literally just 0.1 points behind them in AdjD efficiency.
- Wichita State (+4) – Wichita State is another team that we can declare as “Back” after a one year hiatus. Without shame, I’d like to state that I’ve been a believer in the Shockers returning to the national picture since before the season, when I pegged them as a 10 seed, but I didn’t see anything like this coming. Wichita State took down a ranked Memphis team on Thursday night, before outlasting UConn in a wild double OT game of
refball basketball. - Louisville (+1) – Louisville bounced back from 2 straight losses and made it through unscathed this week after a home game against Miami and a wild road game against Notre Dame that featured one of the most baffling final possessions I’ve ever seen. This week is a big one for the Cardinals, with a road matchup in Cameron Indoor awaiting on Saturday that follows a road game at Pitt on Tuesday that should not be overlooked at all.
- Michigan State (-6) – I know the cool thing to do in the Big 10 this year is lose on the road, but uh, Michigan State? That’s not what we meant…. The Spartans got absolutely hammered on Sunday by a Purdue team that refuses to die and continues to defy the haters of advanced analytics. While it was in Mackey against a Top 10 defense, you have to do better than shoot 35% from the field with 18 turnovers if you want to be a top 10 team.
- Maryland (-3) – What a hell of a week for the Terps. First, they take down a reeling but still wildly-talented-and-ranked-in-the-KenPom-Top-10 Ohio State team on Tuesday night, then they get crushed on the road by the Hawkeyes on Friday night. It was confoundingly polarizing, which fits with the theme of college hoops this year, and which also means we should expect Maryland to win at Wisconsin on Tuesday but lose at home to Purdue next weekend because why not?
- Villanova (+4) – The Wildcats bounced back from the loss against Marquette by somehow managing to beat Creighton on the road Tuesday night, a game in which the Cats jumped out to a blistering 1-0 lead and then didn’t have the lead again until less than 3 minutes remained in the game.
- Kentucky (+2) – The Wildcats of Kentucky also stood pat this week with a 2-0 record and no losses to speak of, unlike many other top 25 teams. They managed to come out of Georgia with a 9 point win, which does not accurately represent how tight that game was, and followed that up with another 9 point win at home against Alabama, which was also closer than the final score indicates, though Kentucky maintained control throughout. Two road games await this week with a big one over the weekend at Arkansas.
- Seton Hall (NEW) – I think a lot of people, myself included, wrote off the Pirates after a 6-4 start against a brutal schedule that was punctuated with a blowout loss to Rutgers. Since then, though, the Pirates have weathered the storm of temporarily loses Myles Powell and have gone without Sandro Mamukelashvili and have ripped off a 6 game winning streak. This past week saw them record strong wins at Xavier and at home over Marquette. The preseason Big East favorite has reclaimed the top spot in the standings for now.
- Colorado (NEW) – The Buffaloes rebounded from the surprising home collapse against Oregon State last week to trounce Utah by 39 earlier this afternoon in their lone game this week. This one wasn’t even close, with Colorado racing out to a 16-2 lead before 5 minutes had even passed by.
- Memphis (-2) – The Tigers dropped their first AAC game this week, as they couldn’t get past Wichita State on the road, but bounced back to survive another admirable but insufficient USF upset bid. Precious Achiuwa has asserted himself as “The Guy” on this team.
- Arkansas (+4) – This is the point where this ballot became impossibly difficult to fill out. Do I think Arkansas is the 22nd best team in the country? Well, no, but is there anyone else with a more compelling argument for this spot? Also, no. The Razorbacks fell in a thrilling road loss to LSU this week by just 2, and rebounded to grab a road win at Ole Miss over the weekend. After a game against a hobbled Vanderbilt squad, the Razorbacks welcome Kentucky into town, which will be a great test to see where this team stands.
- Indiana (NEW) – I had to give a nod to Indiana this week and recognize that while it hasn’t been pretty, they are 13-3 with a winning record in the brutal 2019-2020 edition of the Big 10. They came oh-so-close to losing at home to a horrible Northwestern squad, but pulled it out and bounced back with a big win over Ohio State this weekend.
- LSU (NEW) – To be honest, LSU was on my radar last week but there were many more teams I had in front of them that I would’ve expected to see in the top 25 before the Tigers. I subconsciously wrote them off when they dropped to 7-4 following a blowout home loss to East Tennessee State and a loss to USC, but since then, they’ve beaten Liberty, Tennessee in Knoxville, Arkansas, and Mississippi State on a buzzer beating prayer. Wins are wins, and most of the other teams in the back of the top 25 and beyond did a lot less winning than LSU this past week.
- Creighton (NEW) – This is another one where I guess I just don’t know who to put here. So many teams in this area of the rankings suffered losses that it becomes a matter of who had the least bad of the losses. I had Creighton at 27 this past week, and despite the collapse at home that led to the loss to Villanova, I came away impressed by their 12 point road win at Xavier.
- Ohio State (-15) – I so, so, so badly wanted to unrank Ohio State this week (they have literally not won since before Christmas!!!) but I just couldn’t convince myself that any of the next 5 teams deserve it more than they do. The Buckeyes have now dropped to 1-4 in Big 10 play, but the good news is that they are still 8th in KenPom’s AdjEM rating, while coming in at just 320th in luck. Aside from the home loss to Maryland, the other 3 losses in this losing streak have all come to teams I have in the top 25, too.
Dropped Out:
Penn State (17) – I almost left the Nittany Lions in this week at 25, but couldn’t justify putting them in over Ohio State after that 32 point loss earlier in the season. Neither loss was that bad for Penn State this past week, as Rutgers legitimately may be a tournament team and the RAC is a hellscape when they’re good, and Wisconsin is just a weird ass team this year.
Virginia (21) – I’ve been trying so hard to believe in Virginia this year, and the defense still remains elite at #1 in KenPom’s AdjD. But after losses to Boston College and an OT loss at home to a weak Syracuse team, I’m giving up on Virginia. They are not only a top 25 team, but they may not even be a tournament team at this point.
Texas Tech (22) – I’m starting to lose faith in Texas Tech this year, too. I love what Chris Beard is doing down there, but this team hasn’t gelled quite like last year’s version did. Maybe I’m wrong and it will still happen later on, but the defense, while still phenomenal, is only 11th best and not at last year’s level, and the offense can be brutal to watch at times. The Red Raiders managed only 52 and 54 points in their two losses this past week.
Arizona (23) – I was prepared to keep Arizona in the top 25 and even considering them moving up if they Sunday night at Oregon State – a 1-1 week with a 1 point OT loss on the road to a top 10 week ain’t too bad at all. But, alas, they went winless on their Oregon excursion, and I’ve since dropped them out of the top 25. I do think the pieces are there for Arizona to get back in the top 25 and stay there, but they need to find a way to win close games against good teams – 4 of their 5 losses have been to Power 6 schools by 5 or less.
Michigan (24) – It looks like the Atlantis honeymoon with Juwan Howard is officially over in Ann Arbor – the Wolverines continue to slump hard after needing double OT to pull out a win against Purdue and falling to Minnesota on the road. That’s certainly not an indictment on Howard at all, either, as he has done very well. But without Isaiah Livers, I just don’t see this as a top 25 team for the time being.
Next 5: Michigan, Penn State, Arizona, Texas Tech, Rutgers
Bracketology Busters 