| 1 |
|
| Records: 15-1 | Last week: 1. The Jayhawks maintain their top spot after coming back from a double-digit home deficit for the second time in the second half, but turned that loss into a win thanks to an 18-4 final game against Oklahoma. I was able to change. A unique voodoo lives within the walls of Allen Fieldhouse. On Tuesday night, Kansas’ 79-75 victory put him 4-0 in a Big 12 game for the first time since 2017. Additionally, KU has won at least his 15th in his 16th bout in his seventh first under Bill Self. |
| 2 |
|
| Records: 14-2 | Last week: 3. Adem Bona is getting better with each passing week, which is why UCLA guarantees its #2 favorite, a higher ranking than anywhere else. Bona was a big his freshman year, averaging 11.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in his final three games at UCLA. UCLA will host Utah on Thursday. The Utes are a fringe NCAA tournament team at the midpoint of the season looking to snap a five-game losing skid to the Bruins. As noted in Wednesday’s court reportUCLA is the only team in the “Big 6” conference to live up to the preseason hype. |
| 3 |
|
| Record: 17-1 | Last week: 4. Jareth Walker missed out on Houston’s victory against South Florida on Wednesday, but the former five-star prospect and Cougars’ attractive big at 6-foot-8 has scored 44 points in Houston’s last two games. Won against SMU and against Cincinnati. He was his CBS Sports/USBWA Freshman of the Week. Although he’s currently outside the top five novices in the nationWalker is a clear Top 10 Frosh in the college hoops and could rise quickly. |
| Four |
|
| Record: 14-2 | Last week: 6. Crimson Tide has never had a No. 1 seed in its history, but it could be out in a matter of months. After he won 84-69 in Arkansas Wednesday night, Nate claims his Oates team is probably the best road his pair of wins in the country (Houston is another). One problem: last night’s referee at Bud Walton Arena overmatched and ruined a Top 15 matchup. |
| Five |
|
| Record: 14-2 | Last week: 5. It will be interesting to see how Tennessee defends the 3-point line later this season. The Vols are a great defensive group, but what’s happening now is different. Tennessee holds opponents with his 3-point accuracy of 20.9%. This is an NCAA record. (Norfolk State University allowed him 25.3% in 2004-05.) That number is slowly increasing. The question is, in his games against UT this season, is there a team where he achieved 35% of his 3-point shooting percentage? |
| 6 |
|
| Record: 15 wins and 1 loss | | Last week 7. boiler maker — Key items in Wednesday’s court report — currently projected to win the Big Ten in three games, which doesn’t seem unreasonable considering how much the rest of the league has been tossed up. Seriously, check out the standings . Who are No. 2 to 4 companies? It’s a mess right now, and Purdue is far beyond that fray. |
| 7 |
|
| Record: 15-1 | Last week: 11. The Wildcats made history in AP polls this week. Never before has a team gone so deep into a season (after New Year’s Day) that they haven’t been ranked, made their season debut in the AP Top 25, and moved up to his No. 11 spot where K-State currently sits. . Since it’s mid-January, there are several candidates for National Coach of the Year, but at this point they’re all second only to Jerome Tan. |
| 8 |
|
| Records: 14-3 | Last Week: 12 In case you missed it, Gonzaga falls behind St. Mary’s on KenPom.com for the first time since December 2017. Virtually no one is paying attention. It is his early February when rivals collide. Gonzaga stepped into his rowdy Marriott center for his game at BYU on Thursday. |
| 9 |
|
| Records: 13-2 | Last Week: 13 The Cyclones have won six in a row and are now 4-0 in the Big 12. Not since 2000 has the ISU had such a strong start in the conference ledger. Setting up the big game this weekend with a trip to Kansas, the Big 12 includes streaming the Big 12 rights package, so this weekend the Clones-Jayhawks will have his ESPN+ viewing options There is a caveat that it will only |
| Ten |
|
| Records: 14-2 | Last week: 2. Last weekend’s Wildcats’ 13-point home loss to Washington State by under . There is absolutely no reason for a perfectly healthy Arizona team to lose a game by double digits at home to a non-NIT team. Tommy Lloyd’s team will play against an Oregon school this weekend. It will be his only second time in Lloyd’s tenure that Arizona will attempt to avoid his 70-or-less streak. |
| 11 |
|
| Record: 14-3 | Last week: 14. Here’s the best scenario a first-year Xavier fan could imagine with Sean Miller. The Xs made him one of his two undefeated teams in conference play in the Big East standings with a 90-87 win over Creighton on Wednesday against Clayton to keep pace with Providence. The Muskies are on a 10-game winning streak and haven’t lost since November. This is Xavier’s longest winning streak since his 2017-18, the program’s only No. 1 seed year. Next up is Sunday’s great home his tilt against 14-4 Marquette. |
| 12 |
|
| Records: 17-1 | Last week: 16The Cougars can’t stop winning. On Wednesday, the biggest mid-major game of the week came to a last shot, and Charleston held on with his 71-69. However, predictive metrics are not yet for sale. The Cougars ranked him 81st at Sagarin this morning, 80th at KenPom and 55th at BartTorvik.com. Most of all, this team has learned how to win close games. This is indeed a skill. |
| 13 |
|
| Record: 14-3 | Last week: 18. The monks continue to scooch unsurprisingly, considering they haven’t lost since November. The nine-game winning streak could end on Saturday. A roadie awaits against a desperate Clayton. Jared Bynum, who was expected to be PC’s key his guy this season, missed out on the St. Johns win with an abdominal injury, and his status for the weekend is undetermined. It would be difficult to win on the road without him. |
| 14 |
|
| Records: 14-2 | Last week: NRThe Longhorns were my last team from Hey Nineteen a week ago. After a 10-point road win over Oklahoma State and an 18-point home his comeback over TCU, the Longhorns were easily back in the party. It’s been a tough few days for Horned Frogs fans. His loss to TCU in Austin on Wednesday was his 46th time the program has lost in a trip against a top 10 team. I never won in that scenario. |
| 15 |
|
| Records: 14-4 | Last week: 9Shaka Smart made an important change to Marquette’s offense. Recently, CJ Moore of The Athletic did an in-depth look at how that’s done. After MU edged out his UConn 82-76 on Wednesday night, the Golden Eagles placed him third in points per possession in the nation, in his 14 years as head coach of Smart. I got the best grades. |
| 16 |
|
| Records: 14-2 | Last week: 15The Hurricanes dispatched Boston College without a hitch Wednesday night, making 12 of 18 3-point attempts and the first time since Feb. 27, 2016, that the U’s made at least 66% of the arc. I think Virginia (the first team in this week’s power rankings) will be #1 in the ACC and Miami will be #2. |
| 17 |
|
| Records: 15-3 | Last Week: 10It’s hard for most teams to keep a parking ticket for Hey Nineteen after losing 4-3, but A) finishing in the top 3 before losing 4-3 and B) 3 There is a way to undo all your 1-on-1 losses. The best in the conference he road against three teams. That’s exactly what happened to him UConn, mixed home win over Clayton. The Huskies schedule is lighter for the rest of January. Next he expects a maximum of one loss in six games. |
| 18 |
|
| Records: 13-3 | Last week: NRThe strongest three-game losing streak among teams with only three losses is SDSU. Arizona, Arkansas, and St. Mary’s were all Top 20 teams, with the Aztecs going up against that trio in a neutral environment. It’s been over a month since this group lost, but two-loss New Mexico is coming to town on Saturday. The winner of that match will probably get the right to return to this place next week. |
| 19 |
|
| Record: 15-1 | Last Week: NROne of the premier mid-majors, the Owls continued their winning streak by beating the FIU 77-73 in overtime Wednesday night in Miami. His 14 straight wins at the FAU are his second in the sport after his 16 wins at Charleston. Additionally, this real-life team has ranked him top 40 in KenPom, top 30 in Torvik, and top 15 in NET. This is shaping up to be what a season in college hoops. FAU is in my power rankings! |
