This week brings more change in these weekly power rankings. Some upsets on tuesday, wedneday, and saturday shakes things up a bit. There are also familiar teams that continue to put their mark on this season and win convincingly. These rankings do not include games being played on tuesday, Feburary 18.
1: Auburn (This week: 2-0 @Vanderbilt, @Alabama, Overall: 23-2)
The top team in the nation was able to bounce back strongly after dropping a home game to Florida. That loss did not hurt Auburn nor did it mess with their heads. Whatever Bruce Pearl is doing, its working. They won handily @Vanderbilt 80-68, proving they had put their loss to Florida behind them. They followed that up with a 9 point win @alabama. Johni Broome is proving he is in the disscussion for the Wooden Award with the likes of Duke’s Cooper Flagg, and the nations leading scorer, Eric Dixon. The tigers have a pair of light games (by SEC’s standards) as they host Arkansas, and Georgia next on their scedule.
2: Houston (This week: 1-0 @Arizona, Overall: 21-4)
Houston wins games with their defense. They allow 57 points to their opponents on average which leads the nation and they are 6th in the nation in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot 38% from the field. They got one of their biggest wins along with the win @Kansas, @Arizona. In the Arizona game they limited Arizona’s 3 point shooting to just 5/23 and they won the points in the paint battle by 10. They travel to Tempe to face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Feburary 18.
3: Florida (This week: 2-0 @Mississippi State, vs South Carolina, Overall: 22-3)
Florida contines to make appearances in these power rankings week after week and for good reason. They are one of the most consistent teams in the nation and have not lost consecutive games all season. All 3 of the gators losses have come from Q1 opponents. Besides maybe 1 or 2 outliers, The gators beat who they are suppost to beat and by sizable margins. I am intrigued to see if this team can continue this solid play into march madness. If there was a league that gets you ready for the craziness in the month of march, its the SEC.
4: Duke (This week: 3-0 vs California, vs Stanford, @Virginia, Overall: 23-3)
Duke has played some lesser opponents this week, but thats the reality of the ACC. Duke beat these 3 teams by an average of 25 points. Flagg continues to lead this team to a high projected seeding scoring 27 vs Cal on 9/9 from the charity stripe, 19 against Stanford, and 17 against Virginia. It is pretty unheard of for a 18 year old fresmen to be this consistent on this consistent of a team in Duke. Zion Williamson comes to mind although him and flagg have their differnces. Duke plays Illinois next in an out of conference clash in Madison Square Garden. That should be a fun one.
5: Alabama (This week: 1-1 W @Texas, L vs Auburn, Overall: 21-4)
Alabama falls from the top spot in last rankings. The loss to Auburn is the best loss you can take. The Crimson Tide remain one of the nations top teams, however there were teams who had better weeks than Alabama. Skilled guard Mark Sears continues to lead them in scoring at 18 a game while Grant Nelson leads them in rebouding at 8 a game. Alabamas remaining 6 games are extremely tough. They face Tennessee, Florida, and Auburn in 3 consecutive games!
6: Michigan (This week: 2-0 vs Purdue, @ Ohio State, Overall: 20-5)
Michigan is arguably the hottest team in the country and rank as the highest Big 10 team this week. They were able to execute in back to back games against Quad 1 opponents, winning by 2 and 3 each game. Next up for the wolverines is a battle vs in-state rival Michigan state who was able to bounce back from a loss to Indiana with a win @ a ranked Illinois team. Hopefully Dusty May can make Michigan fans happy and return to the final 4 this year, although a hard task, not out of the relm of possibility for this squad.
7: Wisconsin (This week: 1-0 @Purdue, Overall: 20-5)
Although Wisconsin only played 1 game this week against Purdue, it was an impressive outing winning by double figures. John Tonje erupted for 32 points on 4 threes. The badgers lead for the majority of the second half in an arena that is hard to win at. If Wisconsin continues to play this way they will play themselves into at least a 4 seed if not the 3 or 2 line.
8: Iowa State (This week: 2-0 @UCF, vs Cincinnati, Overall: 20-5)
Iowa State has flown under the radar in recent weeks after a 3 game losing streak, and maybe they have flown under the radar all year. After their 3 game skid they have bounced back recently and find themselves back in the top 10. An impressive road win @UCF by 12 points and a win at home against Cincinnati by 11 brings them to 4th in the big 12 race. This Iowa State team has the potential to do damage in March Madness.
9: Texas A&M (This week: 2-0 vs Georgia, vs Arkansas, Overall: 20-5)
Talented guard Wade Taylor has lead this team to their status as of now. A real threat and SEC contender. They are an impressive 7-5 in Quad 1 games. Their best wins are against Texas Tech and Purdue. More recently they took care of Arkansas and Georgia. The aggies only trail Auburn, Alabama, and Florida, 3 1 seeds for most of us in the SEC regular season. Up next they get tested @Mississippi State and vs Tennessee.
10: Texas Tech (This week: 2-0 vs Arizona State, @Oklahoma State, Overall: 20-5)
Texas Tech is coming of 2 mediocre wins. Jt Toppin averages 17 a game and Chance Mcmillian averages 15 for a team that is 8th nationally in scoring margin. They took care of the sun devils and Okla St. and now face TCU on the road and West Virginia at home.
Honorable Mentions:
Maryland, Clemson, Louisville, Tennessee, Missouri
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