We are into the bulk of conference play and the games have not dissapointed. Saturday involved close games for a lot of the top teams in last weeks power ranking. The SEC had the most competitive games. Im not just looking at results, im ranking based on how dominant teams were. These rankings dont include games being played on tuesday january 14.
1: Duke (This week: 2-0 vs Pitt, vs Notre Dame, Overall: 14-2)
Duke continues to dominate the ACC. A 30 point win vs Pitt and a wire to wire win vs Notre Dame, this team is showing no signs of slowing down. Cooper Flagg dropped 42 points setting the record for a ACC freshman. Duke is rolling with 9 straight wins and only 2 of those games were close. Their 6 point win vs Auburn and thier 11 point win against Louisville who is rolling and winning games in the ACC were their toughest test during their win streak. Looking ahead, the blue devils face Miami and Boston College. Another important stat vs Pitt was that their defense held them to 47 when they average 84 a game. I am confident that Duke will continue to win games and be a top national title favorite througout January, February, and into march. If they were in the SEC, Big 10, or Big 12 I would be less confident. The road games versus teams in the 3 conferenced I mentioned could startle Duke. They would probably have more losses but they would be quality losses. The oppourtunity to prove/validate they are the number 1 team in the nation would be there. In my opinion they are number 1 today.
2: Auburn (This week: 2-0 @Texas, @South Carolina, Overall: 15-1)
Auburn has won narrowly in both their contests this week. This proves how hard it is to win on the road. Auburn has proved they can close out close games and handle adversity. I give the edge to duke because they won easily. Against South Carolina, Johni Broome, front runner for national player of the year, rolled his ankle in the middle of the 2nd half but auburn found a way. Against texas, they got balanced scoring from Broome, Chad-Baker Mazara, and Miles Kelly with 20, 16, and 18 respectively Auburn plays Mississippi at home and Georgia on the road next. Stay updated on Broome. If he is to miss extended time, Auburn will really be tested.
3: Alabama (This week: 2-0 @South Carolina, @Texas A&M, Overall: 14-2)
Consider Alabama and Iowa State 3a and 3b. They have similar Quad 1 records, a similar scoring margin in quad 1 wins, they have played opponents with a similar NET and a similar scoring margin. Iowa State beat 74 Utah by 23 and Alabama beat 90 south Carolina by 20. Iowa State beat 18 Texas tech 85-84 and Alabama beat 17 Texas A&M by 94-88 I give the edge to Alabama because they led A&M wire to wire, and their offensive potential and fire power on that end. The players that are returners from last years final 4 run include mark Sears who averages 19 PPG, Grant Nelson who averages 12 points and 9 rebounds, and Latrell Wrightsell Jr who averages 12 points. Sears has an innate ability to get down hill on his drives and using his body to create space for layups. Up next for Alabama is Ole Miss at home, then at Kentucky which looks like it could be one of the top games this upcoming week.
4: Iowa State (This week: 2-0 vs Utah, @Texas Tech, Overall: 14-1
Iowa State has been in the top 10 in the NET since December 8th and its only lost was to to Auburn 83-81. They are calm on offense and take high quality shots. Guard Curtis Jones lead them off the bench with 23 against Utah. He scored in a variety of ways including drives, three point shooting (3-7), mid-range jumpers, and floaters. In the nail bitting win over Texas Tech in overtime, they were lead by Curtis Jones again off the bench with 26. add to this Keshon Gilbert’s consistency all year long have been a big reason to a 1 loss record. Iowa State who always seems somewhat underatted will have the opportunity to make more noise nationally when they face Kansas, followed by West Virginia, 2 top 35 teams in the net. You could argue for Iowa States case at 2 or even 1 in these power rankings. That could certainly happen sooner rather than later if they take care of these next 2 games.
5: Florida (This week: 2-0 vs Tennessee, @Arkansas, Overall: 15-1)
The Gators had arguably one of the best wins all year with a 30 point blowout vs Tennessee and this dropped Tennessee several spots in this weeks rankings. Add to that a win at Arkansas where they lead the entire 2nd half won by 8, and florida has the biggest point differencial in 2 games this week out of any of the teams in the top 5 with Duke being a close 2nd. Florida out rebounded Tennessee 56 to 37 and outscored them in the paint 40 to 14. Tennessee never had a chance in this one. Arkansas was more of a contest but balanced scoring from Alex Condon, Alijah Martin, Will Richard, and Walter Clayton Jr, led them to victory. Florida has some great athletes with grown man strength. As a group this team is competing and having sucess with the best teams in the best conference in america. Florida takes on Texas and Missouri at home.
6: Tennessee (This week: 1-1 @Florida, @Texas, Overall: 15-1)
Tennessee’s drop in ranking was inevitable after losing by 30 at Florida. Although this loss hurts their resume, it is still a Q1 loss. I think 6 is an appropriate spot to rank them. Chaz lanier is given the green light from coach Barnes to shoot the ball despite his poor shooting in these 2 games so I think he will still play agressivlet and hunt his shot coming off of curls. I am confident that this loss is more of an outlier than it is a predictive of whats to come in conference play. Lets not lose sight of how impressive it is for a team in the best league in the county to bounce back from a 30 point loss and win on the road against Texas. This shows Tennessee’s resilence and mental toughness as a team. Up next they play Georgia at home and Vanderbilt on the road.
7: Oregon (This week: 2-0 @Ohio State, @Penn State, Overall: 15-2)
With these last few teams in the rankings, it becomes hard to differenciate. I have Oregon at 7 Who had a couple of tight wins, nontheless both were quad 1 victories. With their entry into the competitve Big 10 they are leading the conference with 7 Quad 1 Victories. Yes the games have been close, but this could make them more ready for situations and senerios in games that are hard to deal with. Things like big runs from other teams and going on the road where at some places, fans are relelnless. Since their blowout loss to an Illinois team which by the way is a top 10 team in the nation when Kasparas Jakucionis plays, they have won three straight quad 1 wins. Ohio State and Penn State are known for their football, however they have been very respectable, but not amazing in basketball. Still These are 2 tough road games that Oregon took advantage of. They play the challenging and well coached Purdue team, followed by Washington. Both games are in Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon.
8: Kansas (This week: 2-0 vs Arizona State, @Cincinnati, Overall: 12-3)
Kansas is in the top 10 for the 1st time. The blue blood program has underperformed their pre-season 1 overall rank. Lead by skilled 7 footer Hunter Dickinson, Kansas is off to a respectible 3-1 start in conference play. Defensively, their numbers speak for them selves, limiting all 6 previous opponents to 62 points or lower. They held Cincinatti to 40 points, a team that had been averaging 73. This veteran lead team will be competitve in Big 12 play. Their top 4 scorers are all Seniors. Looking ahead, they travel to Ames and face #6 Iowa State where they can pull off a huge upset, add a Q1 win to their resume, and build their momentim going into a in-state battle against Kansas State on saturday. To pull of the upset Kansas will have to be great defensively and contain Keshon Gilbert.
9: Marquette (This week: 1-0 vs Georgetown, Overall: 14-2)
Marquette took care of business in its lone game this week against an average opponent in Georgetown. Because of this I am keeping Marqutte in the same range, just 1 spot lower than last week. Expect to see the Golden Eagles at the top of the Big East again this year. Kam Jones is a special talent averaging 20 a game. He dropped 32 on 2 seperate occassions and 28 another game. The lefty can hit gliding layups with both hands and can faciliate (6.5 apg). Their only losses are Q1 losses, Iowa State and Dayton. Both were road games. Under Shaka Smart Marquette has been to the NCAA tornement 3 straight seasons after only making it 2 out of the past 8. Marquette has made it self into a winning program. Next on the table for Marquette is at Depaul and at home against Xavier. Both are Q2 oppourtunties. While they wont rack up the Q1 numbers like some SEC programs will, they should not be overlooked.
10: Michigan State (This week: 2-0 vs Washington, @Northwestern, Overall: 14-2)
A new addition to the top 10 are the spartans. Head coach Tom Izzo seems to have this team relevent year after year. This year there biggest wins have been against North Carolina, Ohio State, and Northwestern. They have steadily climed the NET starting as low as 41 and right are at 14. If they continue to avoid bad losses which wont be readily available in the BIG 10, they will be dancing in march once again. Next they play Penn State and Illinois. Looking further they will have a number of tough road games. They have balanced scoring with Jaden Akins leading them with 14 a game and 8 other players distributing in the scoring department.
Honorable Mentions:
Memphis, Kentucky, Illinois