ESPN college basketball power rankings: Week 13

With the college basketball season ready to head into the month of February, the race for the national championship is getting that much tighter. We’re starting to see not only specific players, but teams begin to separate themselves from the pack.

Yes, the season is quickly coming toward the ultimate ending of March Madness, and the ESPN team of college basketball experts have tallied their votes and released their complete power rankings for Week 13.

1	Arizona 20-0	— Last Week: 1	249	Arizona kicked it into another gear to beat a Utah team that would not go away on Sunday. The key to the win? Nick Johnson’s 11 second-half points.
2	Syracuse 19-0	— Last Week: 2	241	Like Arizona, Syracuse also always seems to find a way to finish games late. The Orange showed it against Miami when they made eight straight free throws in the final minute.
3	Florida 17-2	2 Last Week: 5	221	The Gators were not tested by Tennessee as they won big on Saturday. Florida is finally healthy and could get better if Chris Walker is declared eligible.
4	Wichita State 21-0	— Last Week: 4	217	The Shockers continue to roll on through the Missouri Valley Conference as the prospect of an undefeated regular season is starting to look increasingly more likely.
5	Kansas 15-4	1 Last Week: 6	203	Andrew Wiggins finally answered his critics when he put up 27 points in a rout of TCU. Kansas has a tough week ahead as it hosts Iowa State and travels to Texas.
6	San Diego State 18-1	1 Last Week: 7	201	The Aztecs got their toughest conference road trip out of the way and escaped with an overtime win at Utah State. Xavier Thames had 10 of his 31 in the extra period.
7	Michigan State 18-2	4 Last Week: 3	184	The Spartans battled but fell to Michigan without injured big men Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson. Tom Izzo’s team hasn’t exactly been at full strength yet this year.
8	Michigan 15-4	11 Last Week: 19	169	Knocking off three top-10 teams in the course of eight days is impressive. Beating two — Wisconsin and Michigan State — on the road earned our voters’ respect.
9	Villanova 18-2	2 Last Week: 11	152	Creighton ran over the Wildcats, but they didn’t allow it to get them down. They’ve since beat Marquette and Georgetown on the road.
10	Kentucky 15-4	3 Last Week: 13	136	The Wildcats had a confidence-building week when they beat Texas A&M and Georgia by a combined 42 points. They also rank 19th in field goal percentage defense.
11	Duke 17-4	9 Last Week: 20	130	The Blue Devils have improved in so many ways. They’re defending better, rebounding better and, against Pitt, Andre Dawkins emerged as another scoring option.
11	Iowa 16-4	3 Last Week: 8	130	The most remarkable part of Iowa’s season is the fact that coach Fran McCaffery keeps everyone happy. The Hawkeyes have 11 players averaging 10 or more minutes.
13	Cincinnati 19-2	1 Last Week: 12	129	The Bearcats were nearly beaten at Temple on Sunday, but got by thanks to Sean Kilpatrick’s season high of 29 points, which included some clutch free throws.
14	Creighton 17-3	1 Last Week: 15	122	There’s much more to Creighton than Doug McDermott. The Bluejays take better care of the ball than any other team with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.85.
15	Louisville 17-3	1 Last Week: 14	116	Since losing to Memphis, the Cardinals have won four straight, one of which was a 39-point win over South Florida. Their matchup with Cincinnati should be telling.
16	Wisconsin 17-3	7 Last Week: 9	105	The Badgers quit their losing ways by securing a win at Purdue thanks to 31 combined points from Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker.
17	Oklahoma State 16-4	7 Last Week: 10	88	The Cowboys beat West Virginia, but you wouldn’t know it by Marcus Smart’s chair kicking. They weren’t so lucky against Oklahoma, despite 22 points from Smart.
18	Saint Louis 18-2	1 Last Week: 17	76	The Billikens are undefeated in A-10 play and haven’t lost since they fell to Wichita State on Dec. 1. They’re stingy on defense, allowing just 58 points per game.
18	Iowa State 15-3	3 Last Week: 21	76	The Cyclones are just .500 in Big 12 play and have a murderous stretch ahead, beginning with Kansas on Wednesday. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State follow.
20	Oklahoma 17-4	3 Last Week: 23	74	Cameron Clark and Buddy Hield have scored for the Sooners, but Ryan Spangler is starting to step up. He had 15 points and 17 rebounds in the win over Oklahoma State.
21	Memphis 15-4	2 Last Week: 23	48	The Tigers faced three American powers (Cincinnati, Louisville and UConn) in a two-week span and emerged 1-2. They won’t see any of those teams again until February 15.
22	Pittsburgh 18-3	4 Last Week: 18	46	Duke held Lamar Patterson to 4-for-14 shooting. Talib Zanna was the next leading scorer (11 points) but did most of his damage at the foul line.
23	Massachusetts 17-2	7 Last Week: 16	44	Massachusetts didn’t reach the 60s in its loss to Richmond. The Minutemen put up 90 points — 18 of which belonged to Chaz Williams — in a win over Fordham.
24	Texas 16-4	2 Last Week: NR	34	Texas was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12’s preseason poll, but don’t tell the Longhorns. They’ve won three straight against ranked teams.
25	Virginia 15-5	1 Last Week: NR	20	Joe Harris’ meeting with coach Tony Bennett after the Cavs blowout loss to Tennessee worked. They’ve won six of their last seven and continue to play stifling defense.