John Wooden Award 2014 power rankings: Week 17

Mar 1, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Creighton Bluejays forward Doug McDermott (3) during the first half against the Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center. Xavier defeated Creighton 75-69. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports /

The John Wooden Award is given annually to the most outstanding men’s college basketball player with the winner announced after the NCAA Championship Game in early April, but much like the conference races, there is little suspense to who will capture the award this year as Doug McDermott is a virtual cinch to take the honors.

McDermott’s Creighton Bluejays had only one game this week and McDermott turned in another patented McDermott performance with 27 points and seven rebounds, albeit in a losing performance for the No. 9 Bluejays.

The only real suspense who will be the runner-up behind McDermott with Duke Blue Devils freshman phenom Jabari Parker in the driver’s seat and the biggest challenger to McDermott, provided he has a dominant ACC Conference Tournament and takes Duke deep into the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s the rest of the top 10 and I encourage you to voice your opinion in the comments section with who you think should be in the running for the award.

McDermott, Creighton
Parker, Duke
Shabazz Napier, Connecticut Huskies
Russ Smith, Louisville Cardinals
Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati Bearcats
Nick Johnson, Arizona Wildcats
Julius Randle, Kentucky Wildcats
DeAndre Kane, Iowa State Cyclones
Cleanthony Early, Wichita State Sh9ockers
T.J. Warren, North Carolina State Wolfpack

Just missed the cut: Cameron Bairstow (New Mexico), Tyler Ennis (Syracuse), Nik Stauskas (Michigan), Andrew Wiggins (Kansas) and Lamar Patterson (Pittsburgh).