College Basketball Week 10: 5 biggest takeaways

Here’s your weekly dive into what we took away from the last seven days of college hoops.

Week 10 of the college basketball season is in the books and it came with plenty of worthy talking points. Baylor’s run at the top of the polls will be short lived, Theo Pinson returned with an emphatic slam for North Carolina and Texas continued its downward spiral by suspending its leading scorer.

Here’s a look at what else we learned from the week that was.

1. Gonzaga has a real chance to run the table before March

After Baylor’s mid-week loss to West Virginia, there remains only one undefeated team in college basketball. The Gonzaga Bulldogs pushed their season record to 17-0 with a pair of wins last week, including a 23-point drubbing of conference rival Saint Mary’s in Spokane. Now, it looks like the Gaels’ return game at the McKeon Pavilion may be the only thing standing between Gonzaga and a 29-0 record entering postseason play.

Per KenPom, the Bulldogs are currently projected as a favorite in that matchup with a narrow 53 percent chance of victory, but if they follow through, there won’t be many other challenges on their plate. Gonzaga is projected as an 86 percent favorite or better in every other non-conference game.

If the Bulldogs can enter postseason play undefeated, they would reach Selection Sunday with no more than one loss, putting them in prime position for a deserved no. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Beyond just their win-loss resume, which already includes victories over Arizona, Florida, Iowa State and Saint Mary’s, they are well-rated by advanced numbers as well. Gonzaga is currently positioned as a top five team in the nation at KenPom, KPI Sports and in the Sagarin Ratings.

With a loaded roster oriented around a litany of transfers and a senior big man, the Bulldogs are a storyline you should be following for the rest of the season.