The Week 11 college basketball rankings will be released Monday afternoon and here are our Top 25 projections.
It’s hard to believe that we are already entering the 11th week of the season on Monday and there has been some serious movement in the college basketball rankings through the first 10. There have been multiple No. 1 teams already this season and we are going to have a brand new one this week.
Baylor took over for Villanova which was No. 1 for what felt like an eternity but the Bears just fell in their first run as the top team in the country. The Bears knew they were going to get everyone’s best shot, and they did last week.
Who is going to be the country’s top-ranked team this week? It’ll be interesting to see how much stuffing there will be in the Top 25 after another wild week.
Let’s take a look at what college basketball rankings might look like for Week 10.
Why do I believe Saint Mary’s will remain in the Top 25 after being clobbered by Gonzaga? Every team receiving votes, or nearly all of them, lost last week at some point. The one team that could take over this spot is UNC Wilmington who is 17-2 on the year, but it’ll be interesting to see which side voters value more — a team that lost to No. 5 or a team that doesn’t play anyone.
Maryland’s absence from the Top 25 will finally come to an end this week as the Terrapins took down a reeling Indiana squad at home and went on the road to get a tough win over Illinois. Winning in Champaign is not easy, but it wouldn’t have been possible without a veteran point guard presence like Melo Trimble. The Terrapins are 16-2 and somehow just getting into the rankings this week, at least I’m almost 100 percent sure.
Xavier is a tough team to figure out this season. The Musketeers can play with anyone in the country, but they didn’t show that against Villanova or Butler last week, dropping both contests. The Musketeers need to find a rhythm because they are in danger of falling too far behind in the competitive Big East standings. For now, they will likely remain near the back-end of the Top 25.
South Carolina has been out of the rankings for a couple of weeks as well, but they will take advantage of a number of teams falling out to get back in this week. Frank Martin’s team is tough, gritty and aggressive and it reflects his coaching style, leading to wins at Tennessee and against Ole Miss in Week 10. Expect them to make it back up to the No. 22-range.
Unfortunately for the Purdue Boilermakers, they played just one game in Week 10 and lost. Winning on the road in the Big Ten is so difficult and that’s why many believe it’s the deepest conference in college basketball. Traveling to Iowa looked like a win on paper, but the Hawkeyes pulled out the big victory despite having a mediocre season. Purdue still may be the best team in the conference, but it’s going to get some bumps during Big Ten action.