Fansided

College Basketball Power Rankings: Week 15

By Nathaniel Reeves

Feb 11, 2017; Moraga, CA, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Silas Melson (0) drives the ball against St. Mary's Gaels guard Tanner Krebs (00) during the second half of the game at McKeon Pavilion. The Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated the St. Mary's Gaels with a score of 74-64. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2017; Moraga, CA, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Silas Melson (0) drives the ball against St. Mary's Gaels guard Tanner Krebs (00) during the second half of the game at McKeon Pavilion. The Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated the St. Mary's Gaels with a score of 74-64. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 25
Next

How do the top 25 teams in the land stack up following another thrilling edition of Rivalry Week?

With under a month remaining until Selection Sunday, college basketball teams around the nation are getting a clearer idea of where they might be seeded in the NCAA Tournament.

For the first time ever, the NCAA Selection Committee gave a special mid-season preview of the top four seeds in each region. As of Saturday, Villanova, Kansas, Baylor and Gonzaga were on the one line, while highly-ranked teams like Wisconsin and Cincinnati were left out.

The big news of the week came at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as Duke played its best game of the year in a win over North Carolina on Thursday night to make a big jump in the power rankings. Elsewhere, SMU took down Cincinnati in impressive fashion on Sunday, while UCLA erased a 19-point deficit to top Oregon.

Gonzaga has control of the top spot after beating Saint Mary’s on the road Saturday night, but here’s how the rest of the top 25 shakes out heading into Week 15.

25

Maryland Terrapins

Last week: 20-3, 8-2 Big Ten
Last rank: 21

Maryland’s strong run of road victories finally ended this week, putting the Terrapins a step behind the top two teams in the Big Ten race.

The Terrapins dropped their second straight game with a 70-64 loss at Penn State on Tuesday, dropping them to 5-1 on the road since the start of conference play. Maryland was able to recover from the two losses quickly with a home win against Ohio State over the weekend and is just one game behind Wisconsin in the Big Ten title race.

Penn State has been competitive this season and Maryland is still an impressive 21-4 on the year, so one loss doesn’t totally drop them out of the top 25. Still, the Terrapins’ best wins of the year are over teams like Oklahoma State and Michigan, and it’s hard to see them having a much higher ceiling than a fringe top 20 team.

Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency ratings are less kind to the Terrapins, ranking them as the No. 35 team in the country. Even so, the Terrapins are much better than anyone could have predicted, with freshmen Justin Jackson and Kevin Huerter quickly developing into solid players.

Maryland now faces its most difficult week of the season, with trips to Northwestern and Wisconsin.