College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 25 for Week 3
I believe Villanova stays at No. 5 behind Michigan State this week because of who the Spartans lost to and how close the game was. The Wildcats took care of business against a couple of inferior opponents in Week 2 such as Nicholls State and Lafayette. They scored over 100 points in each of the wins and looked dominating, but those aren’t exactly quality wins.
Michigan State lost, so that means the Spartans will drop in the polls, but don’t expect it to be a major fall. Although they were unable to take down the No. 1 team in the country, the matchup with Duke followed by the game between Kansas and Kentucky proved to everyone that Michigan State and the Blue Devils are on a different tear than the rest of the nation. Michigan State rebounded to beat Stony Brook on Sunday despite losing Miles Bridges to a sprained ankle. As long as he remains healthy, this team will be tough to stop.
Through three games, one thing has been obvious regarding Kansas: the starting five is strong but the bench is thin. In fact, this might be one of Bill Self’s thinnest rosters in a while as only six players average more than 12 minutes per game on the year. On top of that, only nine players have seen the court. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk leads the team with 19.7 points per game and is shooting abut 47 percent from deep. He helped lead the Jayhawks past the youthful Kentucky Wildcats in the Champions Classic.
After two games on opening weekend, Arizona played just one in Week 2 against CSU Bakersfield. As you can imagine, the Wildcats took care of business in a big way, winning 91-59. They will move up to No. 2 this week thanks to a loss by Michigan State to Duke. The Wildcats had earned the second-most first-place votes to begin the season and that trend will continue in the Week 3 rankings. Allonzo Trier is averaging an unfathomable 30 points per game while freshman sensation Deandre Ayton is putting up 18.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per contest.
There may not be a team in college basketball that could beat Duke right now. The Blue Devils are playing some impressive basketball early on, jumping out to a 4-0 record with a win over No. 2 Michigan State in the Champions Classic. The game had the feel of a heavyweight boxing match but the Blue Devils were able to make some shots late to put the Spartans away. Grayson Allen is off to a strong start to his senior season and the player of the year award may be calling his name.