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College Basketball Week 4 Power Rankings

By Matt Kobold

GAINESVILLE, FL - NOVEMBER 13: KeVaughn Allen
GAINESVILLE, FL - NOVEMBER 13: KeVaughn Allen /
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GAINESVILLE, FL – NOVEMBER 13: KeVaughn Allen College Basketball /

College Basketball Week 4 Power Rankings

I think I can speak for everyone that Feast Week was on point this year as the College Basketball seasons kicks into full gear! The Maui Tournament saw Notre Dame come from behind and edge Wichita State by one point in the final. A few surprises came in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. When it comes to the College Basketball Power Rankings, #2 Arizona lost all three games while Villanova handled Northern Iowa in the championship. The PK80 also saw some great finishes.

The two 8-team tourneys produced two top-10 matchups in the finals. The first saw Michigan State smack North Carolina around to the point where they shot a program worst 25% from the field. The second game was much more competitive. Florida led the whole game with their high-powered offense. Duke eventually overwhelmed them with their size in the paint and narrowly edged the Gators by 3.

The 20th edition of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge kicks off this week with 14 games all being televised on either ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU. A couple big games include Miami traveling to Minnesota (11/29), Duke going to Bloomington (11/29) for their first true road test, and the fighting Bonzie Colsons taking the trip to East Lansing to see Tom Izzo’s Spartans (11/30).

Honorable Mention

USC Trojans

Minnesota Gophers

Xavier Musketeers

TUCSON, AZ – NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats gestures during the second half of the college basketball game against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners at McKale Center on November 16, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. The Wildcats beat the Roadrunners 91-59. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ – NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats gestures during the second half of the college basketball game against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners at McKale Center on November 16, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. The Wildcats beat the Roadrunners 91-59. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

College Basketball – Power Rankings

  1. Arizona Wildcats
  • I know, I know. Arizona was just embarrassed in the Bahamas after losing to NC State, SMU, and Purdue. They lost to the Boilers by 25! Heading into the tournament, they looked like they were in a collision course to meet Villanova in the final. This was the return of DeAndre Ayton to his homeland after all. The big man has been impressive this season averaging 20 and 12 but it wasn’t enough in this tourney. The Wildcats still have at least two NBA players in Ayton and Alonzo Trier (24.5 PPG) but they must continue get more help from Dusan Ristic and Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
  1. Louisville Cardinals
  • Amid all the controversy, Louisville should be contenders in the ACC again. David Padgett’s interim campaign is boosted by the return of starters Deng Adel and Quentin Snider along with big men Anas Mahmoud and Ray Spalding. They have one of the easier non-conference schedules of any of these ranked teams, so Padgett will have enough time to grow with his team.
  1. Baylor Bears
  • The Bears will be in the mix to contend with Kansas for the Big 12 crown once again. Scott Drew’s top 5 guys are upperclassmen with 4 being seniors. They are led by Manu Lecomte’s 19 points and Jo Lual-Acuil’s 14 and 11 a game. This team is long and active defensively (top 20 defense) and knows how to bang boards (9th nationally) out of their staple 2-3 defense.
  1. Miami Hurricanes
  • Jim Larranaga has a deep, athletic team this year with nine guys each averaging 7 points or more. The Hurricanes have also been stingy on the other side of the ball. They’ve only played cupcakes but they’re allowing 54 points a game (3rd nationally). There first test will come this Wednesday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge when they travel to take on the Gophers in Minnesota.
CHAPEL HILL, NC – NOVEMBER 29: Theo Pinson
CHAPEL HILL, NC – NOVEMBER 29: Theo Pinson /

College Basketball – Power Rankings

12. Cincinnati Bearcats

  • Our third team of cats to make the rankings, these Bearcats are no slouch. This very well could be Mick Cronin’s best team since he arrived in Cincinnati in 2006. Ten guys average double-digit minutes en route to helping Cincinnati be the #1 rebounding team by a significant margin. They also play sticky defense allowing opponents to score 58.3 points per game (11th nationally). They haven’t played anybody, so these statistics are inflated a bit. We’ll see where they rank after traveling to take on Xavier Saturday.
  1. Gonzaga Bulldogs
  • Mark Few is the king of the West Coast Conference and this year should be no different. The Zags lost three starters and their top 10 pick 6th man (Zach Collins) from last year’s team that lost a heart breaker in the national Championship game. Returning from that team are veterans Jonathan Williams, Josh Perkins, and Silas Melson. It’ll be interesting to see how this team fares while hosting a couple Big East foes in Creighton and Villanova over the next week and change.
  1. Kentucky Wildcats
  • No surprise these Cats are young again. John Calipari’s top six guys are freshmen and the next three are sophomores. Easy to say there are going to be some growing pains this year. Early word is this crop of heralded freshmen isn’t the top-notch, one-and-done freshmen Lexington is used to. They’ve started this season only playing cupcakes, with the exception to Kansas, while their next big game isn’t until the end of December when they play their annual Louisville rivalry game held in Louisville this year. Looks like we won’t know much about this team until SEC play.
  1. North Carolina Tar Heels
  • The defending champs just got smacked by the Spartans over the weekend. The Tar Heels shot a program worst 25% from the field. That will not fly for Hall of Famer Roy Williams. Early candidate for most improved player would be Luke Maye though. As a sophomore, Maye played behind seniors Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks and 1st round pick Tony Bradley. He’s gone from 6 points and 4 rebounds a game to 19 and 10 early this season.
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 22: Bonzie Colson
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 22: Bonzie Colson /

College Basketball – Power Rankings

  1. Wichita St. Shockers
  • The Shockers won’t be shocking anybody this season. Feast week saw them lose a tough one to the Irish in the Maui Final where they led and controlled the whole game. Gregg Marshall is leaning on Landry Shamet and Shaq Morris in the early part of the non-conference season. Both are averaging over 15 a game. The Shockers will see a huge boost once leading returning scorer and rebounder Markis McDuffie returns from a broken foot. They’ll miss his services this Saturday when they travel to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears.
  1. Texas A&M Aggies
  • Coming off a disappointing season, the Aggies may be sneaking up on people. They drubbed West Virginia back on opening night by 23 and they just went into USC and won by 16 over the weekend. Billy Kennedy has a veteran squad led by DJ Hogg averaging a line of 17-7-4 while shooting 53% from deep on 6.7 attempts. The bigs will be banging in early December when Arizona and their massive front line comes to College Station.
  1. Villanova Wildcats
  • The Wildcats are also not very deep. But Jay Wright looks like he has a couple more NBA guards to add to his resume with Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges both averaging over 18 a game. Feast Week saw the Wildcats capture the Battle for Atlantis title with three wins in three days. The field wasn’t exactly a gauntlet though, which is why I have Villanova a little lower. Their next big test will be in early December against an underrated Gonzaga squad.
  1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  • Notre Dame has passed the eye test thus far this season. It shouldn’t come to a surprise that the Irish won three games in three days in Maui. The championship game was a come from behind win against a tough Wichita St. team. Notre Dame isn’t deep, but they do boast 3 seniors in the starting lineup, a Mike Brey staple. Preseason Player of the Year candidate Bonzie Colson has paced the Irish with averaging a double-double while shooting 59%.
PORTLAND, OR – NOVEMBER 24: Marvin Bagley III
PORTLAND, OR – NOVEMBER 24: Marvin Bagley III /

College Basketball – Power Rankings

  1. Florida Gators
  • How about the job Mike White is doing at Florida? It looks like the Gators will be competitive once again coming off a fresh trip to the Elite Eight when there were low expectations in Gainesville. This team lost a lot from the aforementioned group, but this team has been energized from the play of transfers Jalen Hudson and Egor Koulechov. These guys are the leading scorers thus far combining to average 39 a game. They’re not afraid to get shots up, just like the rest of the team. A ‘90s Phoenix Suns team pace has led the Gators to 99.5 points (2nd nationally). Florida controlled the whole game against Duke and still led with just a few minutes to play. That combined with the 2OT win over Gonzaga, warrants Florida this spot.
  1. Kansas Jayhawks

Bill Self has ridden his 4-guard lineup to an undefeated start. All have been cupcake wins besides a 4-point squeaker over Kentucky. This team is led by senior Devonte’ Graham. He has this offense humming averaging over 9 assists a game (2

nd

nationally). All 5 starters are averaging double figures helping the Jayhawks average 94.2 points per game (7

th

nationally). This team is incredibly small and will get banged around by bigger, more physical teams. One deterrent to this would be the debut of freshman big man Billy Preston. At 6-10 240, Preston would form a dynamic duo with 7-0 280-pound beast Udoka Azubuike. I’d like to see a team matchup with those two while still defending Kansas’ shooters.

More from FanSided

  1. Michigan St. Spartans
  • Tom Izzo’s group is deep again; 10 guys averaging over 10 minutes a game. The whole starting lineup is underclassmen with veterans off the bench. We know about Preseason Player of the Year candidate Miles Bridges. But we need to pay more attention to Josh Langford. He’s hot after a career-high 23 points on an efficient 8-11 shooting led Sparty over North Carolina in the PK80 Victory bracket. Fun Fact on Langford: He’s the only player to win 5 Mr. Basketball high school awards. Somehow, he played for his high school as an eighth grader and even more surprisingly, was Alabama’s Player of the Year that year. A tough test looms Thursday night in East Lansing against an undefeated Irish team poised with veterans.
  1. Duke Blue Devils
  • This Blue Devil squad resembles what Kentucky has done recently very well. Coach K has started 4 freshmen along with senior Grayson Allen en route to an undefeated start. Feast Week saw Duke take the PK80 Motion title with three wins in four days over Portland St, Texas, and a late comeback against Florida. Marvin Bagley looks like an early top pick favorite averaging 22 and 11. Duke is big, fast, and has future pros. It will be tough to knock them from the top spot.

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