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College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 25 for Week 6

By Connor Muldowney

PISCATAWAY, NJ - NOVEMBER 28: Florida State Seminoles forward Mfiondu Kabengele (25) during the first half of the BIG 10 ACC Challenge College Basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Florida State Seminoles on November 28, 2017, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - NOVEMBER 28: Florida State Seminoles forward Mfiondu Kabengele (25) during the first half of the BIG 10 ACC Challenge College Basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Florida State Seminoles on November 28, 2017, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – DECEMBER 9: Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a made basket during the game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Breslin Center on December 9, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – DECEMBER 9: Jaren Jackson Jr. #2 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates a made basket during the game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Breslin Center on December 9, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
5
Kentucky Wildcats
8-1 Last Week: 8

How good is Kentucky really? The Wildcats are extremely young and haven’t exactly proven anything to the AP voters. They beat Monmouth by 17 in Week 5, but John Capipari’s lone loss was against the only team with a pulse on their schedule to this point: Kansas. With the SEC looking more wide open by the day, the Wildcats must improve before conference play begins as it could be a free-for-all.

4
Duke Blue Devils
11-1 Last Week: 1

Down goes Duke. It’s honestly tough to even fathom the Blue Devils losing a game against a team like Boston College, but this early in the season on the road, anything can happen. Not even a loaded lineup with players like Grayson Allen, Marvin Bagley, Trevon Duval, Gary Trent Jr. and Wendell Carter could stop the Eagles’ upset-hungry team. Duke might still be the best team in the land, on paper, so don’t expect it to drop too far.

3
Wichita State Shockers
8-1 Last Week: 6

Wichita State was a top-10 team that didn’t fall via upset in Week 5, and for some reason that’s noteworthy as half the teams in that top-tier did lose. Gregg Marshall has a talented team at his disposal and even though the Shockers are in a new league, the American Athletic Conference, there’s a good chance they can run the table in year one of conference action. For now, they will have to settle for being the No. 3 team in the land.

2
Villanova Wildcats
10-0 Last Week: 4

Villanova had a great week as the Wildcats went on the road to take down Gonzaga by double-digits and then held off La Salle to secure two nice wins. That puts Jay Wright’s Wildcats at 10-0 on the season and it looks like a national title isn’t out of the question although Villanova might be more of a dark-horse contender. The Wildcats are strong in just about every area, but could use some help on the glass. This is a scary team out of the Big East.

1
Michigan State Spartans
9-1 Last Week: 3

We have a new No. 1, folks. Tom Izzo has assembled potentially his most talented team since taking over in East Lansing 20-plus years ago. The Spartans are 9-1 on the season and survived a couple of upset bids from Rutgers and Southern Utah in Week 5, but it takes a strong team to fight off opponents’ best shots and still win by double figures. Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. are playing like lottery picks and Cassius Winston, Nick Ward and Josh Langford are nice complementary pieces.