College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 25 for Week 7
Cincinnati is a tough team to judge. The Bearcats had two straight losses to Xavier on the road and then against then-No. 5 Florida last week, but bounced back with wins over Mississippi State and UCLA in Los Angeles. The Bearcats might just give Wichita State a run for its money in the American Athletic Conference this season, but they will need much more consistency.
Meet the highest three-loss team in this week’s rankings as Arizona lost three games during a Thanksgiving week tournament and has since bounced back with five consecutive victories. The Wildcats have enough talent to make a Final Four this season, but can it stay poised enough to avoid the upset bug? It’s tough to tell, but they did take down New Mexico by a healthy margin in Week 6.
Baylor didn’t exactly play anyone of note in Week 6 and the Bears added to their win total with victories over Texas Southern and Savannah State. They Bears will get rewarded with a slight bump in the rankings this week, but don’t expect the voters to move them any higher than No. 18 despite the losses to teams immediately in front of them. Cupcake wins are not impressive.
There might not be a more impressive team in college basketball right now than the Oklahoma Sooners. They have won a couple straight impressive games against USC and then in Week 6 against Wichita State on the road. Freshman Trae Young is putting himself and the Sooners basketball program on the map. He’s averaging nearly 29 points per game and really putting the team on his back. Expect a huge jump into the rankings this week.
Another team that can off a couple of losses in a row not too long ago, Purdue has been red-hot in the past few weeks. The Boilermakers have wins over Arizona, Louisville, Maryland, Northwestern and then last week they smoked Butler by 15 points. I’ve said it before and I truly believe this team will be the biggest test to Michigan State in the Big Ten.