College Basketball Week 14 Power Rankings

College Basketball: Power Rankings

Two weeks have passed and the College Basketball Top 5 remains, albeit in a different order. Duke’s loss at home to Virginia led to the Cavaliers leapfrogging the Blue Devils. This was Virginia’s first win in Cameron Indoor in 24 years. Another ACC squad, North Carolina, was also defeated that Saturday. They got put down at home by NC State in overtime. The Wolfpack were scorching from deep; knocking down 15-30 triples. This defeat helped the Tar Heels drop out of the rankings for the first time this year. These two blue bloods haven’t lost at home on the same day since 1973; the same year my 63-year-old father graduated high school.

Two teams make their long-awaited debuts this week. Cincinnati and Auburn have been climbing up the national rankings over the past few weeks and rightfully so. I just couldn’t justify putting a team in the rankings that has a strength of schedule outside the Top 100. After multiple weeks of taking care of business in conference play, Cincinnati and Auburn find themselves on top of their respective conferences and firmly inserted in the Top 16.

16.) Clemson Tigers 19-4 (8-3) PR: 16

• Clemson stays at 16^th  after going 3-1 over the last two weeks. The one loss was a drubbing at the hands of Virginia where the Tigers only mustered to score 36 points. 36! They shot 32% from the floor and 15% from deep. They rebounded nicely to take down North Carolina at home this past week. This win was actually the deciding factor to drop the Tar Heels out of the rankings. Clemson ripped the nets in this one, connecting on 15-30 triples. Don’t sleep that these guys have a half game lead over Duke for 2^nd place in the ACC.

15.) Oklahoma Sooners 16-6 (6-4) PR: 11

• Boomer Sooner went 2-2 these past two weeks with a resume-building win over Kansas at home highlighting this stretch. Trae Young vowed to be more efficient after he hoisted 39 shots in a loss at Oklahoma State. He shot 7-9 against the Jayhawks without attempting a 3 in the first half. The 9 field goal attempts were his lowest of the season. He’s actually taken less than 16 shots just two other times this season; both coming in the first two games of the year. Big Monday this week sees Press Virginia come to town. The 13-point WVU win in early January saw Trae Young commit 8 turnovers and shoot 3-12 from deep. We’ll see how he’ll handle the pressure in a rematch at home.

14.) West Virginia 17-6 (6-4) PR: 9

• West Virginia drops as far as anyone not named North Carolina. After starting the season 15-1 the Mountaineers have lost 5 of their last 7 games. That puts them at 6-4 in the Big 12. The problem lately has been their shooting percentage. On the year they’re shooting just 42.8% (274^th nationally). This is a problem for the Mountaineers since so much of their offense is generated from forcing turnovers with their full court press. They can’t set up in this press if they’re not first knocking down shots. They’re a very average team if they’re not turning you over. It’ll be interesting to see how many times they turn over Trae Young in Norman on Monday.

13.) Tennessee Volunteers 17-5 (7-3) PR: NR

• Rick Barnes’ 3^rd season in Knoxville is looking to have the most promise in his tenure. These guys don’t jump out on paper in any certain statistic. But they are consistent defensively across the board. You may find it as a surprise to see that they rank 6^th in adjusted defensive efficiency (KenPom). The win over Purdue in the Bahamas is looking better every week. They look to go for a season sweep of Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Tuesday night.

College Basketball: Power Rankings

12.) Auburn Tigers 21-2 (9-1) PR: NR

• Charles Barkley’s Tigers make their first appearance in the rankings after improving to 9-1 in SEC play. This puts them at the top of the standings with a 2 game lead over Tennessee. Bruce Pearl has a young team with only one senior on the roster, who averages 2.4 minutes per game. They are led by junior Bryce Brown’s 17 points and sophomore Mustafa Herons 15.6 points and 5.6 boards. They have multiple guys who can get buckets, evidenced by their 86 points per game (7^th nationally). I don’t think anyone saw Auburn being at the top of the SEC this deep into the season. The Tigers haven’t won the crown since the 1998-99 season, which actually stands as their lone SEC title.

11.) Cincinnati Bearcats 21-2 (10-0) PR: NR

• Cincinnati also makes their long-awaited debut in the rankings this week. Their 176^th ranked strength of schedule last week justified not putting them in. The strength of schedule has now improved to a more respectable 89^th. Mick Cronin has a veteran group with five of his top six players being upperclassmen. They are led by senior Gary Clark and his 13 points and 9 rebounds per game. The first of two meetings within two weeks with Wichita State comes on Sunday the 18^th. A win here will pretty much lock up the American as the Bearcats currently have a 3-game lead over the Shockers and Houston.

10.) Ohio State Buckeyes 20-5 (11-1) PR: 12

• The Buckeyes went 3-1 over the past two weeks with their lone defeat coming at the hands of Penn State. If you haven’t seen the ending of that game, do yourself a favor and watch this:  That’s March in January if I’ve ever seen it. Chris Holtmann has to be discussed for National Coach of the Year after the job he’s doing in just his first year in Columbus. He has the Buckeyes 11-1 in the conference which sits them one game behind the Boilers for the top spot. Speaking of the Boilers, 1^st place will be on the line when the Buckeyes travel to West Lafayette on Wednesday. Ohio State hasn’t won the Big Ten since a three-way tie with Michigan State and Michigan back in 2012.

9.) Kansas Jayhawks 18-5 (7-3) PR: 6

• I realize the Jayhawks went 2-2 this week, with their losses being at Oklahoma and at home against Oklahoma State. This is now the third loss in Allen Fieldhouse this year, the most in the Bill Self era. In fact, they haven’t lost three games in Allen Fieldhouse since the 1998-99 season. This is still one of the best scoring and shooting teams in the nation though, along with the 4^th best strength of schedule. The firm grasp that Kansas held on the Big 12 during these last rankings has vanished. One game now separates the top 4 teams in what could be the best conference title race we see.

College Basketball: Power Rankings

8.) Arizona Wildcats 19-5 (9-2) PR: 10

• Sean Miller would have found himself higher in these rankings if not for losing at Washington to squander a perfect 4-0 two weeks. But I can’t knock them too much for losing on a buzzer beater. Both DeAndre Ayton (19-12) and Dusan Ristic (21-10) had double doubles. Unfortunately though, they shot 2-12 from deep. On the year, Arizona is shooting 39.3% from 3 (29^th nationally). Arizona’s bench is still a weak spot as they only accounted for 6 points in the loss. Arizona’s lead on the weak Pac 12 sits at one game over USC. This has to be their conference to lose as anything less than a conference title would be a huge failure.

7.) Texas Tech Red Raiders 19-4 (7-3) PR: 13

• Former Bobby Knight assistant Chris Beard’s squad makes their debut in the Top 10. He wakes up today tied with Kansas for the top spot in the Big 12. They also currently hold the tie-breaker over the Jayhawks thanks to their win in Allen Fieldhouse last month. The Red Raiders have never won the Big 12 since joining the league in 1997. These guys are still led by their defense. They’re holding opponents to 62.9 point per game (8^th nationally). This leads to Texas Tech rising up to 3^rd in adjusted defensive efficiency (KenPom). The second tussle with Kansas will be later this month.

6.) Xavier Musketeers 21-3 (9-2) PR: 7

• Xavier took care of business, defeating three Big East teams over the past two weeks. The overtime win over Georgetown over the weekend saw Trevon Bluiett go for a season high 31 points on 6-10 from deep. He actually connected on a 4-point play with less than a minute to go in regulation to tie the game. The 6-6 senior has scored in double figures in all 24 games for the Musketeers this season. Two road dates are on the slate this week as they travel to upset-minded Butler before heading to Creighton.

5.) Duke Blue Devils 19-4 (7-3) PR: 2

• Duke earns their lowest ranking of the season after going 2-2 these past two weeks. I’m not knocking them for losing the battle to Virginia. They drop because of their inexplicable loss to St John’s. The Red Storm have a losing record and were on an 11-game losing streak! Duke coughed it up 18 times in the loss. In fact, they turn the ball over way too much (12.5 per game, 119^th nationally) and don’t play good defense (75^th KenPom). With that being said, this team is still oozing with talent and are still coached by Coach K so they remain in the Top 5. Rival North Carolina comes to town on Thursday in the first of the two annual clashes between these blue bloods.

College Basketball: Power Rankings

4.) Purdue Boilermakers 23-2 (12-0) PR: 5

The Boilers finally climb into the Big Dog tier as they improved to an impressive 12-0 in conference play after defeating four Big Ten opponents over the past two weeks. The biggest week of the season is finally here for Matt Painter. 11-1 Ohio State comes to town Wednesday before the much-anticipated battle in East Lansing against the Spartans on Saturday. These are the only times these teams will play in the regular season. Two wins here will all but lock up a second straight Big Ten Crown for the Boilers.

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3.) Michigan State Spartans 22-3 (10-2) PR: 4

• Tom Izzo’s squad was the only team to go 5-0 these past two weeks. None of the wins will jump out at you as they just beat up on weak Big Ten foes but they took care of business to improve to 10-2 in the conference. How efficient is sophomore big man Nick Ward? He’s averaging 13 points, 8 rebounds, and almost 2 blocks per game while only playing 20 minutes per outing. He’s also shooting 69% from the floor. He will have his hands full on Saturday night though, trying to defend the mountain of a man that is Isaac Haas. The battle of the boards and war in the paint could very well decide this one.

2.) Virginia Cavaliers 22-1 (11-0) PR: 3

• Virginia arguably had the most impressive two weeks of anyone. They got one of the best true road wins of the year going to Durham and holding on to beat Duke. They got outrebounded by the big Duke frontline by 13 but forced 16 Blue Devil turnovers. They also held a Duke team averaging over 90 points per game to 63. Some have said this is the best defense they have seen for years and the results back it up. They have the best adjusted defensive efficiency rating (81.7) in guru Ken Pomeroy’s 17 year database. No reason they don’t win the ACC as they have a 3 game lead over 2^nd place Clemson.

1.) Villanova Wildcats 22-1 (9-1) PR: 1

• Villanova barely holds off Virginia for the top spot this week after going 4-0 against the Big East over the past two weeks. This is still one of the sweetest shooting teams in the country. They shoot 51% from the floor (7^th nationally), 41.8% from down town (6^th nationally), and connect on 11.9 triples per game (2^nd nationally). This leads to Villanova scoring 88.3 points per game (3^rd nationally) and having the #1 adjusted offensive efficiency rating in the nation (KenPom). Bad news came this week as Villanova found out they will lose the services of Phil Booth due to a broken bone in his shooting hand. The 4^th leading scorer also averaged over 3 rebounds and 3 assists per outing. An already thin rotation just got much thinner.

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