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College basketball rankings: Louisville newest No. 1, Michigan surges into Top-5

By Shayne Nissen

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - NOVEMBER 20: Lamar Kimble #0 of the Louisville Cardinals dribbles the ball during the game against the USC Upstate Spartans at KFC YUM! Center on November 20, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - NOVEMBER 20: Lamar Kimble #0 of the Louisville Cardinals dribbles the ball during the game against the USC Upstate Spartans at KFC YUM! Center on November 20, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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college basketball rankings Top 25
CINCINNATI, OHIO – NOVEMBER 30: KyKy Tandy #24 of the Xavier Musketeers takes a shot while being defended by KJ Johnson #0 of the Lipscomb Bisons during the first half at Cintas Center on November 30, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

The Michigan Wolverines are big risers in this week’s college basketball rankings and there’s a new No. 1 after Duke was upset by Stephen F. Austin.

25. Xavier

The Musketeers fall one spot in this week’s rankings due to some impressive teams that jumped them. They only played once this week and it was an 87-62 victory over Lipscomb. Tyrique Jones was able to lift Xavier with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the contest. Jones, a senior, leads the team in rebounds per game with nine and is second on the team in points per game with 14.3. He will have to continue to produce in order to make a move in the Big East this season.

24. Utah State

Utah State was one of the biggest fallers in this week’s edition of the power rankings due to a close loss to Saint Mary’s. It derails their run at a perfect non-conference slate, but the Aggies are still very talented. Justin Bean and Sam Merrill combined for 47 points in the 81-73 defeat. Merrill, the reigning Mountain West player of the year, is scoring at a pace of 17.4 games through four weeks of basketball.

23. Villanova

Villanova has had a bit of a rough go to it to start to the season, but they still stand at 5-2 on the season and are constantly improving. In their only victory of the week over Atlantic 10 opponent La Salle, the Wildcats were led by Justin Moore, who dropped 25 points in the 83-72 win. Moore a freshman and four-star in the class of 2019 is only averaging nine points per game on the season. Maybe his emergence can help to jumpstart a Wildcat squad that has sleepwalked to start the season.

22. Dayton

Dayton burst onto the scene in week four after a fantastic start to the week with victories over Georgia and Virginia Tech. The Flyers would be cut short against Kansas but not before taking the Jayhawks to overtime. Obi Toppin led the Flyers in those games as he had 25 points against Georgia and 24 against Virginia Tech. His 18 against Kansas was the only time that the sophomore hasn’t scored more than 20 points this season. Toppin, who won the Atlantic 10 rookie of the year last season, is looking to take the player of the year crown this year and has Dayton playing great basketball to start the season.

21. Tennessee

Both games in the Emerald City Classic were decided by three points for the Volunteers. The first was a 60-57 loss to Florida State, the second a victory over No. 20 VCU. Lamonte Turner was clutch in both the loss to the Seminoles and the win against the Rams. He had 20 in the loss on Friday, and a buzzer-beater to defeat VCU on Saturday. He is second on the team in points per game scoring 14.3 per contest. Like a lot of teams these days, the departures for the Volunteers hurt, but they are still finding ways to win games this year.