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College basketball conference power rankings: Feast Week brings upsets

By Brandon Jefferson

DURHAM, NC - NOVEMBER 26: Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks celebrate their win against Duke during the 2nd half of the Duke Blue Devils game versus the Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks on November 26th, 2019 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC.(Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC - NOVEMBER 26: Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks celebrate their win against Duke during the 2nd half of the Duke Blue Devils game versus the Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks on November 26th, 2019 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC.(Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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No. 1 went down again last week and some unexpected results from the Thanksgiving holiday tournaments produce a ton of movement in our new college basketball conference power rankings.

1. Big Ten

No team had a better week than the Michigan Wolverines. Juwan Howard and his troops’ cabbage patched their way to the Battle 4 Atlantis title, taking down the likes of North Carolina and Gonzaga. Senior leadership from Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske have been huge for the first-year coach but the whole team has bought in and the offensive onslaught (led by their perimeter shooting) has put the rest of the country on notice. They’ve risen from unranked to number five. Not to be lost in the Ann Arbor hype, is Maryland who also won their Thanksgiving holiday tournament. This conference looks much more open than it was in the preseason.

2. Big East

The Seton Hall Pirates have let two big resume-boosting wins slip through the crack of their fingers, they were also in the Bahamas but couldn’t pull off the upset against the Oregon Ducks. They did finish the tournament on a strong note by taking down Iowa State. However, the Creighton Blue Jays picked up a huge win when they beat Texas Tech  — who was ranked 12th at the time — during the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. A team to keep an eye on is the DePaul Blue Demons. They have started the year off 8-0 and have three true road wins against power five opponents. Their transfer point guard, Charlie Moore is leading the charge, while forwards Paul Reed and Romeo Weems are looking the part of future first-round picks to begin the year. Their own date with Texas Tech looms as well as their conference opener at home against the Pirates.

3. SEC

The Georgia Bulldogs might have won only one game at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational but Anthony Edwards made noise in Hawaii. He dropped 33 points (in a half) against Michigan State, hit the game-winner against Chaminade, and is now in the conversation for the number one pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. On the winning side, Auburn remains undefeated, Kentucky is getting their groove back, Florida beat Xavier in the Charleston Classic, and Tennessee delivered a classic with their buzzer-beating win over VCU. After an up-and-down start to the season, things are back on track in the SEC. With a relatively easy schedule for all teams on the way, they have a chance to stockpile some wins.

4. Pac-12

Oregon began their Battle 4 Atlantis schedule by sneaking out a close win over Seton Hall but then proceeded to drop their next two games against Gonzaga and North Carolina by a combined five points. The Arizona Wildcats picked up the slack by winning the Paycom Wooden Legacy tournament. Nico Mannion is having a freshman season to remember, keeping the homegrown talent home is paying huge dividends for Sean Miller. Washington and Colorado are holding down spots in the AP Poll and there is talent abound within the league. Conference play will help sort out the contenders from the pretenders.

5. ACC

Tobacco Road let them down as North Carolina (lost to Michigan) and Duke (lost to Stephen F. Austin AT HOME) this week. While Virginia is the reigning defending champions, the reputation of the conference resides on the play of the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils year-in and year-out. It wasn’t a complete loss of a week though, Florida State put the country on notice with wins over Tennessee and Purdue and Louisville now takes over the number one spot in the polls. With the ACC/Big Ten Challenge starting this week — headlined by Duke vs Michigan State and Michigan vs Louisville — they have a chance to leap back up these rankings when the next set comes out in a week.

6. American

Unlike other conferences that fell down the ranking, the American isn’t approaching the bottom due to any fault of their own. While other conferences had their big names play in tournaments across the country featuring other top programs, the American didn’t face a similar strength of schedule this week. Temple took on Maryland in the Orlando Invitational but couldn’t pull off the upset. Memphis took down North Carolina State at the Barclays Center Classic but that isn’t enough of a needle mover to get them above most of the other conferences. Though Georgetown losing to UNC-Greensboro did knock them down a few slots in the end.

7. Big 12

Coming in last, the Big 12. Texas Tech dropping games to Iowa and Creighton definitely hurt their standing this week. The national runner-ups a season ago, had started the year off strong but when they ran into their first real test they failed miserably. Star freshman guard Jahmi’us Ramsey missed the second of the two games but the Red Raiders have other talented pieces that should be able to pick up the slack. Not even Kansas winning the Maui Jim Maui Invitational was enough to keep them from the bottom. The field they ended up playing against wasn’t as strong as originally predicted; they needed overtime to overcome a formidable Dayton team in the end.

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