FanSided power rankings: Top five crumble, Kansas stays steady
If there is one thing that this week of college basketball proved, it was that no one is safe. Four of the top five teams went down in an upset-filled week.
Kansas was the only team that was able to survive the upset, as they were the lone team in college basketball’s top five that didn’t lose this week. Where do the teams that loss fall, and who rose up to take their place?
25. Wichita State
After missing the tournament last season for the first time since the 2010-11 season, Greg Marshall seems to have his program back on track. The Shockers are 9-1 this season and have some impressive back-to-back victories against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. In the 80-75 win against the Sooners on Saturday, it was sophomore Erik Stevenson who led the Shockers with 16 points in game. He currently leads the team in scoring this season too, averaging 13.7 points a game. The Shockers will get another chance to flex their muscles next Saturday in a matchup with VCU.
24. San Diego State
San Diego State has officially replaced conference foe Utah State as the mid-major darling in college basketball. The Aztecs are one of the four teams in the country left with an unblemished record. With double-digit wins over Creighton and Iowa, and a +17.7 scoring margin that is good for No. 10 in the country, the Aztecs deserve all the love they’re getting. They are led by junior transfer Malachi Flynn, who leads the team in scoring and assists with 16.1 points and 5.0 assists per game. Their next test will come against Utah this coming Saturday.
23. Florida State
The Seminoles got a week hiatus from playing basketball this past week, but with all of the chaos that happened in college basketball, they find themselves in the top 25 once again. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for Seminoles fans this season as they lost their season opener to Pittsburgh, then followed that up with wins over Florida, Tennessee and Purdue. Head coach Leonard Hamilton, who inherited a team in 2002 that had just endured four straight losing seasons, is looking to get his Seminole program to four straight NCAA tournament appearances.
22. Texas Tech
The Red Raiders claw their way back into the top 25 after defeating No. 1 and previously undefeated Louisville. Three straight losses to Iowa, Creighton and DePaul was not how Chris Beard and his squad envisioned this year going. However, the monumental win from this past week might be just what they needed to get back on track before entering Big 12 play.
21. Stanford
Stanford moved to 9-1 after their latest win over in-state opponent San Jose State. Oscar da Silva came just short of his career high, scoring 25 points in the victory for the Cardinals. This is a make-or-break year for head coach Jerod Haase, as Stanford ended up with a losing record last year and hasn’t been in the NCAA tournament since 2014. So far so good this year for Haase though, as his Cardinals have been rolling through 10 games.