FanSided power rankings: Top five crumble, Kansas stays steady
10. Michigan
As the season goes on, the resume of the Wolverines keeps getting worse thanks to North Carolina proving to be a real dud so far this season. Michigan has lost three of its last four games to Louisville, Illinois in an upset, and Oregon this past Saturday. The reason they stay in the top 10 is because of how well they competed in the overtime loss to a talented Oregon squad. The Wolverines weren’t able to get it done, but they were still able to show some promise after a bad loss to Illinois. This is a very inconsistent team so far under Juwan Howard, but if the Wolverines get it straightened out, they can be the team standing at the top of the pile come season’s end.
9. Ohio State
With all of the chaos that happened earlier in the week, Ohio State looked like the team that was going to take over the No. 1 spot this week. Then they decided to join their fellow top-five teams by losing to a 4-5 Minnesota squad. It was just an overall bad day defensively for the Buckeyes. While they missed second leading scorer Duane Washington to injury, the Buckeyes could never really stop the Golden Gophers. They will get a chance to redeem themselves this Saturday when they take on top-10 foe Kentucky.
8. Baylor
After falling to Washington in their second game of the season, Baylor has been one of the most impressive teams in the country, getting wins over Villanova, Arizona, and most recently Butler. Freddie Gillespie is one of the best defenders in the country as he averages 2.4 blocks per game, which is good for No. 31 in the country. He proved that in the victory over Butler, providing a big inside presence as the Bulldogs were only able to muster 52 points.
7. Kentucky
The shocking loss to Evansville seems like eons ago now, as the Wildcats have rattled off six straight wins, with their latest coming over ACC foe Georgia Tech. Sophomore Ashton Hagans did it all against the Yellow Jackets, scoring 21 points while getting seven rebounds and seven assists. Hagans has been one of the more underrated point guards in the country this season. He’s averaging 13 points and seven assists per game this season. The Wildcats have a tough stretch coming up with back-to-back games against Ohio State and Louisville coming up.
6. Maryland
Add Maryland to the list of Big Ten teams that suffered an embarrassing in-conference loss as the Terrapins fell at the hands of Penn State this past week. Turnovers plagued the Terrapins as they had a whopping 20 in the game compared to Penn State’s eight. Combine that with the fact that Penn State shot 42 percent from the field as a team and you have the recipe for an upset. Maryland will look to bounce back against a reeling Seton Hall team on Thursday.