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College basketball rankings: West Virginia surges, Kentucky bounces back

By Shayne Nissen

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 28: Ashton Hagans #0 of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrates after 78-70 OT win against the Louisville Cardinals at Rupp Arena on December 28, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 28: Ashton Hagans #0 of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrates after 78-70 OT win against the Louisville Cardinals at Rupp Arena on December 28, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 21: Trey Pulliam #4 of the San Diego State Aztecs shoots over Timmy Allen #1 of the Utah Utes in the first half of the game against the Utah Utes at Staples Center on December 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 21: Trey Pulliam #4 of the San Diego State Aztecs shoots over Timmy Allen #1 of the Utah Utes in the first half of the game against the Utah Utes at Staples Center on December 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

15. San Diego State

The Aztecs are one of three remaining teams with an undefeated record this season. While it hasn’t been the toughest road, they still deserve plenty of credit for taking care of business. Junior guard Malachi Flynn is the heartbeat of their offense, leading the team in both points per game as well as assists per game.

14. Maryland

The hype that surrounded this Maryland team in the preseason has definitely lost it’s steam, but the Terrapins are still a very good team. Anthony Cowan, provides the veteran leadership and outside shooting, and Jalen Smith continues to be a freak of an athlete on the inside. The Terrapins have too many weapons on both sides of the ball to be written off this early.

13. Michigan State

Another team that was almost written off at the beginning of the season was this Michigan State team, but they have been quietly taking care of business. They have won five straight and are the only team in the Big Ten without a loss in conference play, despite those wins coming over Rutgers and Northwestern.

12. Memphis 

It seems a player that hasn’t played for Memphis since November always comes up when talking about this Tiger team. Maybe that will be put to rest now as James Wiseman announced his decision to leave Memphis and prepare for the NBA next season. It’s a travesty for all of college basketball to lose a player of that caliber. But Precious Achiuwa has held down the fort and Memphis is still one of the best teams in the country.

11. Michigan

It feels like it is becoming a theme for Big Ten teams to get really hot, then cool off quickly but that also happened to Michigan as well. Now though, the Wolverines have three losses and are playing without Isaiah Livers who is out indefinitely due to a groin injury. Livers was the second leading scorer for the Wolverines and while all seemed well in a win on Sunday over Umass Lowell, time will tell how the Michigan adjusts heading into Big Ten play this week.