College basketball conference rankings: The SEC is back!

The Gonzaga Bulldogs might have retained the number one spot in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll but that doesn’t mean that chaos didn’t once again infiltrate the college basketball landscape.

1. SEC

The biggest surprise of this last stretch of games came last Sunday when the South Carolina Gamecocks took down the defending NCAA champions. Frank Martin‘s team out-defended Tony Bennett‘s backline defense in Charlottesville to beat the Virginia Cavaliers. South Carolina came out hot and never looked back. To follow that up, Kentucky got their signature win of the year by taking down the Lousiville Cardinals in overtime in their interstate battle. The Wildcats finally resembled the team that blew out Michigan State during the Champions Classic to begin the season. Last, but not least, don’t sleep on Auburn. The Tigers remain unbeaten and have become the team to beat in the southeast this season.

2. Big 12

The conference enjoyed the holiday break as they were off for most of the week. However, it is hard to top the performance that this group of teams put together on Sunday. The headliner is the massive upset that the West Virginia Mountaineers pulled off in Colombus against the then second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Most thought that this would be a down year for Bob Huggins crew but this group is as feisty and fiery as their coach. Two other ranked Big 12 teams were in action as the Texas Tech Red Raiders (23rd) and Kansas Jayhawks (fifth) also were able to come away with wins. As conference play starts up in 2020 it will be interesting to see who makes their way to the top of the standings.

3. Big Ten

Like most other conferences, the Big Ten squeezed in a lot of their activities into one weekend. While they no longer have a team that looks like it will run away with the conference it is hard to ignore their depth. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio Stae, Maryland, Penn State, Purdue, and Iowa all have been ranked in the top 25 at one point or another this season and the parody among that group has shown in the conference standings as each team has played two games and the Spartans are the only undefeated team and Northwestern is the only winless one. The competition between these teams will only stand to make them more ready for the NCAA Tournament once March rolls around.

4. American

The Memphis Tigers are proving with each passing week that they are legit. Even with James Wiseman leaving school to sign with an agency and prep for the 2020 NBA Draft, this group has only lost one of its first 13 games and remains ranked within the top 10 of the AP Poll. The other team that was supposed to challenge them for the conference title was the Houston Cougars. They gave their school and fans quite the Christmas gift when they won the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic by taking down the Washington Huskies. Kelvin Sampson’s team has been searching for a big win in the early season and this might be that exact launch point that the Cougars needed. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Huskies continue to lurk in the shadows in what will be their final season as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

5. Big East

It looks like the Big East will once again run through the Villanova Wildcats. As conference play kicked off last night, Jay Wright‘s team is running like a well-oiled machine. Collin Gillespie is ready to take up the Mike Nardi, Ryan Arcidiacno, Kyle Lowry role for Wright and his passion and aggressive play is partially why Villanova has turned it around after a down year last season. The DePaul Blue Demons were a great story but losing their home opener to Seton Hall–Myles Powell return from a concussion played a role in that loss–puts a bit of a damper on their hot start to the season. However, when all is said and done this year, this conference could put a few teams into the NCAA Tournament that knock off a few blue-chip programs.

6. Pac-12

Outside of the Oregon Ducks (11-2), the Pac-12 has featured a lot of letdowns and disappointments this season. Payton Pritchard is doing all he can to help this team meet and exceed expectations this season. Dana Altman’s group could challenge the Gonzaga Bulldogs for West Coast supremacy. As noted above, the Huskies failed to win their holiday tournament and the Los Angeles teams just don’t carry the same weight anymore even though the Trojans sit at 11-2 currently. While most conferences a looking forward to conference play if the Ducks (or USC) don’t remain dominant through that then any talk about the Pac-12 being back will be a narrative left for another season.

7. ACC

Without Cole Anthony, the North Carolina Tar Heels do not resemble anything like previous Roy Williams‘ teams in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels not being part of the upper echelon puts a damper on the conference as a whole. Upset losses also do that as well and the Cavaliers losing at home was no help. Virginia lost its three best players from last year’s national title team. Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils remain atop the standings as we approach the New Year. Yet, the team has been without the services of Tre Jones for the past two games as he remains day-to-day with a mild foot sprain. If he continues to miss games then things could get interesting in Durham. Louisville and Florida State can’t be overlooked either and it would seem like the ACC still has some firepower even if some of the more predominant names are having down seasons.

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