College basketball rankings: Does Baylor deserve to be No. 1 after Kansas win?

After another rocky week for the college basketball rankings, does Baylor deserve to be the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 after beating Kansas?

If you’re looking for one of those weeks that leaves everyone confused, Week 10 was just that and the Week 11 rankings will reflect the carnage that took place.

The bottom of the AP Top 25 is an absolute mess as multiple teams lost a couple of games and should be dropped, but the teams that were on the verge of cracking the rankings also lost. It’s one of those weeks that will be a coin-toss near the bottom of the rankings.

As for the top, Baylor is making a strong case for the No. 1 spot after beating Texas Tech and Kansas on the road.

Editor’s Note: Teams denoted with an asterisk are in progress or play later on Sunday. 

College basketball rankings entering Week 11

25. Arizona Wildcats (12-4)*

With a plethora of teams dropping out of the rankings this week such as Memphis, Penn State, Texas Tech and Virginia, Arizona will likely remain ranked despite losing to Oregon. The Wildcats did give the Ducks one heck of a battle in Eugene, so this isn’t too far-fetched.

24. Illinois Fighting Illini (12-5)

What are we even looking at in college basketball this season? At the beginning of the year, it would have been crazy to even consider Illinois a ranked-quality team, but Brad Underwood and Co. have changed that. They had a big road win at Wisconsin and then beat a tough Rutgers team at home to improve to 12-5. I see them jumping into the rankings this week.

23. LSU Tigers (11-4)

Honestly, anywhere from 20-25 is a toss-up and the fact that LSU is here just shows how poor the top 25 is this season. This isn’t a knock on LSU but rather the fact that the Tigers haven’t proven much but they did beat Arkansas and Mississippi State in Week 10 to improve to 3-0 in the SEC.

22. Ohio State Buckeyes (11-5)

Ohio State had a forgettable week. The Buckeyes had a loss against Maryland on the road by 12 points and then the same result against Indiana on Saturday afternoon. Chris Holtmann’s team is on a four-game losing streak and that needs to end soon if they want to remain in the Big Ten title race.

21. Indiana Hoosiers (13-3)

At the beginning of the week, Indiana fans wanted Archie Miller fired and by the end of the week, most were singing his praises. The Hoosiers had to come back to beat Northwestern at home but had their way with Ohio State. It’s hard to believe this team could be ranked after a rough recent two-game losing streak, but here we are.

20. Michigan Wolverines (11-5)

Starting the season 7-0 with wins over Gonzaga and North Carolina, it seemed like Michigan was going to pick right up where John Beilein left off under Juwan Howard. That hasn’t been the case since as the Wolverines are just 4-5 in their last nine games, including a loss to Minnesota on Sunday during the same week Purdue took them to double-overtime at home.

19. Seton Hall Pirates (12-4)

Seton Hall is one of the hottest teams in college basketball right now. The Pirates have won six straight games since losing by 20 points at Rutgers and 10 points at Iowa State. This team is now playing like everyone expected to start the year with wins at Xavier and versus Marquette to launch them into the top 25.

18. Colorado Buffaloes (13-3)*

Colorado played the second-latest game of any ranked team in Week 10 and it happened to be the Buffaloes’ only contest. They look like one of the best teams in the Pac-12, but as we’ve learned in recent years, does that really mean anything?

17. Wichita State Shockers (15-1)

Wichita State will get a nice bump in the rankings after beating No. 21 Memphis and then taking down UConn in overtime on Sunday. Are the Shockers one of the best non-power conference teams in the nation.

16. Maryland Terrapins (13-3)

It’s hard to buy what Maryland is selling lately just because the Terrapins have been so average. Maryland did beat Ohio State by 12 points, but that win was quickly dashed with an 18-point road loss against Iowa. This team has the talent but needs to put everything together.

15. Michigan State Spartans (13-4)

It looked like Michigan State was going to rise into the top-five range after piecing together an eight-game winning streak with yet another double-digit Big Ten win over Minnesota to start the week, but losing by 29 at Purdue changed that. Mackey Arena is basically the boogeyman to Michigan State as the Spartans haven’t won there since 2014.

14. Villanova Wildcats (12-3)

People forget that Villanova was winning national titles not too long ago but they’ll be reminded soon enough because the Wildcats look like one of the best teams in the loaded Big East. Villanova lost at Marquette last week but bounced back with a big win at Creighton and a comfortable victory over Georgetown.

13. West Virginia Mountaineers (13-2)

Bob Huggins‘ team continues to surprise people, beating Oklahoma State with relative ease in an ugly offensive game and then topping Texas Tech. The Mountaineers will get one of the bigger bumps of the week, going from No. 17 to No. 13.

12. Dayton Flyers (14-2)

Obi Toppin is taking college basketball by storm this season but he suffered a sprained ankle in a win over UMass this week. While he may not miss a ton of time, this is an injury to watch as the Flyers move forward in A-10 play. For now, the Flyers will be rising to No. 12 and closer to the top 10.

11. Kentucky Wildcats (12-3)

Like every year, Kentucky is a young team that’s still trying to figure things out. But as the new year has come around, this team is starting to hit its stride, winning at Georgia and beating Alabama in Week 10. If this were football, those two wins would be good enough to bump Kentucky into the top-10, but we’re talking basketball here, so No. 11 fits.

10. Louisville Cardinals (13-3)

What Louisville team is going to show up in any given game? Will it be the one that was ranked No. 1 near the beginning of the season or the one that lost 3-of-5 games a couple of weeks ago? In Week 10, we saw a little of both as the Cardinals dismantled Miami at home and then struggled a bit on the road against Notre Dame before winning by three. The Cardinals will slide into the top 10.

9. Florida State Seminoles (14-2)

Florida State played just one game in Week 10 and took care of business at Wake Forest, winning by 10 points. The Seminoles may be the best team in the ACC not named Duke this season which is a surprising development given the fact that Virginia and North Carolina began the season ranked highly.

8. Oregon Ducks (14-3)

Oregon and Arizona played in one of the best games of the season early in the week, but the Ducks got the 74-73 win in Eugene and then capped the week off with a nine-point win over Arizona State. A 2-0 week over a couple of Arizona-based rivals is a decent way to gain momentum after losing a week ago.

7. Kansas Jayhawks (12-3)

It was a rough week for Kansas which looked like a team vying for the No. 1 overall spot in the rankings just a seven days earlier. The Jayhawks dominated Iowa State on the road, winning by 26 points and avoiding any Hilton magic but they couldn’t use that momentum against Baylor, losing by 12 points at home. The Bears are for real, but it’s still a game Kansas needs to win if it wants to win the conference.

6. Butler Bulldogs (15-1)

Some might think Butler would slide into the top five with the Kansas loss, but the Bulldogs will probably stick at No. 6 just because San Diego State has played unbelievable basketball this season. Butler beat Providence on the road by 12 in Week 10 and improved to 15-1 on the season, but voters will be hesitant to completely buy the Bulldogs as a top-five team.

5. San Diego State Aztecs (17-0)

San Diego State may not lose a game during the regular season because the Aztecs look just that much better than the rest of the Mountain West. The Aztecs beat Wyoming on the road by 20 points and then Boise State by 18. If they win the rest of the regular season or maybe lose just one game, we could be talking about this team as a No. 1 seed.

4. Auburn Tigers (15-0)

One of the remaining undefeated teams in college basketball will get a one-spot bump to No. 4 in Week 11 and it’s not necessarily because they beat some impressive teams, but rather because Kansas lost. Still, being undefeated at this point in the season isn’t easy and Bruce Pearl has done a fantastic job at this program. The Tigers beat Vanderbilt by four and then dominated Georgia on the road. They’re going to be a tough out in March again.

3. Duke Blue Devils (15-1)

Duke will probably drop one spot this week and that’s not a knock on the Blue Devils, but rather praise for Baylor’s huge week. If Duke played a couple of tough opponents and went 2-0, this would be different, but Wake Forest and Georgia Tech aren’t exactly world-beaters. The Blue Devils are playing as well as anyone in the nation right now and Mike Krzyzewski has found a way to piece together a solid lineup to replace Zion, Cam Reddish and R.J. Barrett.

2. Baylor Bears (13-1)

If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that Baylor would get some first-place votes in Week 11 and they might even pass Gonzaga but AP voters will be hesitant to give the Bears a three-spot jump just yet. The Bears were No. 4 last week, but wins at reigning national runner-up Texas Tech and No. 3 Kansas opened some eyes and I see them passing Duke. This might be the scariest team in America right now and those two wins were huge.

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (18-1)

Mark Few’s team will be beating up on cupcakes from here until March, so another 2-0 week was no surprise as the Bulldogs beat San Diego and Loyola Marymount on the road by a combined 69 points. The Bulldogs probably don’t lose another game this season, but the AP voters may not be totally sold on them over a team like Duke or Baylor. It’ll be interesting to see if the Bears or Blue Devils get some No. 1 votes this week. My vote would be yes.

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