College basketball power rankings: Michigan State enters the chat

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 11: Jaden Akins #3 and A.J. Hoggard #11 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrate in the first half of the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Breslin Center on December 11, 2021 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

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Dec 22, 2021; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; LSU Tigers center Efton Reid (15) grabs a rebound from forward Darius Days (4) in front of Lipscomb Bisons center Grant Asman (35) during the second half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports /

Michigan State enters the Top 10 for the first time in Week 8’s college basketball rankings.

The holiday break comes at an opportune time for college basketball as an Omicron-powered COVID surge is threatening to wreak havoc on the season. With most teams playing just once (if they played at all) last week, a lot of the focus was on how each conference would pivot to deal with potential postponed games by amending their forfeit policies.

One of the more interesting developments on the court has been the emergence of Michigan State, which cracks the Top 10 of the rankings for the first time after spending the past few weeks in the honorable mentions section. Read on to find out where the Spartans fell as we start this week’s college basketball rankings with the honorable mentions.

Editor’s Note: All rankings in the schedule section are based on the Week 7 AP Poll. Games listed are on the schedule as of post time but could be subject to change due to COVID issues.

College Basketball Rankings: Honorable Mentions

USC Trojans, Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers, Auburn Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes

There are two distinct tiers in the honorable mentions this week. First up is the teams here due to COVID pauses, which has been the case for Ohio State, and the Buckeyes are now joined by USC after the Trojans had to cancel their scheduled matchup with Oklahoma State due to COVID issues within their program.

The other grouping is SEC teams, with Alabama falling out of the Top 10 after a shocking loss to Davidson in Birmingham. LSU and Auburn round out this group as the SEC continues to demonstrate that it is one of the most formidable leagues in the country this season.