The leash for coaches in college sports is getting shorter as the NIL era has brought on plenty of player movement, making it easier for programs to wonder why their coaches can't turn things around quickly like Curt Cignetti did for Indiana football. That impatience led to a dramatic coaching carousel in football, highlighted by Lane Kiffin's circus between Ole Miss and LSU, but we haven't seen that kind of chaos move to the hardwood quite yet.
Kentucky could put that to the test as its fan base has grown quite frustrated with Mark Pope, who built an expensive roster of transfers that has looked overmatched against essentially every power conference team they've played. Friday night's blowout loss to Gonzaga, which dropped the Wildcats out of this week's AP Top 25 poll, saw Big Blue Nation members who made the trek to Nashville lustily boo Kentucky throughout the evening.
With another week of action in the books, how has the college basketball changed since the last stock watch? Let's take a look at what you need to know for Week 6, beginning with a look at a fast-rising Iowa State side.
College Basketball Week 6 Stock Watch: Risers
Iowa State
The Cyclones put America on notice with an absolute beatdown of No. 1 Purdue at Mackey Arena on Saturday. The Boilermakers had looked dominant for most of the season but were completely outclassed by T.J. Otzelberger's team, losing by 23 in the worst home loss for a No. 1 seed in non-conference ever.
With Houston off to a sluggish start by their standards, Iowa State now looks like the class of the Big 12 in the early going. The 9-0 Cyclones, who already have wins over St. John's, Creighton and Mississippi State on their resume, jumped to No. 4 in the polls and picked up a first place vote ahead of this week's in-state rivalry showdown against Bennett Stirz and Iowa.
Duke
Finding different ways to win is a hallmark of a championship team and the Blue Devils have shown an ability to figure out how to earn victories of all types. Saturday's showdown in East Lansing against No. 7 Michigan State was a typical Spartans' game under Tom Izzo, who managed to contain Cameron Boozer while playing a defensive battle that finished in the 60s.
Duke made enough shots to grind out a six-point win in East Lansing over a Michigan State team that had already knocked off three ranked foes as part of their unbeaten start. Add in a victory earlier in the week over Florida in the ACC/SEC Men's Challenge and Jon Scheyer's team is 10-0 with four victories over ranked foes with one more test against Texas Tech awaiting them next Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
The ACC
The much-maligned ACC, which has struggled to get five of its 17 members into the NCAA Tournament in recent years, is firmly on the upswing. While Duke, Louisville and North Carolina are headliners, the rest of the conference has started to carry its weight, helping the league go 7-9 in the ACC-SEC Men's Challenge a year after getting waxed by a historicly strong SEC.
While the Carolina schools scored victories over ranked foes, seeing Syracuse upset a ranked Tennessee while Miami and Notre Dame beat teams that went to the tournament last year (Ole Miss and Missouri respectively) is a big positive for the conference. Virginia entered the poll for the first time this season at No. 24 on Monday, giving the ACC four ranked teams, while another five (Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame, Cal and SMU) got votes, hinting at a chance to snag at least six March Madness bids with good results in league play.
Saint Mary's
While Gonzaga remains the heavy favorite to claim the WCC crown in their final year before going to the newly re-constructed Pac-12, Saint Mary's has been flying under the radar so far this season. The West Coast Gaels are 9-1 and are the 31st-ranked team in the nation according to KenPom, which rates Saint Mary's defense as the 20th-most efficient unit in the country.
The only blemish on Saint Mary's resume to this point is a blowout loss to Vanderbilt, which has surged into the polls thanks to a strong start of their own, but it explains why a 9-1 Gaels' outfit isn't ranked yet. Finishing non-conference play strong with victories against Boise State, FAU and Northern Iowa could see Randy Bennett's team have a number next to their name when they begin WCC play at the end of the month.
College Basketball Week 6 Stock Watch: Fallers
Kentucky
Things are getting ugly in Lexington, where the Wildcats can't beat ranked teams and have former stars like DeMarcus Cousins questioning the heart of the locker room. Injuries have certainly been an issue early on as Jaland Lowe just returned to the lineup and Jayden Quaintance has yet to play, but there is still too much talent on Kentucky's roster to be getting blown out by 40 in a quasi-home game against No. 11 Gonzaga in Nashville.
Any honeymoon period Mark Pope had from last year's Sweet 16 run is gone as expectations in Kentucky are far higher than treading water in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Saturday's rivalry game against Indiana, the first time the series has been played in the regular season since 2011, is a huge litmus test for Pope to score a needed victory to calm the turbulent waters surrounding the Wildcats.
The SEC
The SEC was trending down last week entering the ACC-SEC Men's Challenge and walking out of it with only a 9-7 record is not a good look for the league. Aside from Alabama, which has been handling its business in non-conference play, there has been a serious lack of signature wins from the SEC so far as Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee have all been disappointing of late.
The conference is still positioned to get at least 8 teams in the tournament as teams like Vanderbilt and Georgia have overachieved, but it has become clear over the first five weeks of the season that the SEC has gone from historically dominant to merely a good power conference league. Following up the historic 2024-25 campaign was going to be a tough act to swallow but it wouldn't be shocking to see no SEC teams in the Final Four after two made it last season.
Unbeaten Teams
College basketball hasn't had an undefeated national champion since Bob Knight's 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, which makes sense given the expansion of both the regular season schedule and the NCAA Tournament. 24 teams entered December undefeated and 16 exited Week 5 with their first loss of the season, including ranked teams such as No. 1 Purdue (who we will go deeper into in a minute), No. 6 Louisville and No. 7 Michigan State.
Only 8 teams remain in the ranks of the unbeaten and seven of them are in power conferences, with Miami of Ohio the lone mid-major carrying a perfect record to date. While No. 2 Michigan is unquestionably the strongest team on the board according to KenPom, the brutal Big Ten makes it unlikely they run the table, ensuring yet another year goes by without perfection on the men's side of college basketball.
Purdue
Iowa State is a very good basketball team so losing to them is not the reason Purdue is down here. The manner in which the Boilermakers were dominated in their own building is alarming for a potential title contender, making their drop to No. 6 in the polls entirely justified.
The No. 1 ranked offense in the nation according to KenPom was held to just 41 percent from the floor and hit only 4-of-18 three pointers against a rugged Cyclones' defense, which could be an issue as they run into some of the Big Ten's more challenging units. The talent on Purdue's side could help them win a few rock fights but the way they looked outclassed by Iowa State does at least raise a red flag on their potential to help the conference snap its 25-year national championship drought.