The early season has its usual collection of madness games, including Penn outclassing Villanova, Bryant knocking off Florida Atlantic, UC Irvine defeating USC, and Greensboro taking care of business against Arkansas in this past week alone.
Do these games mean anything? In the long run, not really – though it continues to prove that parity in college basketball is getting more pronounced, not less. The games above (and others that didn’t involve Top 25 schools, such as Long Beach State – Michigan and Jackson State – Missouri) were not the type of games you saw regularly 20 years ago. What was once truly shocking is becoming more commonplace.
The early-season tournaments are in full swing, with all eyes on the ultra-competitive Maui Invitational. Barring an upset winner, it is probable that the winner will be the #1 team in the country when the dust settles. Kansas, Purdue, Marquette, Tennessee, and Gonzaga all have Final Four aspirations this season.
Top 25:
1. Kansas (3-0) (2) – A big win over Kentucky moves them ahead of Purdue in my rankings. Now it is off to Maui.
2. Purdue (3-0) (1) – A quiet week for the Boilermakers, who knocked off Xavier in a Gavitt Tipoff game (essentially, a Big Ten – Big East challenge). A very strong Maui is next – their opener is against Gonzaga.
3. UConn (4-0) (3) – The 4-team Empire Classic features squads from the Big East, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12. In the Opening Round, the Huskies dismantled Indiana and will now take on Texas on Monday Night for the championship. It’s only four games and the competition hasn’t been great, but UConn is continuing its momentum which started in the NCAA Tournament.
4. Arizona (5-0) (4) – A sluggish start against UT-Arlington was quickly erased as the Wildcats used a 58-19 second-half run to maul the Mavericks. Next up is a date with Michigan State on Thanksgiving in the inaugural “Acrisure Classic.” While this is a one-and-done game (multiple teams participated in the preliminaries, but it wasn’t a tournament) in the newly constructed arena, expect this Classic to become a premier tournament in the future.
5. Marquette (3-0) (5) – The Golden Eagles will start their Maui journey against UCLA. They took down Illinois by seven in last week’s Gavitt Tipoff game.
6. Creighton (4-0) (6) – As expected, Iowa – Creighton was a high-scoring affair. The Blue Jays pulled away in the second half and will now concentrate on the Hall of Fame Classic, where they are the heavy favorites in a field of four (Creighton vs Loyola Chicago, Boston College vs Colorado State).
7. Houston (6-0) (7) – The Cougars finished off their four-win week with a victory over Dayton in the Charleston Classic final. Their schedule becomes scattered for a while, as they only have one more game this month (Friday against Montana).
8. Duke (3-1) (8) – The Blue Devils had a nice bounceback win over Michigan State. The “Blue Devil Challenge” offers some mid-major schools some national TV coverage. They defeated Bucknell and have two more games (La Salle, Southern Indiana) before a date with Arkansas on the road in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.
9. Miami (5-0) (13) – Perhaps looking forward to their trip to the Bahamas, Miami had to hold off a stubborn Florida International squad, 86-80, on Monday. That didn’t impact their trip at all as they defeated Georgia and Kansas State to cruise to the title. The Hurricanes will take Thanksgiving week off before a date with Kentucky next Tuesday.
10. Tennessee (3-0) (9) – It feels as if Tennessee is lost in the Maui Invitational crowd, which is indicative of the strength of the tournament more than anything. The tournament starts a stretch of tough games for the Volunteers. Immediately following the tournament, they go on the road to take on North Carolina.
11. Texas A&M (4-0) (10) – Oral Roberts played them tough, but the Aggies were able to pull off an 8-point win. The 8-team ESPN Invitational starts on Thanksgiving, where they will try to avenge their loss to Penn State from the NCAA Tournament. If they win that, a semifinal matchup against Florida Atlantic may await.
12. North Carolina (3-0) (15) – The Tar Heels haven’t challenged themselves yet, but the Battle 4 Atlantis will show them where they stand in the early going. They start their journey with Northern Iowa. Other teams in the field include Memphis, Villanova, Arkansas, and Michigan. Three of those four teams (all but Memphis) suffered losses to mid-major squads earlier this week.
13. Kentucky (3-1) (17) – Saint Joseph’s and Marshall shouldn’t provide much competition. The game I have circled is on 11/28 against Miami in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
14. Gonzaga (2-0) (19) – Business has been slow but it is about to pick up in Maui. Beyond that crazy tournament, they have dates with USC, UConn, and San Diego State before the conference season begins. How good are they? We are about to find out.
15. Mississippi State (5-0) (NR) – Maybe the Hall of Fame Tipoff wasn’t the deepest of fields, but the Bulldogs took care of business with wins over Washington State and Northwestern. That said, the rest of their non-conference schedule is lacking and they will probably move down from here as other teams play stronger competition leading into the conference schedule (it is possible that they will be 13-0 heading into conference play, though North Texas and Rutgers should provide competition)
16. Texas (4-0) (24) – Louisville provided them a massive scare and probably should have won the game. As expected, they will play in the title game against UConn. A win there and a massive jump in the rankings awaits.
17. Baylor (4-0) (25) – They haven’t played strong competition after their season-opening win over Auburn. The Bears are solid favorites to take down the NIT Tip-off, where they start off with a game against Oregon State (if they win that, they play the winner of Florida – Pittsburgh).
18. Memphis (3-0) (22) – The Jackson State win over Missouri brings down Memphis’ signature win to date. That said, the Tigers will have a chance to pile up some quality wins in the Battle 4 Atlantis (they start their journey against Michigan).
19. Florida Atlantic (2-1) (11) – Losing to Bryant certainly raises eyebrows (it was Bryant’s first win over a ranked opponent), but the Bulldogs aren’t necessarily an awful squad (they entered this season 54-29 over the last three years). It comes down to how the Owls respond to that loss. A date with Butler in the ESPN Invitational is next.
20. James Madison (4-0) (23) – Radford did their best to spoil the party, but the Dukes held on for a 76-73 victory. That was a campus game in the Cancun Challenge, a tournament that features a wide assortment of mid-major squads. James Madison plays Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) in the first round on Tuesday.
21. Alabama (4-0) (NR) – On Friday, Mercer was the first team to hold the Crimson Tide under 100 points (98). They are a part of the Emerald Classic, where they will play Ohio State in the first round. A win there sets up a championship game against either Oregon or Santa Clara. While their schedule hasn’t been strong to date, they have upcoming games against Clemson, Purdue, Creighton, and Arizona. Wow.
22. Arkansas (3-1) (16) – Greensboro went on the road and lost to Vanderbilt by four. They followed that up with a 78-72 win over Arkansas. The Spartans won 20 games last season, losing to Arkansas by only seven in the process. Anyway, back to the Razorbacks: They can certainly make up for that loss in the coming weeks, as they are in the competitive Battle 4 Atlantis before a home game against Duke.
23. Virginia (4-0) (NR) – The Cavaliers suffocated poor Texas Southern, allowing only 33 points. They should be considered the favorites to win the Fort Myers Tip-Off, with an opening-round game against Wisconsin. That could be ugly.
24. Liberty (5-0) (NR) – The Myrtle Beach Invitational featured a group of traditionally solid mid-major teams and it was the Flames who defeated Furman, Wichita State, and Vermont to take home the crown. All five of their wins have been by double digits. A date with Florida Atlantic awaits at the end of the month.
25. Illinois (4-1) (21) – A 7-point loss to Marquette is certainly not a bad loss, but it would have been a nice feather in their early-season cap (especially since it was a home game). The Big Ten underneath Purdue (and perhaps Michigan State if they get rolling) is going to be fun to watch. The committee loves to give the conference a lot of bids and it is hard to figure out where those bids will come from at this moment.
Dropped out:
Michigan State (12) – The Spartans mauled Bulter and Alcorn State after losing to Duke. They can jump back into the Top 25 with a win over Arizona on Thursday.
Villanova (14) – I likely overrated the Wildcats a bit last week. That said, I still expect them to have a bounce-back season.
USC (18) – A bad loss against UC Irvine followed up with an uninspiring win over Brown. I considered them the favorites to win the Rady Children’s Invitational, but the tournament (which features Seton Hall, Iowa, and Oklahoma) appears to be wide open now.
St. John’s (20) – I give them credit for their win over Utah, but it was a tough week overall for St. John’s (losses to Michigan and Dayton). The top of the Big East is strong – which team is going to be the best of the rest?
Just Missed:
San Diego State (4-1) – It was a toss-up between the Aztecs and Illinois for the 25th spot in my rankings. San Diego State completed its run to a Continental Tire Main Event with a thrilling 100-97 overtime victory over Washington.
BYU (4-0) – Moving to the Big 12 from the West Coast Conference may be a bit of a culture shock for the Cougars, who are the only team to knock off San Diego State thus far.
Colorado (3-0) – I am trying to figure out which team will present any kind of challenge to Arizona this year. The Buffaloes have the potential to be near the top of the conference, but I can say that about a handful of teams.