College Basketball Thoughts/Top 25: 2/12/24

I don’t have any thoughts this week, so I will get straight to the Top 25:

1. Purdue (22-2) (1) – In addition to their inside play, the Boilermakers are third in the country in 3-point percentage (40%).
2. UConn (22-2) (2) – The tiebreaker between the Huskies and Boilermakers is Quad 4 wins (Purdue is 3-0 while UConn is 8-0)
3. Houston (21-3) (5) – The Cougars lead the nation with an 18.9 average margin of victory.
4. Tennessee (17-6) (3) – Their loss to Texas A&M was their first double-digit loss this season.
5. Marquette (18-5) (6) – Their 7-game winning streak includes five by double digits.
6. North Carolina (19-5) (4) – Their 2-2 stretch has allowed Virginia and Duke to hang around in the conference title race.
7. Arizona (19-5) (8) – The Wildcats want the top seed in the West. They are 7-3 in Quad 1 and are ranked #3 in the NET and #4 in the KenPom.
8. Kansas (19-5) (7) – The Jayhawks are 6-4 in their last ten games. One of the wins was a double-digit effort over Houston, though.
9. Iowa State (18-5) (13) – It’s all about defense for the Cyclones (3rd in adjusted defense/5th in points allowed per game)
10. Auburn (19-5) (9) – The Tigers had zero Quadrant 1 wins for much of the season but now have two.
11. Illinois (17-6) (10) – The Fighting Illini fell 2.5 games behind Purdue this week, which likely ends their dream of a regular-season conference championship.
12. Duke (18-5) (17) – It isn’t always pretty, but the Blue Devils are 13-2 in their last 15 games.
13. Baylor (17-6) (14) – A 3-point loss at Kansas is no reason for concern. Their offense is strong (4th in 3-point percentage, for example) but the defense is shaky.
14. BYU (17-6) (15) – The Cougars are solid, but own only two road wins (UCF and West Virginia). That said, they are in every game they play.
15. Creighton (17-7) (11) – The Blue Jays are better than the underperforming middle of the Big East but haven’t sustained much momentum.
16. Alabama (17-7) (16) – Their motto is “catch us if you can” – Auburn did (99-81), LSU didn’t (109-92).
17. Saint Mary’s (20-6) (21) – The Gaels play slow and aren’t efficient offensively. Defense? No team has scored 80+ on them this season.
18. South Carolina (21-3) (23) – The computers remain skeptical, but the Gamecocks keep winning.
19. Wisconsin (16-8) (12) – After three close losses in a row, the Badgers hit rock bottom in a 22-point loss to Rutgers—time to wake up.
20. Colorado State (19-5) (NR) – It’s the story of the Mountain West – every week, you can interchange who the best team in the conference is.
21. San Diego State (18-6) (24) – While they have struggled against the top of the conference in road contests, the games are close.
22. Florida Atlantic (19-5) (19) – They came within a whisker of back-to-back losses to UAB and Wichita State. They lost the former in OT but won the latter in OT.
23. Dayton (19-4) (22) – No bad losses and a strong schedule keep them ranked. The rest of the schedule isn’t so good, so they need to take advantage of that.
24. Kentucky (16-7) (18) – Their defense is bad and there may not be enough time left to fix it.
25. Indiana State (22-3) (NR) – The beasts of the Missouri Valley lack a huge win and a bad loss. Very clean resume that needs to stay that way for at-large consideration.

Dropped Out:

New Mexico (19-5) (20) – They are 1-2 in their last two games, with both losses at home.
Utah State (20-4) (25) – Honestly, it came down to Indiana State/New Mexico/Utah State for that #25 slot.

Just Missed:

Gonzaga (18-6) – The Zags had zero Quadrant 1 wins before defeating Kentucky on the road this weekend.
Virginia (19-5) – We have been waiting for a team other than Duke/North Carolina/Clemson to establish themselves as an NCAA Tournament contender. The Cavaliers are up to #32 in the NET.
Nevada (19-5) – Recent wins over Utah State and San Diego State. Can they complete the trifecta against New Mexico on Tuesday?