NCAA Basketball Top 25 for 12/1
For more on the week in College Basketball, here’s my Winners & Losers post for this week.
FYI: All ratings, including SOS, Offensive Efficiency, and Defensive Efficiency, are courtesy of the KenPom.
Top 25:
1. Michigan (7-0) (11) – Never overreact to one week’s worth of basketball, but this is impossible to ignore. The Wolverines romped through one of the best early-season tournament fields in history, winning three games by a combined 110 points. Beyond that, their strength of schedule is 8th, while they are ranked first in defensive efficiency.
2. Purdue (7-0) (2) – Michigan has the top-ranked defense. Who is #1 in offense? The experienced Boilermakers squad.
3. Duke (8-0) (3) – The Blue Devils are the only team in the country that ranks in the top five in offensive and defensive efficiency.
4. Arizona (7-0) (1) – Two of their three huge wins (Florida, UCLA) have lost a little luster, but the road win over UConn is as big as it gets.
5. Louisville (7-0) (6) – The Cardinals continue to pile up the points, but the schedule is lacking. Three of their next four games are tough (Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee).
6. UConn (6-1) (8) – The Huskies were impressive in a win over Illinois at Madison Square Garden. They finally leave the Northeast with a game at Kansas this week.
7. Houston (7-1) (4) – Losing to Tennessee isn’t bothersome. I’m a bit concerned that Syracuse managed to push them to overtime. However, we’ve come to expect the Cougars to play close games given their style.
8. Iowa State (7-0) (13) – The “forgotten” 3-0 team during the Players Era Festival, the Cyclones pulled off a big win over St. John’s. The schedule remains less than ideal, but it has improved to 159th—mid-pack—after starting the week at 355th.
9. Michigan State (7-0) (12) – The Spartans added North Carolina to their earlier conquests of Arkansas and Kentucky. Six of their seven wins have been by double digits.
10. Gonzaga (7-1) (5) – They fall because of how uncompetitive they were against Michigan. However, they did defeat Alabama by ten in the same tournament.
11. Tennessee (7-1) (16) – The Volunteers needed some quality wins on their resume, and they got one by defeating Houston. The loss to Kansas prevented them from completing a 3-0 week.
12. Vanderbilt (8-0) (20) – The Battle 4 Atlantis wasn’t as strong as we are accustomed to. However, to the Commodores’ credit, they didn’t take it for granted. After Western Kentucky played them tougher than expected, they easily handled VCU and Saint Mary’s. One negative is that their non-conference schedule will likely not include a ranked team.
13. Alabama (5-2) (7) – It’s a balancing act, as you don’t want to punish a team that plays its type of schedule too much. Alabama has beaten St. John’s and Illinois, though it has fallen to Gonzaga and Purdue. Their offense is their calling card. Their defense is what will determine how far they can go.
14. BYU (6-1) (18) – The Cougars used wins over Miami and Dayton to claim the ESPN Events Invitational. Known for their high-octane offense, their defense is holding its own, ranking 22nd.
15. Florida (5-2) (10) – Losing to TCU doesn’t look great on paper, but the Horned Frogs used their defense to take Michigan to the wire earlier this season. There’s nothing necessarily “wrong” with the Gators. However, they are likely a step or two below last year’s squad.
16. Illinois (6-2) (9) – The Fighting Illini are 1-2 against their three tough opponents (Texas Tech, Alabama, UConn). They will try to even that up against Tennessee this week.
17. Kansas (6-2) (NR) – One way to ease concerns is by going 3-0 in the Players Era Festival. Two of those wins weren’t “high quality,” but Tennessee was.
18. Auburn (6-2) (17) – How does one figure out how to rank teams that ran into the Michigan buzzsaw last week? One approach is to examine how those teams responded after setbacks. The Tigers defeated St. John’s by 11 the next night.
19. Indiana (7-0) (24) – Anyone who knows me knows I hate rewarding teams for playing horrible schedules. There is no excuse for the Hoosiers to carry a 317th-ranked schedule. Let’s see how they fare against Louisville and Kentucky.
20. Iowa (7-0) (NR) – “How will Ben McCollum’s style work for a major program?” So far, so good for the former Drake coach. He isn’t doing anything different for the Hawkeyes, who rank 357th in adjusted tempo. They won the Acrisure Classic title with wins over Ole Miss and Grand Canyon. Their first major test is against Michigan State on Tuesday.
21. Kentucky (5-2) (21) – Waltzed over a couple of cupcakes. How good are they? Let’s find out, as they play North Carolina and Gonzaga this week.
22. North Carolina (6-1) (15) – A nice win over Kansas. Destroyed by Michigan State.
23. USC (7-0) (NR) – Like the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Maui Invitational wasn’t up to its usual standards. After squeaking past Boise State and Seton Hall (who upset the favored North Carolina State squad), USC romped over Arizona State to win the title.
24. St. John’s (4-3) (14) – It is tempting to toss them from the rankings, but their loss to Iowa State was only by a point and their schedule is in the top 20. They cannot afford to lose to Ole Miss.
25. Utah State (7-0) (25) – It will be hard to get a read on the Mountain West, but what else is new? It’s too early to read into NET rankings, but Warren Nolan is listing them. The Mountain West currently features four closely ranked teams: New Mexico (41st), Colorado State (42nd), Utah State (43rd), and Boise State (44th).
Dropped Out:
St. Mary’s (8-1) (19) – The Battle 4 Atlantis got the championship game everyone expected. I wouldn’t have dropped the Gaels from the rankings if the loss to Vanderbilt was close. It wasn’t.
Arkansas (5-2) (22) – The Razorbacks put a scare into Duke for a while, but their overall resume is lacking. A win over Louisville would improve the outlook.
North Carolina State (5-2) (23) – Oof. The Maui was a balanced field, but the Wolfpack was favored. They went 1-2.
Just Missed:
Baylor (5-1) – The Bears own a Top 40 schedule, but it still lacks upper-echelon competition. They went 2-1 in the Players Era Festival but fell to their toughest opponent (St. John’s).
LSU (7-0) – I respect teams that win early-season tournaments, and LSU did just that. They won the Emerald Coast Classic with wins over Drake and DePaul. Those opponents won’t do much to improve your schedule ranking, however.
Missouri (8-0) – Some of these SEC schools have scheduling problems. While LSU is ranked 326th, Missouri is at 364th. Your reminder that there are 365 teams in Division I. If you are curious, only 6-0 Miami (OH) has a worse schedule.