Welcome to the revolving door that is known as college basketball’s No. 1 ranking. If your favorite team hasn’t had a turn yet, just wait, it’s coming. Thanks to Purdue’s shocking loss at Rutgers, the Greatest Team Ever was reduced to Just Another Really Good Team That Is Capable of Losing To Anyone. Just last week Purdue got its first No. 1 ranking in its history. Now that’s history. This season is colorful and chaotic, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. So step to the head of the line, Baylor Bears, and enjoy your turn while it lasts. Here is this week’s correct order of the top 25 teams in college basketball:
| Ranking | Team | Last week |
|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | |
2 | 3 | |
3 | 4 | |
4 | 1 | |
5 | 5 | |
6 | 6 | |
7 | 2 | |
8 | 10 | |
9 | 11 | |
10 | 14 | |
11 | 16 | |
12 | 15 | |
13 | 24 | |
14 | 12 | |
15 | 17 | |
16 | 18 | |
17 | 8 | |
18 | 19 | |
19 | 23 | |
20 | NR | |
21 | 9 | |
22 | 21 | |
23 | 25 | |
24 | NR | |
25 | NR |
Dropped out: Kentucky (13), Arkansas (20), Florida (22)
Almost Famous: Texas Tech, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Providence, Creighton, Saint Mary’s, BYU, St. Bonaventure, Utah State
Notes on the votes
• Last week, I suggested that we should tap the breaks on Baylor, which was undefeated but whose best win was still over Michigan State at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Three things happened to make the Bears’ elevation to No. 1 easy. First, of course, Purdue lost at Rutgers and needed to go to overtime to beat NC State. Second, Baylor destroyed my No. 2 team, Villanova, in Waco. And third, Michigan State is showing that it’s a legit top 15 team (although I’d argue it wasn’t in the Bahamas). I can’t imagine Baylor won’t be a unanimous No. 1 when the AP poll is released Monday. There really is no argument to be made for another team at the top. Given that Baylor lost four starters from last season’s national champs, that’s pretty amazing just six weeks into the season.
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• I went back and forth on what to do with the Boilermakers. Yes, they lost on a halfcourt buzzer-beater on the road, but it was against a team that was playing really, really poorly and was still missing its starting point guard. I was even more troubled that Purdue looked so flat, especially on the defensive end, on Sunday against NC State. Given that defensive intensity and toughness are staples of Purdue’s culture, that was shocking. Yes, a win is a win, but the Boilermakers should have come out breathing fire against the Wolfpack, and they didn’t. So I dropped them to No. 4. Purdue now has all week to get rejuvenated for its matchup Saturday against Butler in Indianapolis. If the Boilermakers don’t play well in that one — I mean, really well — it will be a concern.
• I also had a hard time deciding what to do with Villanova. The Wildcats do have that 18-point win over Tennessee, but my goodness they looked awful against Baylor on Sunday. They took UCLA to overtime in Pauley. That means those teams should basically be even, right? They played Purdue tough … but lost. Plus, Duke hasn’t played since it lost at Ohio State on Nov. 30. You could make a case for Villanova to be ranked as high as No. 2, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger on that after that awful showing in Waco. Thanks for ruining my Sunday night, Wildcats.
• After Arizona won at Illinois on Saturday, I saw some chatter on Twitter that the Wildcats deserved to be ranked in the top five, maybe even at No. 1. Look, for all we know at this point, Arizona could win the national championship, but the bottom line is, they were No. 11 in the AP poll last week and No. 15 on my ballot. Was a road win over an unranked team that is down two starters really a reason to vault them over 14 teams, most of whom did not lose last week? Keep in mind this is the same Arizona team that needed overtime to beat Wichita State on a neutral court on Nov. 19. The good news is that Arizona has some great opportunities ahead with road games coming up at Tennessee, UCLA and USC. If the Cats run the table on those — and I am officially predicting they will not — then they will be very, very close to that No. 1 ranking. It’s a heck of a story.
• Houston was a difficult call for much the same reason. It lost on the final possession on the road at Alabama. Therefore, by my lights, it’s no worse than Alabama. But it’s still hard to leapfrog the Cougars over all those teams, especially considering some of them (Seton Hall and Ohio State in particular) got some pretty good wins themselves. Because of the league Houston plays in, it is very likely the Cougars will keep winning while teams ranked above them lose. In the past I have put a ceiling on how high a team in that situation can climb, but in the case of the Cougars that ceiling is going to be pretty high. I imagine they’ll be top 10 on my ballot by the end of January at the latest.
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• Michigan State was my high riser this week. The Spartans’ only losses have been to Kansas and Baylor, and their road win at Minnesota last Wednesday got even better when the Gophers put the hammer on Michigan at Crisler Center on Saturday. Not only did that sequence of events elevate the Spartans on my ballot, they earned Minnesota a coveted spot on my Almost Famous list. Betcha didn’t see that coming.
• I’ve been singing Xavier’s praises for a while, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I’m so bullish on the Musketeers. This team has battled numerous injuries as well as a really nasty flu outbreak, but it is getting back to full strength and showed what it’s capable of by trouncing Cincinnati, 83-63, on Saturday. The Musketeers will have a chance early in their Big East schedule to show that my belief in them is justified. They open at home against Marquette on Dec. 18, and then they play at Villanova and home against UConn. They also host Villanova on Jan. 12.
• How do you solve a problem like Texas? The Longhorns have only played two good teams, Gonzaga and Seton Hall, and lost to them both. And yet, Thursday’s loss to the Pirates came on the road, and was competitive throughout. Is Seton Hall really that much better than Texas? Probably not, but the Longhorns have to give me something to work with. They don’t have a win over a team ranked in the top 185 on KenPom. Their first chance at a top 100 win comes Dec. 19 against Stanford in Las Vegas. If the Longhorns lose that game, they’re dropping out for sure.
• Speaking of dropping out, you’ll recall that last week I moved Kentucky and Arkansas down on my ballot even though they hadn’t lost the previous week. The reason is that I had done some scrubbing and came to the conclusion that they were stacking up easy wins against weak competition. Both lost over the weekend to unranked teams, and now they’re out. That tells you a) stacking up easy wins against weak competition is not a good way to prepare for better teams and b) if you want to see the future, this is the column to read. You’re welcome, America.
• Which team on my Almost Famous list is most likely to get a number next to its name next week? Well, Texas Tech plays Gonzaga in Phoenix on Saturday. A win there, and the Red Raiders are in for sure. Looking ahead, Minnesota resumes Big Ten play Jan. 2 with a home game against Illinois, followed by road games against Indiana and Michigan State. Can the Gophers win two of those three? And Creighton got a nice win on Saturday over BYU in South Dakota. The Bluejays host Arizona State and Villanova this week. If they want to get ranked, they’re only two wins away.
(Top photo of Baylor’s Kendall Brown: Chris Jones / USA Today)