1. GONZAGA (13-1, Last Week: 1)
2. OHIO STATE (11-1, 3)
3. KANSAS (9-2, 2)
Once again, I firmly believe that there is a legitimate argument to make for any of the top three teams in the country to be ranked at No. 1.
Let’s start with Kansas. The Jayhawks lost at No. 18 Villanova on Saturday afternoon, 56-55. But that loss came in a game where Kansas played the final 25 minutes without Marcus Garrett, and … was by a single point! If Devon Dotson’s shot at the buzzer happens to drop instead of bouncing off of the rim, than the Jayhawks would have won the game. What that means is that dropping Kansas in the rankings this week is a direct result of Kansas being unable to score on the final possession while playing a road game against a top 20 program that has won two of the last four national titles. Put another way, if you thought Kansas was the best team in college basketball before they tipped off against the Wildcats, I’m not sure why that game would have changed your mind.
Then there is Ohio State, who may actually have the best resume in college basketball after beating No. 6 Kentucky. The Buckeyes now own wins over Villanova, Penn State, North Carolina and those Wildcats. Three of those four wins came by at least 25 points. They might be the No. 1 overall seed if the NCAA tournament started today.
But for my money, Gonzaga slides into that No. 1 spot. I do think that the top three teams in the country have started to separate themselves from the rest of the field, and since the Zags have A) only lost once, and B) only lost to a team that sits at No. 12 in this ranking, they get the nod.
That said, any of these three teams deserve to be the No. 1 team in the country, and you will not catch me arguing against any of them.
4. LOUISVILLE (11-1, 4)
Louisville has had a couple of blowout wins since the loss to Texas Tech. We’ll find out everything we need to know about them on Saturday when they play at Rupp Arena.
5. DUKE (10-1, 8)
In a year where it seems like every single team in the country has a weird loss, Duke’s weird loss is looking less and less bad. They have a couple of top five wins, according to KenPom, and they slowly but surely have started to overwhelm lesser teams, even while missing Tre Jones.
6. AUBURN (11-0, 7)
The only high-major team that is left without a loss, the Tigers are in a weird spot. According to the NET, they have played a top 15 schedule in college hoops. But according to their actual wins, the only one that really registers at all is a win over N.C. State at home. Everyone else? They’ve been good enough wins to game the metrics but not quite good enough to make anyone care. You tell me what that means, because I honestly don’t know.
7. OREGON (10-2, 10)
Is Oregon the team that won at Michigan or the team that needed a late run to beat Texas Southern by six at home?
8. BAYLOR (9-1, 11)
Baylor played one game since Dec. 10th and won’t play against until next Monday.
9. DAYTON (9-2, 9)
Dayton lost to Colorado in overtime, which means that the Flyers now have two OT losses to high-major opponents. On the one hand, anyone watching them knows they’re good. On the other hand, they better hope St. Mary’s keeps shooting 45.7% from three because that’s their marquee win.
10. MEMPHIS (10-1, 12)
No James Wiseman, no problem? The Tigers continue to win even with their former star gone. How long can it last?
11. VILLANOVA (9-2, 15)
Villanova won a dogfight, knocking off the No. 1 team in the country at home on Saturday afternoon. Jermaine Samuels and Collin Gillespie scored the final 19 points. Sometimes it’s nice to have vets.
12. MICHIGAN (9-3, 14)
The best way to end a skid where you lose three out of four games? Presbyterian at home.
13. BUTLER (11-1, 16)
Butler has climbed all the way up to No. 7 in KenPom’s rankings after a dominant win over Purdue in the Crossroads Classic. The Bulldogs are now sitting at 11-1 on the season.
14. UTAH STATE (12-2, 17)
I’m so torn on how to feel about this Utah State team. I still love them because I loved them in the preseason and they have more or less done what we expected. The problem? Neemias Queta may or may not still have knees, and without him, their ceiling significantly changes.
15. KENTUCKY (8-3, 5)
All my Kentucky takes can be found here.
16. SAN DIEGO STATE (12-0, 22)
I discussed San Diego State …
17. ARIZONA (10-3, 13)
… and Arizona in depth on the podcast this week.
18. MARYLAND (10-2, 6)
After listening to the way that Mark Turgeon talked about his team after they lost at Seton Hall on Thursday night, I just can’t trust them anymore.
19. FLORIDA STATE (10-2, 19)
Florida State beat South Florida on Saturday. They needed to erase a double-digit second half deficit to do it. That more or less sums this team up.
20. MARQUETTE (9-2, 21)
Marquette’s date with Central Arkansas is their last tuneup before Big East plays kicks off.
21. TEXAS TECH (8-3, 23)
The Red Raiders responded to beating then-No. 1 Louisville by putting together a couple of ugly performances back-to-back in wins over Southern Miss and UTRGV.
22. XAVIER (11-2, 25)
The Musketeers bounced back from a loss at Wake Forest by going into TCU and picking up a win. I still think the Musketeers have the talent to be really dangerous if they put it all together.
23. WASHINGTON (10-2, NR)
Washington is another one of those teams that looks better on film than they are going to look on a resume. At least they have that season-opening win over Baylor.
24. WEST VIRGINIA (10-1, NR)
Is West Virginia good right now? Their bigs look awesome. Their guards? Not so much. But they do own a pretty convincing win over Wichita State on a neutral court.
25. WICHITA STATE (10-1, NR)
I know it was at home, but the Shockers took control early on against VCU and won without really being all that challenged. That won’t go unnoticed here.
NEW ADDITIONS: No. 23 Washington, No. 24 West Virginia, No. 25 Wichita State
DROPPED OUT: No. 18 Virginia, No. 21 North Carolina, No. 24 VCU
