Top 25 Breakdown 1/14/18

Conference play is still in its infancy, but it feels like we are starting to get a better feel for a lot of teams. I'm beginning to solidify some of my thoughts on where teams should be ranked, but man, teams just keep losing games they should win and it makes this very hard. Conference play is so tough, especially on the road, so it really does give a lot of very confusing results. I think some teams are overperforming at the moment, and some aren't playing up to their talent level, but it's getting to the point t where talent and potential aren't enough to justify a spot in the rankings. As always, if you disagree or want to discuss the rankings, feel free to do so on Twitter @ ThreePointRange, and enjoy the next week in college basketball.

Top 25
1. Duke (1)
Record:14-1, 3-0
Last Week: W 87-65 @ Wake Forest, W 80-78 @ Florida State
This Week: 1/14 vs Syracuse, 1/19 vs Virginia

2. Michigan (2)
Record: 17-0, 6-0
Last Week: W 74-63 @ Illinois, W 80-60 vs Northwestern
This Week: 1/19 @ Wisconsin

3. Tennessee (3)
Record: 14-1, 3-0
Last Week: W 87-63 @ Missouri, W 78-67 @ Florida
This Week: 1/15 vs Arkansas, 1/19 vs Alabama

4. Virginia (4)
Record: 15-0, 3-0
Last Week: W 85-56 @ Boston College, W 63-43 @ Clemson
This Week: 1/15 vs Virginia Tech, 1/19 @ Duke

5. Michigan State (5)
Record: 15-2, 6-0
Last Week: 77-59 vs Purdue, W 71-56 @ Penn State
This Week: 1/17 @ Nebraska

6. Gonzaga (6)
Record: 16-2, 4-0
Last Week: W 67-36 vs Pacific, W 96-83 @ San Francisco
This Week: 1/17 vs Loyola-Marymount, 1/19 @ Portland

7. Texas Tech (10)
Record: 15-1, 4-0
Last Week: W 66-59 vs Oklahoma, W 68-62 @ Texas
This Week: 1/16 vs Iowa State, 1/19 @ Baylor

8. Kansas (9)
Record: 14-2, 3-1
Last Week: W 77-68 vs TCU, W 73-68 @ Baylor
This Week: 1/14 vs Texas, 1/19 @ West Virginia

9. Virginia Tech (7)
Record: 14-1, 3-0
Last Week: W 52-49 @ Georgia Tech
This Week: 1/15 @ Virginia, 1/19 vs Wake Forest

10. Nevada (11)
Record: 14-1, 3-1
Last Week: W 92-53 vs San Jose State, W 74-64 @ Fresno State
This Week: 1/15 @ Boise State, 1/19 vs Air Force

11. Auburn (8)
Record: 12-3, 1-1
Last Week: L 82-67 @ Ole Miss, W 93-78 vs Georgia
This Week: 1/16 @ Texas A&M, 1/19 vs Kentucky

12. Buffalo (17)
Record: 15-1, 3-0
Last Week: W 110-80 vs Toledo, W 88-64 vs Miami (OH)
This Week: 1/15 @ Western Michigan, 1/18 vs Eastern Michigan

13. Kentucky (18)
Record: 12-3, 2-1
Last Week: W 85-74 vs Texas A&M, W 56-47 vs Vanderbilt
This Week: 1/15 @ Georgia, 1/19 @ Auburn

14. North Carolina (12)
Record: 12-4, 2-1
Last Week: W 90-82 @ North Carolina State, L 83-62 vs Louisville
This Week: 1/15 vs Notre Dame, 1/19 @ Miami

15. Marquette (20)
Record: 14-3, 3-1
Last Week: W 106-104 (OT) @ Creighton, W 70-66 vs Seton Hall
This Week: 1/15 @ Georgetown, 1/20 vs Providence

16. North Carolina State (13)
Record: 13-1, 2-1
Last Week: L 90-82 vs North Carolina, W 86-80 vs Pittsburgh
This Week: 1/15 @ Wake Forest, 1/19 @ Notre Dame

17. Villanova (24)
Record: 13-4, 4-0
Last Week: W 76-71 vs St. John's, W 90-78 @ Creighton
This Week: 1/18 vs Xavier

18. Houston (16)
Record: 15-1, 3-0
Last Week: L 73-69 @ Temple, W 79-70 vs Wichita State
This Week: 1/16 @ SMU, 1/19 @ South Florida

19. Mississippi (NR)
Record: 13-2, 3-0
Last Week: W 82-67 @ Auburn, W 81-77 @ Mississippi State
This Week: 1/15 vs LSU, 1/19 vs Arkansas

20. Maryland (NR)
Record: 14-3, 5-1
Last Week: W 82-67 @ Minnesota, W 78-75 vs Indiana
This Week: 1/14 vs Wisconsin, 1/19 @ Ohio State

21. Florida State (15)
Record: 13-2, 1-2
Last Week: W 68-62 vs Miami, L 80-78 vs Duke
This Week: 1/14 @ Pittsburgh, 1/20 @ Boston College

22. Mississippi State (14)
Record: 12-3, 0-2
Last Week: L 87-82 (OT) @ South Carolina, L 81-77 vs Ole Miss
This Week: 1/15 vs Florida, 1/19 @ Vanderbilt

23. LSU (26)
Record: 12-3, 2-0
Last Week: W 88-79 vs Alabama, W 94-88 (OT) @ Arkansas
This Week: 1/15 @ Mississippi, 1/19 vs South Carolina

24. Oklahoma (28)
Record: 13-3, 2-2
Last Week: L 66-59 @ Texas Tech, W 76-74 vs TCU
This Week: 1/16 vs Kansas State, 1/19 @ Texas

25. Louisville (29)
Record: 11-5, 2-1
Last Week: L 89-86 (OT) @ Pittsburgh, W 83-62 @ North Carolina
This Week: 1/16 vs Boston College, 1/19 @ Georgia Tech

Next 5
26. Iowa State (19)
Record: 12-4, 2-2
Last Week: L 73-70 @ Baylor, L 58-57 vs Kansas State
This Week: 1/16 @ Texas Tech, 1/19 vs Oklahoma State

27. TCU (23)
Record: 12-3, 1-2
Last Week: L 77-68 @ Kansas, L 76-74 @ Oklahoma
This Week: 1/15 vs West Virginia, 1/19 @ Kansas State

28. Wisconsin (25)
Record: 11-5, 3-2
Last Week: L 84-80 (OT) vs Purdue
This Week: 1/14 @ Maryland, 1/19 vs Michigan

29. St. John's (21)
Record: 14-3, 2-3
Last Week: L 76-71 @ Villanova, L 79-71 vs DePaul
This Week: 1/16 vs Creighton, 1/19 @ Butler

30. Ohio State (22)
Record: 12-4, 2-3
Last Week: L 64-61 @ Rutgers, L 72-62 @ Iowa
This Week: 1/18 vs Maryland

Previously Ranked: Indiana (27), Arizona State (30)

Also Considered: Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas State, Nebraska, Purdue, Seton Hall, Washington

Notes

- The top 6 are unchanged, and honestly, I can understand any ranking of 1-4 and 5-6. It's really hard to separate that top 4 and it honestly depends on how you had them ranked earlier in the season. There will be a change no matter what, as Virginia is playing Duke on Saturday in a can't miss matchup. 

- I jumped Texas Tech over Kansas despite neither team losing. Why? I honestly just think Texas Tech is better and they have the results to prove it, with an undefeated Big 12 records compared to Kansas' 1 loss in conference play. If they were to play today, I'm very confident the Red Raiders would win, so I have them one spot higher. 

- It was honestly so difficult to sort out these rankings with all of the top 25 carnage, and it's lead to Buffalo being ranked 12, and honestly they are playing like a team that deserves that ranking. They blew out Toledo, who is one of the better teams in the MAC, and they don't seem like losing anytime soon. Any conference loss would hurt, but they are dominating weaker competition, and that's earned them their spot. 

- North Carolina was so interesting for me to rank. They picked up that nice road victory over a fellow top 25 team in North Carolina State, but of course that blowout loss to Louisville over the weekend is fresh in all our minds. I want to point out that Louisville lost to Pitt earlier in the week, and NC State beat them over the weekend, so I've got no clue how these three relate to each other, but  they are all clearly top 25 teams in my mind. 

- Marquette and Villanova are looking like they are clearly the two best teams in the Big East. They are winning tough road games, which is very impressive in a very competitive conference, and with some teams being worse than expected (Butler and Providence need to get their acts together, and Creighton is quietly 1-3), they will need to keep winning games or worry about a potentially bad loss. 

- Perhaps no one had a bigger week than Mississippi. The Rebels proved they were legit with victories over two top 25, and last week top 15, teams in Auburn and Mississippi State, both on the road. Now, I aggressively ranked a previously unranked team at 19 last week, and I'll get to them in a minute, but I feel the results certainly warrant its and I think that Ole Miss is equipped to hold this ranking. 

- Maryland has quietly been really good ever since Big Ten play resumed. They hold wins over Nebraska, Rutgers, Minnesota, and Indiana, and they have been consistently winning, which is a lot more than you can say about a lot of the other teams in the 20-30 range. 

- Unlike their in-state rival, Mississippi State had one of the worst weeks in the nation. The Bulldogs dropped a road game to South Carolina, who had been pretty bad prior to SEC play, and then at home to Ole Miss. I was very high on them, but they look more like a mid-tier top 25 team than a potential top 10 side like I thought they might be

- Iowa State, what are you doing? You had so much momentum after beating Kansas in pretty dominating fashion, and then you go out and drop two straight to Baylor and Kansas State, the latter of which was at home. Now, they were close games, but they had a real chance to go out and put themselves in a great position to hold themselves in the top 25 for a while, but blew it.

- Ohio State had the worst week of all, in my opinion. It's between Mississippi State, St. John's, and the Buckeyes. The Johnnies are going to get a bit of a pass for being without Shamorie Ponds for their loss to DePaul, but I can't excuse Ohio State's losses to Rutgers and Iowa, two teams who I think they should be beating, even on the road. I was coming around on them being a solid team right around 20, but man, they sure don't look the part on this 3 game losing streak.

- Washington is making their case to be looked at. They are undefeated in the Pac-12, which doesn't sound remarkable, but given how some teams have performed, it's worth noting they just beat Utah and Colorado on the road, which isn't insignificant given how hard those places are to play. They have a chance to sneak into the back end of the top 25 if they keep winning games, which is something Arizona State couldn't do. 

What To Watch

1/14

Also Considered Nebraska @ Also Considered Indiana

Syracuse @ #1 Duke

#28 Wisconsin @ #20 Maryland

Texas @ #8 Kansas

1/15

Arkansas @ #3 Tennessee

Florida @ #22 Mississippi State

#9 Virginia Tech @ #4 Virginia

#23 LSU @ #19 Mississippi

1/16

Creighton @ #29 St. John's

Also Considered Kansas State @ #24 Oklahoma

#26 Iowa State @ #7 Texas Tech

#18 Houston @ SMU

1/17

#5 Michigan State @ Also Considered Nebraska

1/18

#20 Maryland @ #30 Ohio State

1/19

#2 Michigan @ #28 Wisconsin

Arkansas @ #19 Mississippi

Also Considered Alabama @ #3 Tennessee

Also Considered Indiana @ Also Considered Purdue

#13 Kentucky @ #11 Auburn

#27 TCU @ Also Considered Kansas State

#4 Virginia @ #1 Duke

South Carolina @ #23 LSU

#24 Oklahoma @ Texas

1/20

N/A