Top 25 Breakdown 2/25/19

We draw another week closer to Selection Sunday, so these rankings hold as much weight as ever as we look at which team are threats to win it all and which are going to go out with a whimper. I have to apologize once again for my lack of activity, I had a lot more schoolwork than anticipated and also had to deal with some things in my personal life. However, I will be back with breakdowns of every conference this week. I also have some exciting stuff planned as we get closer to the tournament, so be sure to check back often. As always, follow me on Twitter @ThreePontRange and enjoy your week.

Top 25
1. Gonzaga (2)
Record: 27-2, 14-0
Last Week: W 92-64 vs Pepperdine, W 102-68 vs BYU
This Week: 2/28 @ Pacific, 3/2 @ St. Mary's

2. Virginia (3)
Record: 24-2, 12-2
Last Week: W 64-58 @ Virginia Tech, W 64-52 @ Louisville
This Week: 2/27 vs Georgia Tech, 3/2 vs Pittsburgh

3. Kentucky (4)
Record: 23-4, 12-2
Last Week: W 66-58 @ Missouri, W 80-53 vs Auburn
This Week: 2/26 vs Arkansas, 3/2 @ Tennessee

4. Duke (1)
Record: 24-3, 12-2
Last Week: L 88-72 vs North Carolina, W 75-65 @ Syracuse
This Week: 2/26 @ Virginia Tech, 3/2 vs Miami (FL)

5. Michigan State (7)
Record: 23-5, 14-3
Last Week: W 71-60 vs Rutgers, W 77-70 @ Michigan
This Week: 3/2 @ Indiana

6. North Carolina (9)
Record: 22-5, 12-2
Last Week: W 88-72 @ Duke, W 77-59 vs Florida State
This Week: 2/26 vs Syracuse, 3/2 @ Clemson

7. LSU (10)
Record: 22-5, 12-2
Last Week: L 82-77 (OT) vs Florida, W 82-80 (OT) vs Tennessee
This Week: 2/26 vs Texas A&M, 3/2 @ Alabama

8. Houston (8)
Record: 26-1, 13-1
Last Week: W 71-59 vs South Florida
This Week: 2/27 @ East Carolina, 3/2 vs UCF

9. Tennessee (5)
Record: 24-3, 12-2
Last Week: W 58-46 vs Vanderbilt, L 82-80 (OT) @ LSU
This Week: 2/27 @ Mississippi, 3/2 vs Kentucky

10. Michigan (6)
Record: 24-4, 13-4
Last Week: W 69-60 @ Minnesota, L 77-70 vs Michigan State
This Week: 2/21 @ Minnesota, 2/24 vs Michigan State

11. Marquette (11)
Record: 23-4, 12-2
Last Week: W 79-69 vs Butler, W 76-58 @ Providence
This Week: 2/27 @ Villanova, 3/3 vs Creighton

12. Purdue (14)
Record: 20-7, 13-3
Last Week: W 48-46 @ Indiana, W 75-72 @ Nebraska
This Week: 2/27 vs Illinois, 3/2 vs Ohio State

13. Texas Tech (17)
Record: 22-5, 10-4
Last Week: W 91-62 vs Kansas
This Week: 2/27 vs Oklahoma State, 3/2 @ TCU

14. Buffalo (16)
Record: 24-3, 12-2
Last Week: W 114-67 vs Ohio, W 80-57 vs Kent State
This Week: 2/26 vs Akron, 3/1 @ Miami (OH)

15. Nevada (12)
Record: 25-2, 12-2
Last Week: L 65-67 @ San Diego State, W 74-68 vs Fresno State
This Week: 2/27 vs UNLV, 3/2 @ Utah State

16. Maryland (23)
Record: 21-7, 12-5
Last Week: W 66-65 @ Iowa, W 72-62 vs Ohio State
This Week: 2/27 @ Penn State, 3/3 vs Michigan

17. Virginia Tech (18)
Record: 21-6, 10-5
Last Week: L 64-58 vs Virginia, W 67-59 @ Notre Dame
This Week: 2/26 vs Duke

18. Kansas (15)
Record: 20-7, 9-5
Last Week: L 91-62 @ Texas Tech
This Week: 2/25 vs Kansas State, 3/2 @ Oklahoma State

19. Iowa (19)
Record: 20-5, 9-5
Last Week: L 66-65 vs Maryland, W 76-70 (OT) vs Indiana
This Week: 2/26 @ Ohio State, 3/2 vs Rutgers

20. Iowa State (13)
Record: 19-8, 8-6
Last Week: L 73-69 vs Baylor, L 75-72 @ TCU
This Week: 2/25 vs Oklahoma, 3/2 @ Texas

21. Wisconsin (22)
Record: 19-8, 11-5
Last Week: W 64-58 vs Illinois, W 69-64 @ Northwestern
This Week: 2/26 @ Indiana, 3/2 vs Penn State

22. Florida State (21)
Record: 21-6, 9-5
Last Week: W 77-64 @ Clemson, L 77-59 @ North Carolina
This Week: 2/19 @ Clemson, 2/23 @ North Carolina

23. Mississippi State (24)
Record: 20-7, 8-6
Last Week: W 68-67 @ Georgia, W 76-61 vs South Carolina
This Week: 2/26 vs Missouri, 3/2 @ Auburn

24. Kansas State (25)
Record: 19-6, 9-3
Last Week: W 65-51 @ West Virginia, W 85-46 vs Oklahoma State
This Week: 2/25 @ Kansas, 3/2 vs Baylor

25. Wofford (30)
Record: 24-4, 16-0
Last Week: W 72-64 @ Furman
This Week: 2/28 @ Chattanooga, 3/2 @ Samford

Next 5
26. Cincinnati (29)
Record: 23-4, 12-2
Last Week: W 60-55 vs UCF, W 64-60 @ Connecticut
This Week: 2/27 @ SMU, 3/2 vs Memphis

27. Washington (28)
Record: 22-5, 13-1
Last Week: W 62-45 vs Utah, W 64-55 vs Colorado
This Week: 2/28 @ California, 3/3 @ Stanford

28. Villanova (20)
Record: 20-8, 11-4
Last Week: L 85-73 @ Georgetown, L 66-54 @ Xavier
This Week: 2/27 vs Marquette, 3/2 vs Butler

29. Auburn (27)
Record: 18-9, 7-7
Last Week: W 79-56 vs Arkansas, L 80-53 @ Kentucky
This Week: 2/27 @ Georgia, 3/2 vs Mississippi State

30. Louisville (26)
Record: 18-10, 9-6
Last Week: L 69-49 @ Syracuse, L 64-52 vs Virginia
This Week: 2/27 @ Boston College, 3/3 vs Notre Dame

Previously Ranked: N/A

Also Considered: Baylor, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina State, St. John's, Syracuse, Utah State, VCU

Notes
- Gonzaga is my new number one, and while I talked about them last week, I just want to once again highlight how insane the Zags have been this year. They beat a full strength Duke, only lost games on a neutral court to Tennessee and at North Carolina, and their closest conference game was decided by 12 points. They are absolutely dominating the WCC, just as they have dominated their competition all season, and I believe they are an absolute elite team that is fully deserving of this ranking.

- It feels a little unfair to move Duke down after they lost Zion Williamson and were visibly shellshocked in the rest of that matchup with North Carolina. However, that isn't an excuse for getting their ass kicked, especially because their one weakness got exploited. I've been saying for a while that this team struggles to shoot from deep, and you probably shouldn't take 39 threes in a game when you're shooting 30.6% from deep as a team. I got a chance to see them live against Syracuse, and they looked very mortal in that game. Once again, they are obviously very different without Zion Williamson, but they relied on a career best performance from Alex O' Connell to win that game, and that doesn't seem like a great strategy going forward. They are still one of the best teams in the nation, if not the best at full strength, and if anything, this has proven just how good RJ Barrett is, but there are some legitimate concerns about the floor spacing for Duke right now.

- LSU lost to Florida this week and yet I moved them up. Why? They're my rankings and I do whatever I want. If you're looking for a more substantial reason, I am fully bought into the Tigers, and seeing them beat Tennessee without star point guard and limited contributions from Naz Reid was really impressive, and I don't want to penalize them too much for an overtime loss against a really good team. As for Tennessee, I dropped them once again, sending them down to 9 this week. It may be a little harsh, although that is their KenPom ranking, but to be frank, I need this team to prove it to me in 2019. Their best win in the new year is probably Florida, and after they got beat down by Kentucky and lost to LSU, they haven't proven they are worthy of being ranked as one of the premier teams right now.

- Everything I just said about Tennessee can also be applied to Michigan. The Wolverines have some very nice wins in recent memory, Wisconsin and Maryland immediately jump to mind, but a loss at Penn State is ugly, and their offense absolutely disappeared against Michigan State yesterday, which is really worrisome. They might just not have the personnel to run the offense John Beilein is accustomed to running, their lack of shooters is pretty noticeable, although I will say this is right around when Michigan has gotten hot the past few years, so don't be shocked if they really start clicking down the stretch.

- I've seen Texas Tech ranked all over the place by other people, but I'm not ready to put them into the top 10 just yet. Yes, their Kansas win was incredibly impressive, and I think they are absolutely for real and they are probably my pick to win the Big 12 this year (more on that in a second). They have pretty quietly won 5 straight, and their offense has been looking really good recently. I do think that performance on the offensive end against Kansas was a bit flukey, they probably won't shoot 61.5% from three the rest of the season, but I do think the offense has made some major strides and I think they might be the Final Four contender that no one is talking about.

- Iowa State has let me down AGAIN. Every time I buy into this team, they'll turn around and shit the bed the next game. I love their offense, I really do, and I think they have a tremendously high ceiling, but the reality is they don't play to that ceiling every game, and my rankings have to be based in reality. After rolling over Kansas State last weekend, I was proclaiming them the frontrunners for the Big 12 title. Now, I think they are just another team that can either make a deep run or flame out in the first round, and it remains to be seen what will happen come March, but I'm done believing that this team is anything more than what they are.

- Wofford has been incredible this season. I talked about them last week, and I now have them ranked in my top 25. They should be comfortably in the field right now, and barring an unforeseen loss in their final two games, they will go undefeated in a very strong Southern Conference. They looked every bit the part of a high quality team in their win at Furman, and I wouldn't sleep on this team when they are an 8 seed and everyone else dismisses them because they don't know who they are. They have an elite offense and an elite shooter in Fletcher Magee that makes them a team no one wants to see in their region. The Terriers are for real, and if you need me to tell you that, you haven't been paying attention.

- Utah State has the most to gain this week. They have just one loss in their last 12 games to a very talented and peaking San Diego State team that just beat Nevada, and the Aggies are continuing to make an at-large case, and they have a massive week ahead of them. First, they have a rematch with the Aztecs, at home this time, and that is a pretty huge game for them as they look to put that loss in the past. They then get a chance to take down Nevada at home, and that could make or break their tournament chances, so it should be a great game. Keep an eye on their results this week, as they could make their way into my Top 30 next week.

What to Watch
2/25
Oklahoma @ #20 Iowa State
#26 Kansas State @ #18 Kansas
2/26
#4 Duke @ #17 Virginia Tech
#19 Iowa @ Ohio State
Arkansas @ #3 Kentucky
Also Considered Syracuse @ #6 North Carolina
#21 Wisconsin @ Indiana
San Diego State @ Also Considered Utah State
2/27
#9 Tennessee @ Also Considered Mississippi
Oklahoma State @ #13 Texas Tech
#11 Marquette @ #24 Villanova
Texas @ Also Considered Baylor
#29 Auburn @ Georgia
2/28
N/A
3/1
N/A
3/2
# Michigan State @ Indiana
#7 LSU @ Alabama
Also Considered North Carolina State @ #22 Florida State
#3 Kentucky @ #9 Tennessee
Ohio State @ #12 Purdue
#20 Iowa State @ Texas
UCF @ #8 Houston
#23 Mississippi State @ #29 Auburn
#6 North Carolina @ Clemson
Also Considered Baylor @ #26 Kansas State
Memphis @ #27 Cincinnati
#15 Nevada @ Also Considered Utah State
#1 Gonzaga @ Saint Mary's
3/3
Creighton @ #11 Marquette
# Michigan @ #16 Maryland