After a week off for the holidays, I'm back with my final post for 2019. Thanks to everyone who read this year and I appreciate all of your support. This will also be the last Top 25 post in this format, and I'll likely be changing some stuff on the blog up for the start of the new decade. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @ThreePointRange for more information on that, and my up to date reactions on games and news from across the college basketball landscape. Have a happy and healthy new year and I'm very excited for the second half of this college basketball season with conference play starting up for real this weekend.
Top 25
1. Gonzaga (+1)
Record: 13-1
Results: W 94-81 vs North Carolina, W 112-77 vs Eastern Carolina
Upcoming Games: 12/30 vs Detroit Mercy, 1/2 at Portland, 1/4 vs Pepperdine
2. Kansas (-1)
Record: 10-2
Results: L 56-55 at Villanova, W 72-56 at Stanford
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs West Virginia
3. Duke (+1)
Record: 11-1, 1-0
Results: W 86-57 vs Wofford, W 75-50 vs Brown
Upcoming Games: 12/31 vs Boston College, 1/4 at Miami
4. Ohio State (-1)
Record: 11-2, 1-1
Results: W 80-48 vs Southeast Missouri State, W 71-65 vs Kentucky (in Las Vegas), L 67-59 vs West Virginia (in Cleveland)
Upcoming Games: 1/3 vs Wisconsin
5. Baylor (+2)
Record: 9-1
Results: N/A
Upcoming Games: 12/30 vs Jackson State, 1/4 vs Texas
6. Oregon (+2)
Record: 11-2
Results: W 81-48 vs Montana, W 84-78 vs Texas Southern, W 98-59 vs Alabama State
Upcoming Games: 1/2 at Colorado, 1/4 at Utah
7. Auburn (+2)
Record: 12-0
Results: W 79-73 vs North Carolina State, W 74-51 vs Lehigh, W 86-59 vs Lipscomb
Upcoming Games: 1/4 at Mississippi State
8. Memphis (+3)
Record: 11-1
Results: W 77-49 vs Jackson State, W 97-55 vs New Orleans
Upcoming Games: 12/30 vs Tulane, 1/4 vs Georgia
9. Louisville (-3)
Record: 11-2, 2-0
Results: W 70-46 vs Miami (OH), L 78-70 at Kentucky (OT)
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Florida State
10. Villanova (+9)
Record: 9-2
Results: W 56-55 vs Kansas
Upcoming Games: 12/30 vs Xavier, 1/4 at Marquette
11. Butler (+7)
Record: 12-1
Results: W 70-61 vs Purdue (in Crossroads Classic), W 67-36 vs Louisiana Monroe
Upcoming Games: 12/31 at Saint John's, 1/4 vs Creighton
12. San Diego State (5)
Record: 13-0, 2-0
Results: W 92-48 vs San Diego Christian, W 80-52 vs Utah, W 73-57 vs Cal Poly
Upcoming Games: 1/1 vs Fresno State, 1/4 at Utah State
13. Michigan State (N/A)
Record: 10-3, 2-0
Results: W 77-72 at Northwestern, W 101-48 vs Eastern Michigan, W 95-62 vs Western Michigan
Upcoming Games: 1/2 vs Illinois, 1/5 vs Michigan
14. Michigan (+1)
Record: 10-3, 1-1
Results: W 86-44 vs Presbyterian, W 86-60 vs UMass Lowell
Upcoming Games: 1/5 at Michigan State
15. Maryland (-3)
Record: 11-2
Results: L 52-48 at Seton Hall, W 84-70 vs Maryland
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Indiana
16. Dayton (N/A)
Record: 10-2
Results: L 78-76 vs Colorado (OT) (in Chicago), W 81-53 vs Grambling State
Upcoming Games: 12/30 vs North Florida, 1/2 at La Salle, 1/5 at Saint Joe's
17. West Virginia (+13)
Record: 11-1
Results: W 75-64 at Youngstown State, W 67-59 vs Ohio State (in Cleveland)
Upcoming Games: 1/4 at Kansas
18. Kentucky (-13)
Record: 9-3
Results: L 69-66 vs Utah (in Las Vegas), L 71-65 vs Ohio State (in Las Vegas), W 78-70 vs Louisville (OT)
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Missouri
19. Florida State (+1)
Record: 11-2, 1-1
Results: W 98-81 vs North Florida, W 66-60 vs South Florida (in Sunrise, FL),
Upcoming Games: 12/31 vs Georgia Tech, 1/4 at Louisville
20. Wichita State (NR)
Record: 11-1
Results: W 73-63 vs VCU, W 84-66 vs Abilene Christian
Upcoming Games: 1/1 vs East Carolina, 1/4 vs Mississippi
21. Penn State (N/A)
Record: 11-2
Results: W 87-58 vs Central Connecticut State, W 90-59 vs Cornell
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Iowa (in Philadelphia)
22. DePaul (N/A)
Record: 12-1
Results: W 73-65 vs Cleveland State, W 83-78 vs Northwestern
Upcoming Games: 12/30 vs Seton Hall, 1/4 vs Providence
23. Saint Mary's (+6)
Record: 13-2
Results: W 96-56 at Arizona State, W 68-63 vs Nevada (in San Francisco), W 84-58 vs Seattle
Upcoming Games: 1/2 at San Francisco, 1/4 at Pacific
24. Arkansas (NR)
Record: 11-1
Results: W 72-68 vs Valparaiso (in Little Rock), W 71-64 at Indiana
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Texas A&M
25. Washington (-1)
Record: 10-3
Results: W 81-59 vs Seattle, W 85-64 vs Ball State, W 72-61 at Hawai'i, L 75-71 vs Houston (last three at Diamond State Classic)
Upcoming Games: 1/2 vs UCLA, 1/5 vs USC
Next 5
26. Xavier (-1)
Record: 11-2
Results: W 67-59 at TCU
Upcoming Games: 12/30 at Villanova, 1/5 vs Saint John's
27. Texas Tech (-3)
Record: 9-3
Results: W 71-65 vs Southern Miss, W 68-58 vs UT Rio Grande Valley, W 73-58 Cal State Bakersfield
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Oklahoma State
28. Virginia (-18)
Record: 10-2, 2-0
Results: W 56-44 vs Stony Brook, L 70-59 vs South Carolina, W 65-56 vs Navy
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Virginia Tech
29. Creighton (NR)
Record: 11-2
Results: W 83-73 vs Oklahoma, W 67-60 vs Arizona State, W 91-54 vs Midland Lutheran
Upcoming Games: 1/1 vs Marquette, 1/4 at Butler
30. Arizona (-15)
Record: 10-3
Results: L 70-67 vs Saint John's (in San Francisco)
Upcoming Games: 1/4 vs Arizona State
Dropped Out: Texas (26), Tennessee (27), VCU (28)
Also Considered: Colorado, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Liberty, Northern Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Saint John's, Seton Hall, Stanford, USC, Utah State, VCU
Notes
- At number one, Gonzaga will be looking to avoid the curse that has plagued the top team in the nation this year, with multiple teams losing while holding the top spot. However, the Bulldogs seem well positioned to hold the #1 ranking for a while. Not only do they play in a weaker conference than most of the best teams in the country, but they have been dominant even against high major teams. The Zags beat Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and North Carolina, with their only loss coming against a very good Michigan team. Big man Filip Petrusev has taken a big step forward as a sophomore, leading the team in points, rebounds, and blocks with 16.7, 8.1, and 1.4 respectively. Surrounding him are six players scoring in double figures, and a seventh averaging 9.6 a game. They have a well balanced offensive load and their defense has been solid, led by North Texas transfer Ryan Woolridge and French sophomore Joel Ayayi. Experienced big Killian Tillie has only played 9 of the 14 games, and freshman Anton Watson has appeared in 10. If those two are healthy and ready to go during WCC play, then the Zags will be even more threatening. Don’t underestimate their in conference competition, though, as Saint Mary’s is in my Top 25, and BYU is also in the mix for a tournament bid. Plus, San Francisco, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, and Pacific all have double digit wins entering conference play. It isn’t exactly the gauntlet of the Big East, but there will be some competition for the Bulldogs and they won’t be able to take a night off if they want to hold the top spot in the rankings.
- One of the two games of the weekend was Louisville at Kentucky. The Wildcats picked up a pretty massive win over their in state rivals in overtime, and Tyrese Maxey showed up as the go to bucket getter that this team has been looking for. We saw that he was capable of this against Michigan State in the first game of the year. If he can give performances like this more consistently, than I’d expect Kentucky to be one of the better teams in the country. It allows players like Ashton Hagans, Nick Richards, and Immanuel Quickley to move down the pecking order and be more opportunistic scorers. However, they need one of Kahlil Whitney and Keion Brooks to step up. The two five star wings have been huge disappointments as freshmen and John Calipari will have hoped that they could be bigger contributors, especially on the defensive end given their physical gifts. Brooks specifically was pourous against Louisville and he seemingly wasn’t able to stop anyone. I don’t know how you can justify playing him or Whitney if they aren’t defending well given how bad they are defensively. For Louisville, the play of Jordan Nwora was very disappointing. He’s supposed to be an All-American caliber player, but he was largely absent throughout this game. However, Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble played probably his best game for the Cardinals, attacking the rim really well and injecting a lot of energy into the team. If he can be at this level, Louisville should be a Top 5 to 10 team throughout the year.
- The other game I really enjoyed this weekend was Ohio State and West Virginia battling it out in Cleveland. I know it was a rock fight and there were a bunch of fouls, but I give a lot of credit to West Virginia for making it that kind of game. The Mountaineers did a great job of neutralizing Kaleb Wesson with their variety of big bodies and having this game played the way they wanted. Freshman point guard Miles McBride showed impressive shot making ability, scoring a game high 21 points, and winning the game despite having starting bigs Oscar Tshiebwe and Derek Culver in foul trouble. Meanwhile, I’m not worried about the Buckeyes at all. They had glimpses of being a hyper elite team with their ball movement and ability to make threes. Duane Washington has evolved to be an elite shooter from deep and they have multiple other guys who make shots from deep. I think they will continue to be one of the top teams in the country and they should compete for the Big Ten title as well as make a deep run in March.
- I have Arizona ranked thirtieth right now, and I’m not totally sure they deserve it. However, I do believe that this team will eventually bounce back and be a good unit through Pac-12 play. I trust freshmen Nico Mannion, Josh Green, and Zeke Nnaji to keep getting better throughout the year. They have a lot of talent on the roster and I think they’ll get to be a very good team. However, you could argue that there’s a ton of other teams that deserve the spot, and I wouldn’t disagree with you. I’m going to keep my trust in Sean Miller and the talented players he has, but they are certainly on thin ice at the moment.
- As I mentioned in the intro, conference play begins this weekend. The Big East figures to be competitive night in and night out, with no real bottom feeders, and you'll see some of their games down below. The same can be said for leagues like the Big Ten and Big 12, but I wanted to look at some teams with some starts to league play that are under the radar, but still difficult. Oregon begins Pac-12 play with the always tough road trip to Colorado and Utah, and we will learn a lot about the Ducks in those two games. Those are two tough places to play, and the Buffaloes are a fringe Top 25 unit while the Utes took down Kentucky, so nothing will come easy for Oregon at the start of league play. San Diego State also opens with two tough games. Fresno State isn't the best team this year, but then they take a trip to Utah State. The Aggies were the preseason favorite in the Mountain West, and that will be a real test to San Diego State's undefeated record. Other mid major darlings Dayton open with two road games in Philadelphia, starting with a trip to a 9-3 La Salle team, followed by a game against Saint Joe's. While the Hawks are struggling this year, the game against La Salle won't be the easiest start to Atlantic Ten play for the Flyers, and they'll be wise not to overlook it. Finally, Texas Tech hosts Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have lost three of their last five, but those losses all came without point guard Isaac Likekele, who is back in the lineup for Mike Boynton. With him healthy again, he could give the Red Raiders problems if they overlook the Cowboys because of their recent play.
What to Watch
Monday
#26 Xavier at #10 Villanova
Seton Hall at #22 DePaul
Tuesday
#11 Butler at Saint John's
Wednesday
Marquette at #29 Creighton
Thursday
Minnesota at Purdue
Illinois at #13 Michigan State
#6 Oregon at Colorado
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