1. Kansas (10-2, 1-0 Big XII; 0)
2. Duke (13-1, 3-0 ACC; 0)
3. Auburn (13-0, 1-0 SEC; +2)
4. West Virginia (11-2, 0-1 Big XII; -1)
5. San Diego State (14-0, 4-0 MWC; -1)
6. Maryland (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten; +1)
7. Michigan State (12-3, 4-0 Big Ten; +5)
8. Butler (14-1, 2-0 Big East; 0)
9. Baylor (11-1, 1-0 Big XII; 0)
10. Ohio State (11-3, 1-2 Big Ten; -4)
11. Dayton (13-2, 2-0 A-10; +4)
12. Florida State (13-2, 3-1 ACC; +6)
13. Arizona (11-3, 1-0 Pac-12; +7)
14. Oregon (12-3, 1-1 Pac-12; -3)
15. Gonzaga (16-1, 2-0 WCC; -5)
16. Arkansas (12-1, 1-0 SEC; -2)
17. Wichita State (13-1, 1-0 AAC; 0)
18. Louisville (11-3, 2-1 ACC; -5)
19. Virginia (11-2, 3-0 ACC; +4)
20. Penn State (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten; +4)
21. Villanova (10-3, 1-1 Big East; -5)
22. Colorado (12-3, 1-1 Pac-12; -1)
23. Memphis (12-2, 1-0 AAC; -4)
24. Xavier (12-3, 1-1 Big East; -2)
25. Marquette (11-3, 1-1 Big East; +2)
26-30. Rutgers, Seton Hall, BYU, Kentucky, St. Mary’s
It was an interesting week in college basketball as everyone swung back into conference play. A few notable games to talk about, including some upsets, and a few things that I think I can feel smug about this week. Let’s get into it!
There wasn’t a lot of turnover in the top 5, but #3 AUBURN was the beneficiary of some higher-ranked teams slipping. #4 West Virginia made a strong showing at Kansas despite losing, I think showing a lot of people that yeah, they really are a top ten team, but it was still a loss. #5 San Diego State remained undefeated with two Mountain West wins, but didn’t win either game by double figures, so they also took a slight hit. Auburn’s move to #3 comes as a result of jumping those two rather than anything they actually did this week.
#7 MICHIGAN STATE is back! In the first update I did this season, the Spartans were ranked 6th despite a shaky résumé, getting the benefit of the doubt from preseason adjustments. Now those adjustments are gone, and it turns out the system was right yet again! Two very impressive wins over #59 Illinois and #35 Michigan this week.
#15 GONZAGA continues to underperform public perception, this time with only a 5 point home win over #188 Pepperdine. If they really are the best team in the land like the AP Poll seems to be convinced of, I would hope that the WCC slate wouldn’t be any trouble for them at all, but I don’t think that’s gonna be the case.
The only team moving into this week’s top 25 is #25 MARQUETTE. The Golden Eagles actually lost a game this week, at Creighton on Wednesday, but gained it all back and more by defeating #21 Villanova at home on Saturday. The Big East is an absolute bloodbath this year.
The only team dropping out of the top 25 is #35 MICHIGAN. UM only played once this week, but it wasn’t a fun one, getting smacked by rival Michigan State on the road. Michigan’s strength of schedule also took some hits with Gonzaga dropping and Louisville and Oregon each losing a game.
Notable unranked teams include #31 Stanford, #33 Indiana, #34 Florida, #35 Michigan, #36 Creighton, #38 Wisconsin, #42 Washington, #46 USC, #49 Georgia, #53 TCU, #57 Georgetown, #59 Illinois, #68 Saint Louis, #77 North Carolina, #79 Arizona State, #84 Missouri, #95 Ole Miss, #130 UCLA, #185 Cal, #191 Murray State, #199 Illinois State, #331 SEMO and #336 SIUE. If you want to see the full rankings, check them out on the Rankings page here at thebracketbot.com, where I’ve been updating them every day!
Games of the Week: one game for each day of this week that I think you should try to watch, along with viewing information and my pick for the final score.
Monday: West Virginia @ Oklahoma State, 9:00 ET on ESPN2. WVU 65, Oklahoma State 63
Tuesday: Ohio State @ Maryland, 7:00 ET on ESPN. Maryland 66, OSU 65
Wednesday: Arkansas @ LSU, 9:00 ET on ESPNU. LSU 71, Arkansas 70
Thursday: Arizona @ Oregon, 9:00 ET on ESPN. Oregon 72, Arizona 71
Friday: Maryland @ Iowa, 7:00 ET on FS1. Iowa 75, Maryland 74
Saturday: Wisconsin @ Penn State, 2:15 ET on BTN. Penn State 66, Wisconsin 63
Sunday: Michigan @ Minnesota, 1:00 ET on BTN. Minnesota 70, Michigan 67
Game of the Week: Arizona/Oregon. For the second consecutive week, a Ducks game gets the top spot.
That’s all I have for this week! Later on this week I’ll be posting my first bracket predictions for this March! Alright, good luck to everybody and your favorite teams this week; I hope 2020 is off to a good start, and I’ll see you here this time next week!
BracketBot 