Now that there have been a couple weeks of Shooty Hoops to sink our teeth into, it’s time for us to take a stab at ranking who we think are the top 16 teams in the land. There were some pretty obvious choices, and some not so obvious ones.
First and foremost, the Duke Blue Devils are an incredibly good basketball team this year. They have earned every single first place vote in both the AP and Coach’s polls. They’re fourth in the nation in scoring with 88.1 points per game, 12th in assists and 10th in shooting percentage – and that’s against some decent competition too. We may not see them get toppled in the regular season this year if this keeps up.
Also surprising are the Connecticut Huskies. They started out the season unranked and have since gone undefeated, with wins over Michigan State and Kentucky. It seems like the traditional basketball powers are in play again this season.
In other news, there is a new feature we will be running here at the Buckeye Battle Cry. Jay will be choosing the biggest non-Buckeye game each week to watch and analyze. This week’s game pits the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Baylor Bears. Keep an eye out on Sunday for his analysis of the game!
Read on to find our rankings! Please note the rankings reflect results up to Tuesday Morning.*
College Basketball Power 16
- Duke – Big victories over Michigan State, Kansas State, Oregon, Butler and Marquette – 5 of their 10 wins so far, give them the number one spot with an exclaimation point. This team is going to be tough to topple.
- Connecticut – Undefeated, with wins over Kentucky and Michigan State
- Syracuse – Haven’t played quite the murderer’s row that Duke has, but a solid win over Michigan State (by 14) along with wins over NC State and Michigan give us something to point to.
- Michigan State – Their only losses are to undefeated Duke, undefeated Syracuse, and undefeated UConn. ’nuff said. This is probably the highest ranked 3 loss team ever for this early in the season. The close win over Oakland – plus the fact that the teams they’ve lost to continue to be undefeated – keeps them from being higher. If they pull another Oakland, expect them to drop.
- Ohio State – The Buckeyes are clearly good, but having only played Florida and Florida State, it’s tough to judge them fairly against the rest of the field. We may have to wait until Big Ten play to get a better idea. They’ve also struggled against a few weaker opponents. Maybe they just struggle to get up for the lower teams?
- Tennessee – I don’t like ranking cheaters highly, but this Tennessee team is working teams over. Granted their two best wins are against the Big East, which has been a little down of late. Still, Villanova and Pittsburgh are pretty good basketball teams this year.
- Kansas – A good win over Memphis, along with wins over Arizona and UCLA are nice. Would like to see a bit more from the Jayhawks before I commit to more.
- Kansas State – We’re going to know a lot more about this Wildcat team next week after they play Florida and UNLV. Right now their best wins are Virginia Tech, Gonzaga, and a rough loss to Duke.
- San Diego State – Their win over Gonzaga, along with a crushing win over California make this team look good. They also easily handled an IUPUI team that gave Ohio State trouble. Maybe these guys are legit?
- Baylor – The Bears have yet to play anyone with a pulse, but did show that they’re deserving to be in the ranking discussion with a 14 point win over Arizona State. Their game against Gonzaga on Saturday will tell us a bit more. Make certain to stop by on Sunday for Jay’s analysis of the Baylor game!
- Lousiville – Wins against Butler and UNLV make this team look pretty good so far. We’ll know a lot more on New Year’s Eve when they play the Wildcats of Kentucky.
- Illinois – Their overtime loss to Texas – a Texas team that got wacked by USC a couple days ago – hurts them a bit. Expect them to be in the top 10 towards the end of the season.
- Pittsburgh – Their loss to Tennessee on Saturday hurts, but they’ve at least got wins over Texas and Maryland to prop themselves up.
- Villanova – A loss to Tennessee, plus no other substantial wins of note, keeps their ranking down. They won’t likely face real competition until the middle of January – a home date against Louisville.
- Brigham Young – The Coug’s haven’t really faced anyone with a pulse, but they’ve at least beaten everyone on the schedule so far. Their biggest challenges may come in conference against UNLV and San Diego State.
- Missouri – Their only loss was in overtime to Georgetown. They only sneak into the rankings with close wins over Oregon and Vanderbilt.
Big Ten Power Rankings
Unlike last year where we only ran the Basketball Power 16 poll, this year we’re adding a new element – Big Ten power rankings! I imagine these won’t change as much as the Power 16 does, but there should still be some intrigue and excitement involved.
And, yes, I did just rank a three loss MSU team over the Buckeyes.
- Michigan State – MSU may have one of the worst records in the Big Ten right now, but all three of their losses came to teams that are currently undefeated. However, another close call against a team like Oakland again and they’ll find themselves sliding in this list.
- Ohio State – OSU’s thus-far undefeated season is very impressive, but their only real challenges have come against Florida and Florida State. An uninspired game against IUPUI keeps them from holding the top spot.
- Illinois – a win over a good Maryland team, and a win over ranked Gonzaga, plus an overtime loss to ranked Texas puts Illinois in good shape coming down the pipe. We’ll get a good chance to see what they’re made of against #12 Missouri on December 22nd.
- Purdue – A loss to Richmond and an overtime game against Virginia Tech drops Purdue a ways. They also haven’t really played anyone else – but did handle Oakland a whole lot better than MSU did.
- Wisconsin – A decent win against Marquette last Saturday helps this team a lot, along with a good win against Boston College in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Losses to Notre Dame and UNLV don’t hurt much, considering they’re both 9-1.
- Minnesota – The Gopher’s haven’t really played anyone so far this year. No, UNC doesn’t count – and a rough loss to Virginia doesn’t help either. They have looked good in a number of other games, though.
- Michigan – A close loss to an undefeated Syracuse team goes a long way to making your team look good. But following it up with a 9 point loss to UTEP does not help your case any. Also, a three point game with Harvard? Come on.
- Northwestern – Undefeated, but they’ve played exactly nobody – meaning I can’t put them at #3 like I originally intended. Georgia Tech only put up a fight in the first half before succumbing.
- Indiana – The only real teams they’ve played – Boston College and Kentucky – whooped ’em. The Hoosier’s won’t be tested again until Ohio State comes to town at the end of the month.
- Penn State – Beaten everyone they’re supposed to, but been killed by everyone they’re not. A 62-39 shellacking by Maryland really hurts this team.
- Iowa – A .500 record through 10 games is bad enough, but with losses to South Dakota State and Long Beach State you’re not looking too good.
* Thank you, Nick, for pointing out an important missed detail in this article.
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