The college basketball season has arrived at Christmas, which means just a handful of games in a three-day span from December 24 through December 26. On the other side of the three-day Christmas break (minus the teams involved in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, with San Diego State and San Francisco playing in Sunday’s championship game), conference play will begin for most teams. A few others will begin conference play a week later, just after the arrival of the new year. This isn’t a prediction of where teams will fall. It’s a measurement of where these college basketball teams are now.
Baylor Bears
The Bears still have the best collection of wins. Their victory over Louisville also looks a lot better after the Cardinals beat Kentucky on Wednesday. Baylor might not have the one win which trumps every other win, but the grouping of wins makes a complete resume. The Bears challenged themselves in many ways and passed each test. Villanova and UCLA certainly get more publicity – Nova because it is the defending national champion, UCLA because it is in the nation’s second-largest media market, Los Angeles. However, publicity is not the same as the merit on one’s collection of accomplishments. Baylor is still the top college basketball team due to its body of work.
UCLA Bruins
The competition between UCLA and Villanova for number two behind Baylor is extremely close. Baylor has separated itself, but the Bruins and Wildcats are closer. It’s a mixed bag after the past week. UCLA’s win at Kentucky is better than any other Villanova win, but Kentucky lost the past week. However, Kentucky lost to an excellent team (Louisville) while beating a very good team as well (North Carolina). The Kentucky win for UCLA was not meaningfully diminished or downgraded. Villanova has the win at Purdue plus a win over Notre Dame, which are both likely to look very good at the end of the season. However, UCLA isn’t playing cupcakes. It is collecting wins over Big Ten teams and other high majors. Ohio State (last Saturday) is not a great win, but it adds to the college basketball resume.
Villanova Wildcats
The defending national champions are right there with UCLA in a nip-and-tuck race for second and third. One could debate that for a long time, but this is a race which will have to run its course a little longer to gain more textures and dimensions. They have four players who are averaging double-figures, including Josh Hart, who pours in 20.8 points per contest.
Louisville Cardinals
The new entry in the top five is the result of a huge win over Kentucky. The Cardinals have usually struggled against the Wildcats, but they got the better of their in-state rivals this time. Winning against Kentucky is a big trump card for the Cardinals, but they’re also No. 4 because Kentucky now has two losses and can’t be in the top five. Moreover, if you’re thinking that Kansas should be No. 4, the Jayhawks’ lone loss was to Indiana. The Hoosiers lost to Butler last Saturday, diminishing the quality of that loss for KU. Louisville’s loss to Baylor is a better loss, given that the Bears are unbeaten and deserve to be No. 1.
Kansas Jayhawks
The Jayhawks simply fall in behind Louisville. They’re ahead of Duke because they beat the Blue Devils head-to-head where they beat the Blue Devils by two points on November 15th. They are currently riding an 11-game winning streak into the holiday break as they have been virtually unstoppable since losing their season opener. That loss came to the No. 11 ranked Indiana Hoosiers by four points in overtime, on a neutral site. It’s hard to fault them for that.
The Jayhawks have been led by Frank Mason III, who is currently averaging 19.7 points per game along with 5.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds. He is one of four double-digit scorers for the Jayhawks, which shows just how versatile they have been this season. Josh Jackson is averaging 15.6 points per game, Devonte’ Graham is chipping in 12.6 and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is pouring in 11.1. When you have four players that are giving you nearly 60 points per game, you’re going to be a team that goes deep into the March Madness tournament.
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