The college basketball season is done with nearly two full weeks. The holiday tournaments are in full swing and some single-game surprises have emerged as well. One of the surprises took down the number one team in last week’s power rankings. How is the sport different?
Villanova Wildcats
The Wildcats replace Indiana at the top of this list. Indiana is really the story of the week in college basketball, because the Hoosiers – following their big win over Kansas, another team that’s going to be in the hunt for a No. 1 seed – abruptly reversed course. Indiana was stunned by the Fort Wayne Mastodons in overtime on Tuesday night. The Hoosiers never really found a comfortable rhythm. They scrambled late in regulation to overcome a modest deficit and push the hosts into overtime, but they never could settle down and establish the tempo or flow they wanted. Indiana had a hard time creating and making the three-point shots it buried against Kansas. In a very short time, the Hoosiers’ season has taken on a very different quality.
Villanova therefore slides up in the standings after winning a relatively small tournament in Charleston, South Carolina. The Wildcats didn’t score any huge wins, but they won comfortably each time they took the court.
Kentucky Wildcats
If Kentucky was third in last week’s rankings, it moves up to second after Indiana’s crash. The Wildcats did not encounter a particularly challenging part of the schedule over the past week, but they’re cruising in the games they have. These rankings should be fairly fluid from week to week, but for now, Kentucky is second.
Baylor Bears
The Bears are in the midst of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas. They could very well leave the Bahamas out of the top five, but their first-round win over Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday afternoon gives them the claim to stay in these rankings for now. The Bears were outplayed in the first half, but they stormed VCU in the second half with the level of defensive energy which is needed to be a top-level team.
On Thanskgiving Thursday, the Bears added another impressive win to their collection as they beat the No. 24 college basketball team in the country: Michigan State. They had no problems doing so either as they won 73-58.
Coach Scott Drew is one of the more underappreciated head coaches in the country, and the old criticisms about his ineffectiveness – which once had some merit – no longer apply. It’s a different program now. We’ll see if they can keep it up against No. 10 Louisville on Friday.
North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels are playing right now in the championship game of the Maui Invitational against Wisconsin. If the Tar Heels win that game, they should move up to number two behind Villanova. If they lose, they would fall out of this list. North Carolina crushed a decent Oklahoma State team in the Maui semifinals on Tuesday. The Tar Heels ran the floor and ran the Cowboys into submission. This team is long and deep and able to win with its offense and its defense in equal measure. It will be hard to beat this team on the boards; opponents need to shoot very efficiently to have a good chance against UNC this season.
Kansas Jayhawks
The Jayhawks won a two-game mini-tournament in Kansas City against UAB and Georgia. That’s no big deal, but it’s certainly enough to keep the Jayhawks in the No. 5 spot they occupied last week. While these wins were not all that impressive – it’s not as if anyone will mistake Georgia or UAB as Final Four teams – they were still important as the Jayhawks already have a loss on their resume so far this season. As you might recall, they opened up their college basketball campaign wit ha loss to No. 11 Indiana. While that loss was in overtime on a neutral court, it was a loss nonetheless and it hurt their standing. Since then, they’ve now managed to collect four straight wins, which includes a win over the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils. This team looks like it’s back on track and should be able to string together about eight wins in a row before they face a challenge from Kansas State on January 3rd.
