Men’s College Basketball Rankings: Florida Surges, Virginia Cracks Top 10
The final regular-season rankings are in, just in time for the best stretch of the college basketball calendar. It’s time for conference championship week, with Selection Sunday right around the corner. My top-3 teams remain unchanged, but UConn’s shocking loss to Marquette could shake up the 1-seed picture and open the door for Florida, a team that has surged after a shaky 5-4 start to the season. The defending champs are now rolling, riding an 11-game winning streak and fresh off clinching the SEC regular-season title. Here’s the latest edition of my men’s college basketball rankings. Note on Miami (Ohio): The RedHawks continue to win and are now 31-0, but they’re still not close to being ranked in my top 25. I respect their undefeated record, but it matters that their schedule ranks 276th in the country. What’s more, they rank 53rd in NET and 90th in KenPom. They deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament, but I don’t believe they’d beat any teams on this list on a neutral floor. Georgia finished the regular season by winning five of its past six games, including a 10-point victory over Alabama at home. Led by star guards Jeremiah Wilkinson and Blue Cain, the Bulldogs own the 12th-best offense in the country. Louisville finished with an important and impressive win this week on the road against Miami (Fla.). The Cardinals secured that win without star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. I don’t know if his back will allow him to play in late March, but senior guard Ryan Conwell should not be overlooked — by any opponent. Tennessee has 10 losses, but the Vols also played the 11th-toughest schedule in the nation. That matters to me. Their wins over Houston, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Louisville have proven that this is one of the top-25 teams in the country. Wisconsin has ping-ponged in and out of my top 25 for the past month and a half. The Badgers finished the regular season with three consecutive wins, including an impressive final stretch at Purdue. Standouts Nick Boyd and John Blackwell — the “Killer B’s” — are really hard to guard. Saint Mary’s is 27-4, and head coach Randy Bennett still doesn’t get talked about enough on the national stage. I look forward to Game 3 against Gonzaga this year. I have a lot of respect for North Carolina and how it has navigated the Caleb Wilson injury (out for the year with broken thumb). The Tar Heels lost to Duke on Saturday but won four of their past five. The problem is that a fourth-place finish in the ACC isn’t the standard there. I’m curious to see if they can win more than two NCAA Tournament games. Vanderbilt started 16-0 but found SEC play difficult, as the Commodores managed an 11-7 record. I love how they finished, though, with a road win over Tennessee on Saturday. Guard Tyler Tanner led the way with 25 points. The Dores’ offense ranks 15th in KenPom and is a joy to watch. Arkansas coach John Calipari has been telling us all year — and then Texas coach Sean Miller spent five minutes of his post-game press conference also telling us: Darius Acuff Jr. is the top point guard in the country, regardless of class. I believe them. The Razorbacks finished the SEC with a 13-5 record and tied with Alabama for second place. The Boilermakers have struggled as of late, dropping three of their last four, including a 97-93 loss to Wisconsin on Senior Night. The last time Purdue topped the 90-point mark and lost was against Iowa State on Nov. 24, 1987. Kansas lost to Arizona State but finished off its up-and-down conference season with a win over Kansas State. Star guard Darryn Peterson had 27 points, five rebounds and four assists to break out of a mini-slump. I have no idea what this team is going to do offensively on a weekly basis, but the Jayhawks’ defense is better than every other team below them in my rankings. Texas Tech finished its regular season with back-to-back losses to TCU and BYU — the Red Raiders’ first losses since JT Toppin’s injury three weeks ago. Last week, they beat Iowa State on the road to prove how good they still are, and that’s ultimately why they only dropped a couple spots in my rankings. St. John’s finished the Big East regular season with an 18-2 record and — because of UConn’s upset loss to Marquette — the conference title belongs to the Johnnies for the second consecutive season. Senior center Zuby Ejiofor does whatever needs to be done for this squad. Will his teammates be consistent enough to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament? For the past two months, I’ve consistently said that Gonzaga is the hardest team for me to rank because of the injury to power forward Braden Huff, who’s questionable to return any day from a knee issue. The Zags are 28-3 with six wins over top-50 NET opponents. They will likely have another rematch with Saint Mary’s in the conference tournament, which will be crucial for their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Alabama finished the regular season winning nine of its past 10 games. The Crimson Tide are one of the most unbalanced teams in the country: their offense ranks third, but their defense ranks 66th, according to KenPom. Alabama is not a true title contender, but its offense can blow any team out of the water. Illinois is tall and talented and possesses the top-ranked offense in the country. On the other hand, the Fighting Illini’s defense struggles in big stretches, and they rely heavily on 3-point shooting. They could win it all — or lose in the first two rounds. There are very few teams that I can say that about. Virginia isn’t on the same level as Duke, but this is still an excellent team. Led by Thijs De Ridder and Malik Thomas, the Cavaliers picked up wins against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest to end the regular season. They are the second-best team in the ACC. Michigan State is so darn tough, but the Spartans lack the talent and skill to beat Michigan and other elite teams in the country. This team can make a Final Four run, but that’s its ceiling. Tom Izzo has done a wonderful job with this group, nonetheless. Nebraska picked up a nice overtime win at home against Iowa on Sunday, as three players went for 15 points. Sam Hoiberg was one of those players, and he had five steals. If he’s that productive in the NCAA Tournament, Nebraska is going to win its first game in the Big Dance. Iowa State limped to the finish line a bit this past week, losing to Arizona by 16 and picking up a win against Arizona State. The Cyclones’ defense is still the seventh-best in KenPom, but their offense has been inconsistent. UConn fell to Marquette on Saturday in a stunner. The loss cost the Huskies the Big East regular-season title and will likely cost them a 1-seed, unless they win the conference tournament and get some help from Florida. Houston finished the regular season with three wins against below-average Big 12 opponents. The Cougars don’t have a single win over a top-10 team this year, but I still believe in this roster. Freshman point guard Kingston Flemings should be a star in March. After starting 5-4, Florida finished the regular season 20-2. The Gators are ranked in the top 10 in both offense and defense and have scored 84 points or more in their past five games. This young Arizona squad remains the most fascinating team in the nation to watch because the Wildcats do it their own way. They don’t worry about 3-point shooting and just smash you over the head for 40 minutes. Only two teams have been able to stop them: Texas Tech and Kansas. Michigan is my personal favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, but Duke has earned the No. 1 ranking by their neutral-court win over the Wolverines last month. Dusty May’s team finished their regular season sweep of rival Michigan State with a 10-point win on Sunday. Duke and its No. 1-ranked defense just completed a 17-1 ACC regular season. The Blue Devils’ only conference loss came on a buzzer-beating 3 at UNC. They got revenge this weekend with a 15-point win over the Tar Heels on Saturday.
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