Week 2 Power Rankings
This past week saw multiple great performances, headlined by the Big Ten’s dominance, the fall of Villanova, and other great games from the week. Here are my updated Power Rankings heading into another week of College Basketball.
1.Duke: The Blue Devils continue to impress, they look like the best team in the country. They will be tested this week in the loaded Maui Invitational but they will have a good chance to win the event.
2.Kansas: The Jayhawks didn’t look great against Vermont and Louisiana-Lafayette but they still got wins. They’ll likely get a matchup against Tennessee, which will test them.
3.Virginia: The Cavaliers continue to roll on through an easy schedule, thankfully they will play good teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis this week.
4.Nevada: The Wolf Pack continue to roll through easy teams, no reason to move them up or down.
5.Auburn: The Tigers continue to look good, they’ll likely play Duke in the Maui Invitational this week, if they win that event they could make an argument for being ranked number one.
6.Michigan: The Wolverines had the week of the season, as they beat Villanova on the road by 27 and then won the Naismith Hall of Fame Tip-off title.
7.North Carolina: The Tar Heels finally played a home game, they won those games by beating Stanford and Tennessee Tech pretty dominantly.
8.Gonzaga: The Bulldogs continue to rack up a lot of a lot of points while playing a really fun brand of basketball. They will play in the Maui Invitational this week, which will be fun to watch.
9.Virginia Tech: The Hokies picked up a quality win against Purdue to win the Charleston Classic. They have an elite backcourt duo in Justin Robinson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who both played great in that event.
10.Tennessee: The Volunteers beat Georgia Tech at home this week, next up is the NIT Season Tip-off, which will likely give them an opportunity against Kansas.
11.Florida State: The Seminoles continue to roll on, they will play in the AdvoCare Invitational, which will give them a couple of good opportunities to pick up quality wins.
12.Kansas State: Kansas State is one win away from winning the US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, they’ll play ex-Big 12 foe Missouri in the title game tonight.
13.NC State: The Wolfpack are rolling through an easy non-conference schedule, they’ll get another week where they play easy opponents before the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge.
14.Michigan State: The Spartans have been good since losing to Kansas on opening night. This week they’ll play UCLA and either Texas or North Carolina in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.
15.Kentucky: Kentucky has yet to look good this season, fortunately, I guess it doesn’t matter because right now they aren’t playing anyone good, so they can still win games.
16.Iowa: The Hawkeyes surprised everyone by beating Oregon in game one of the 2K Classic, then they backed it up by winning the event by beating Uconn in the title game.
17.Wisconsin: The Badgers picked up a solid win at Xavier, which is good to see for them, while Ethan Happ has been a great player thus far this year. The Badgers should probably do well this week in the Battle 4 Atlantis, which will be fun to watch.
18.LSU: The Tigers continue to fail to cover, which isn’t great but they are still undefeated. The Tigers could win a couple of games this week in the AdvoCare Invitational.
19.Nebraska: Nebraska blew out Seton Hall at home, they continue to look good. They’ll probably be the favorites to win the CBE Hall of Fame Classic this week.
20.Mississippi State: The Bulldogs are still playing well, I think they will win the MGM Resorts Main Event this week.
21.Texas: The Longhorns have played well this year, which includes a win over Arkansas. This team will be tested this week as they will play North Carolina, and either UCLA or Michigan State this week.
22.Indiana: The Hoosiers were dominant against Marquette this week but they then lost to Arkansas on the road. Those types of losses aren’t great but this team should be fine.
23.Furman: Furman now has wins over two of the four Final Four teams from last year, as they have now won at Villanova and at Loyola-Chicago. This team looks poised to be atop the SoCon standings with Wofford and UNC Greensboro this year.
24.Butler: The Bulldogs looked good against Ole Miss at home this week. Their games in the Battle 4 Atlantis will be key in terms of picking up quality wins.
25.Buffalo: The Bulls picked up a quality wins at Southern-Illinois this week, no reason to drop them because of that.
Just Missed Out: Purdue, St. John’s, Clemson, Ohio State, Florida