NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Indiana, Marquette quietly rising

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 08: Joey Hauser #22 and Sam Hauser #10 of the Marquette Golden Eagles celebrate after beating the Wisconsin Badgers 74-69 in overtime at the Fiserv Forum on December 08, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 04: Oklahoma Sooners head coach Kruger claps. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

23. Oklahoma Sooners

Last Week: Unranked

I have been impressed by Oklahoma in this young season. After losing star guard Trae Young to the NBA Draft this offseason, many expected that the Sooners would take a significant step back. Yet, head coach Lon Kruger’s team has played very solid basketball so far this season. At 8-1 with wins over a bunch of high-quality teams, the Sooners definitely belong at least in consideration for the top-25.

Looking ahead, Oklahoma has a few big opportunities coming up to move up these rankings. To close out what has been a rigorous non-conference schedule, the Sooners will take on USC (N), Creighton (H), and Northwestern (A) in their final games before Big 12 play. Oh, and it doesn’t get any easier in conference play as Oklahoma’s first contest will come against Kansas on the road.

While this is a deep offensive club (seven players averaging five or more points per game), senior guard Christian James is the go-to scorer on seemingly every possession. He is averaging 19.2 points per game to lead the team so far this season and can do a little bit of everything on the offensive end. When he is on, the Sooners are very difficult to stop. As a team, Oklahoma is shooting 39.4% from three (26th nationally) and allowing opponents to score just 64.9 points per game.

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