Another week of the 2018-19 NCAA basketball season is complete. With conference play starting around the country, where do teams rank in our top-25?
League play is here! After two months of non-conference matchups, the NCAA basketball season is just hitting its stride. Football season is nearly complete and it is not *almost* time for fans around the nation to turn their full attention the best sport on earth. Okay, maybe a little bit of bias (and hyperbole) there but let’s be real: NCAA basketball is fantastic. So, for those of you who are just catching up, this article will break down my current top-25 power rankings.
As always, this piece will break down each of my top-25 teams with some analysis of how they have gotten to where they are and how the team can improve moving forward. Additionally, there is also a brief overview below of five (cut down from 10) teams that I am intrigued about potentially (re)joining the top-25. Now, without any further introduction, let’s dive in! (All statistics used in this article were found via KenPom or Sports-Reference.)
Others to watch:
Nebraska Cornhuskers: An incredibly balanced team, Nebraska is right on the fringe of the top-25 right now for me. If they are able to continue Big Ten play with back-to-back road wins over Maryland and Iowa (a tall feat, I know), they will definitely crack the rankings.
Arizona State Sun Devils: Will Arizona State find any consistency? After starting the year 7-0, these are the results of their last five games: loss to Nevada (72-66), win at Georgia (76-74), loss at Vanderbilt (81-65), win over Kansas (80-76), loss to Princeton (67-66). The Sun Devils are the clear favorite in the Pac-12 but they need to find some consistency.
Florida Gators: Florida might already have four losses but they have no bad losses and added a dominant win over Butler (who beat them earlier this year) this past weekend. The Gators have played great over the past month and a strong start in SEC play would put them in.
Seton Hall Pirates: Now winners of six consecutive games, Seton Hall is knocking on the door of the top-25. They do, though, have back-to-back road games coming up against Xavier and DePaul, admittedly the bottom of the Big East, that could be challenging. Make it through those two and welcome to the rankings.
Iowa Hawkeyes: Iowa has quietly gone about its business during the last couple of weeks but their last three wins have come against teams ranked 300+ on KenPom. That doesn’t help the team rejoin the rankings. They are already 0-2 in Big Ten play and they will be underdogs in at least two of their next three games.
Fell out of the rankings: Arizona State (23)