NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Michigan State soars, Memphis plummets

With teams across the nation playing better competition with conference play underway, there were several shifts in the NCAA Basketball Power Rankings.

Happy New Year! Now that the calendar has flipped to 2020, it is time for NCAA basketball to begin taking center stage in the sporting world (in America) moving forward. Non-conference schedules are essentially complete for every team in the country and postseason resumes are starting to become more and more important with each passing day. Additionally, conference play represents an uptick in competition for most teams and that has resulted in several shifts in my national Top 25 power rankings once again.

Most notably, Michigan State and Florida State appear to be on the rise. Both of these teams have been steadily sitting in my 15-20 range over the past few weeks but deservedly skyrocketed this time around following quality wins while other squads dropped games. The Spartans picked up a big-time home win over Michigan to warrant their jump in the rankings while the Seminoles took down Louisville. MSU and FSU are major contenders not only to win their respective conferences but also to win the national championship.

On the downswing, Memphis took the biggest tumble this week. The Tigers had been playing well since losing James Wiseman for the season but a home loss to Georgia changes things. Memphis still made the rankings this week but dropped significantly after sitting on the fringe of the Top 10 a week ago. The Tigers will have to earn back some stock with strong performances in AAC play.

There were, though, more shifts than just FSU/MSU rising and Memphis dropping. Without any further ado, let’s dive into this week’s edition of my national Top 25 power rankings for NCAA Basketball. (I have also included an “others considered” section at the end of the piece.)