Mid-major Basketball power rankings: SDSU, BYU and Richmond make gains
3. Dayton Flyers 13-2 (2-0 in Atlantic 10)
Still without a loss in regulation time, Dayton’s top-10 offense continues to roll now in conference play. In a pair of road wins over La Salle and St. Joe’s, the Flyers scored over 80 points each, including other players outside of Obi Toppin contributing. If Ryan Mikesell, Trey Landers and Ibi Watson continue to score 15+ points in games, it’s hard to see which team in the A-10 can keep up with them.
2. San Diego State Aztecs 16-0 (5-0 in Mountain West)
It’s taken a while but the Aztecs finally has cracked the top-10 in the AP top-25 power rankings. Even dealing with a couple of injuries in the frontcourt, San Diego State continues to be too much for Mountain West foes. And no program has benefitted more from transfers, with Malachi Flynn and Yanni Wetzel continue to have great performances. But recently, we’re seeing that the depth of this team has been just as big a strength.
1. Gonzaga Bulldogs 16-1 (2-0 in WCC)
The curse of the No. 1 national ranking almost took out Gonzaga, trailing at the half on the road at Portland last week. They then needed a last-second block on a three-point attempt to avoid losing to Pepperdine at home. It was by no means the typical impressive display by the Bulldogs but considering the number of upset losses this season, I’m sure Coach Mark Few will take it for now.
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The free throw problems continue to persist and could be a fatal flaw for Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament. But their saving grace could be Killian Tillie, who scored 42 points last week and was the MVP for the Bulldogs in those games. If he’s healthy, Gonzaga really could be the best team in the country.