NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Baylor rolling, Ohio State tumbling

I am a major believer in Stanford. The Cardinal might not have entered this season with tremendously high expectations but they are a fun team to watch and boast a resume worthy of at least consideration for the Top 25. They sit at 14-2 (3-0 P12) to begin this season with their only two losses of the season coming to teams that will be ranked in my Top 10 later in this article.

Head coach Jerod Haase’s team might not feature any wins over guaranteed NCAA Tournament teams but it has simply handled its business against lesser opponents. Not many teams in the country can say that and Stanford sits safely in my Top 25 this week as a result.

Of course, it also helped that the team moved to 3-0 in Pac-12 play following back-to-back home wins over Washington and Washington State. Both were relatively impressive performances and pushed the Cardinal to No. 41 on KenPom, a season-high ranking.

Stanford’s schedule, though, is about to get much more challenging as it embarks on a three-game road trip to face UCLA, USC, and California over the next couple of weeks. They will likely be favored in at least two of those contests and returning home with a winning record on the road trip should be the goal. I have been on the Stanford bandwagon for the past few weeks but it has now proven worthy of safely being ranked, in my opinion.

With regard to individual leaders, Tyrell Terry and Spencer Jones make up one of the most underappreciated freshmen duos in the country. Both players can absolutely light it up on the perimeter and have emerged as 9+ points per game scorers next to star player Oscar Da Silva. Stanford relies on these three to lead the way offensively and the team also can dominate on the other end of the floor.

The Cardinal rank 12th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency.