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NCAA Basketball: Duke and Virginia move up in latest top-25 power rankings

By Tristan Freeman

AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 24: Andrew Jones #1 of the Texas Longhorns brings the ball up court against the West Virginia Mountaineers at The Frank Erwin Center on February 24, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 24: Andrew Jones #1 of the Texas Longhorns brings the ball up court against the West Virginia Mountaineers at The Frank Erwin Center on February 24, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball UCLA Bruins Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
NCAA Basketball UCLA Bruins Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

21. Louisville Cardinals (8-1, 3-0)

The backcourt duo of David Johnson and Carlik Jones continues to impress, each scoring 17 points in the 73-71 win over Virginia Tech. A special shoutout has to go to freshman forward Jae’lyn Withers, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the game.

That was Louisville’s lone matchup from last week, as they now go on the road to take on Wake Forest and Miami. Both games should be winnable, although ACC play has already proven tricky for teams.

20. UCLA Bruins (9-2, 5-0)

The Bruins had some tough news losing leading scorer Chris Smith for the rest of the season due to injury. They’re not the most prolific offense in the country so not having a double-digit scorer lowers their ceiling. Yet they had just enough offense to beat a depleted Arizona State team and then Arizona by a combined 11 points. Cody Riley and Tyger Campbell had 22 points to lead UCLA in the respective victories.

The Bruins have a chance to move up the rankings even more if they can beat Washington and Washington State, arguably the two worst teams in the Pac-12 not named California. If they do that, they’ll be 7-0 to start out Pac-12 play.

19. Saint Louis Billikens (7-1, 0-0)

Still on pause, the Billikens have yet to play a single game in Atlantic 10 play. They’re unlikely to play anyone this upcoming week as well, with the next scheduled matchup coming on the 20th against UMass. They’ll need to get back on the court so they can start winning games, as they’re currently the league’s best hope at getting an at-large bid.

18. Missouri Tigers (7-2, 1-2)

One of the more surprising results from this past week was Missouri falling on the road at Mississippi State by 15 points. It may be a sign of the Tigers returning to mean of their true potential. Unfortunately, we won’t know how they look on the court for a while as they recently went on “pause” due to covid. Their Tuesday game against Vanderbilt has been postponed and Saturday against Texas A&M will likely have the same fate.

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