NCAA Basketball: Texas Tech, Virginia rises in latest top- 25 power rankings

25. Louisville Cardinals (9-2, 4-1)

It doesn’t matter what the level of competition is in NCAA Basketball, road games in conference play will always be difficult. Louisville found that the hard way on Saturday, losing to a Miami team that was missing two of its top scorers. After beating Wake Forest earlier in the week, it ended up being a 1-1 split.

The good news for the Cardinals was the return of Charles Minlend for a minute against the Demon Deacons, although it’s still a while before we see extended minutes from him. So he likely won’t play much against Florida State and Duke this upcoming week, but reinforcements are starting to arrive.

24. UCLA Bruins (11-2, 7-0)

It looked as if this week was going to be a breeze for the Bruins after beating Washington State at home by 30 points. But they must have been sleepwalking late Saturday against a 1-win Washington squad, trailing by double-digits early on, and had to fight all 40 minutes just to win by four points.

But a win is a win, with UCLA now in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12. They’ll be tested in the upcoming week, with road matchups against California and Stanford.

23. Virginia Tech Hokies (10-2, 4-1)

The Hokies took care of business at home, beating both Notre Dame and Duke in the past week. The victory over the Blue Devils was notable, racing out to a 15-point lead in the first half before holding on. Tyrece Radford had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way for Virginia Tech, along with 14 points off the bench from Jalen Cone.

The Hokies have a trio of potentially tricky games coming up next, including road battles at Wake Forest and Syracuse, with a home matchup in the middle against Boston College. 2-1 is the ideal goal but if Virginia Tech can get the sweep, they could be in first place in the ACC when it’s said and done.

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

Still on pause, the Billikens are set to get back to practice this week. While the Wednesday matchup against Massachusetts is likely not to happen, the hope is that we’ll see them on Saturday against Saint Bonaventure, which would be a huge battle in the Atlantic 10.

21. Oregon Ducks (9-2, 4-1)

Another team that had to go on pause, Oregon didn’t play any games this past week. Considering some of the upsets that occurred in the Pac-12, they may have been lucky. The hope is that they’ll be good to go in Saturday’s rivalry clash with the Oregon State Beavers.