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

16. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-3, 6-0)

Just a dominant couple of wins for the Tide this week, beating Kentucky by 20 points before destroying Arkansas by 31 points on Saturday to remain unbeaten in SEC play. Even more impressive has been how they’ve dealt with the various injuries, including losing starting forward Jordan Bruner to a knee injury.

Alabama looks to keep things going against LSU, in what should be a high-scoring affair. But they also can’t afford to overlook Mississippi State at home on Saturday, who looked highly impressive in their own right in a win over Florida.

15. Illinois Fighting Illini (9-5, 5-3)

The four-game winning streak for the Illini ended last Sunday against Maryland at home, 66-63. Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn combined for 44 points and 18 rebounds, while the rest of the team combined for just 19 in the loss. The home woes continued for Illinois, falling behind by 15 at the half to Ohio State before losing 87-81. The defensive issues for them have been a long problem and until that gets resolved, the Illini will not be a Final Four contender.

Illinois will look to avoid a three-game losing streak at home against Penn State, before taking on Michigan State in an important Saturday matchup. The loser of that game will be way behind in the Big Ten standings.

14. Creighton Bluejays (10-3, 6-2)

The Bluejays had to play Butler on Saturday without their best player Marcus Zegarowski. They clearly felt his absence, trailing by double-digits in the first half. But led by Denzel Mahoney’s 29 points, Creighton came back to force it into overtime. Yet the Bulldogs were still able to pull off the big home upset.

Creighton should get Zegarowski back for this week’s home matchups against Providence and UConn, two teams that have the potential to upset them as well if they’re not careful.