NCAA Basketball: Illinois, Ohio State rises in latest top-25 power rankings
This week’s NCAA Basketball power rankings will look somewhat the same compared to previous versions. What’s important to note that it won’t include any of the Champions Classics participants; Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and Michigan State. All four programs lost games this week and with the exception of the Jayhawks, aren’t on track to make the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
There are seven contributors for Busting Brackets that participated in this week’s top-25 power rankings. 30 programs received at least one vote this week, but there was a near consensus regarding which teams warranted a top-25 spot. Here are the writers involved, along with the honorable mentions for this week.
Tristan Freeman – @hoopsnut351
Andrew Tineo – @D_Tineo4
Benjamin Zacher – @beezacher
Karl Heiser – @karlheiser17
Jacob Zinkula – @1Perfectbracket
Joe Casey – @Joe-Casey1
Chris Thedinga – @CThedinga
30. Xavier Musketeers (11-2, 4-2)
The Musketeers have been on pause for the last week but is still scheduled to take on both DePaul and UConn at home this week. They’ll need to start racking up wins and avoid brutal resume losses in Big East play.
29. San Diego State Aztecs (13-4, 7-3)
The Aztecs were a victim of another team’s situation, as New Mexico made the move to cancel this week’s series due to their own issues. San Diego State now looks ahead to San Jose State at home for a couple of games, in what should be a pair of easy wins.
28. Colorado Buffaloes (14-5, 8-4)
The Buffs had just one game this week but it ended in a win, beating Arizona, 82-79. Evan Battey led the way with 21 points, while McKinley Wright chipped in with 17 points and six assists. Colorado has another home game against Oregon State, before taking on Stanford and Cal on the road.
27. Boise State Broncos (14-3, 10-2)
The Broncos took a tough loss at Nevada by two points on Friday, which will hurt their at-large hopes a bit. Derrick Alston Jr. had 23 points, while Emmanuel Akot had 19 off the bench. Boise State will look to avoid the sweep at the Wolf Pack, before going home to take on UNLV twice.
26. Florida Gators (10-5, 6-4)
The Saturday game against LSU was canceled, which leaves the Gators’ loss to South Carolina the only result of the week for them. Tre Mann, who was one of four players in double figures, led the way with 17 points. They’re on a bit of a pause so they won’t play Tennessee but should be back to face Texas A&M on Saturday.