NCAA Basketball: Illinois, Ohio State rises in latest top-25 power rankings

9. Iowa Hawkeyes (13-5, 7-4)

It ended up as a split for the Hawkeyes at home, beating Michigan State before falling to Ohio State. Once again, the offense wasn’t the issue, with four different players scoring at least 16 points, including Jack Nunge with 18 off the bench.

There are three more matchups for Iowa this week, all against teams who are in big need of a signature resume-builder. Indiana, Rutgers, and Michigan State are up next. And if the Hawkeyes want to remain in the conversation for a top-4 seed, winning two of the three is an absolute must.

*Rankings were  compiled before loss to Indiana on Sunday

8. Houston Cougars (16-2, 10-2)

It was supposed to be an easy week for Houston. They easily handled SMU by 22 points on Sunday and then traveled to East Carolina, who was 1-6 in AAC play. But despite 25 points from  Dejon Jarreau and 17 from Marcus Sasser, Houston lost to the Pirates, 82-73. It was one of the more surprising results of the season. They did beat D-II program Lady of the Lake by nearly 60 points to hopefully get the bad taste out of their mouths.

The Cougars will be back on the road on Wednesday, taking on a South Florida team that recently came back from a pause. If they’re not prepared, it could end up as another blowout win for the AAC favorites.

7. Texas Tech Red Raiders (14-5, 6-4)

The week started out great for the Red Raiders, beating No. 9 Oklahoma at home in a defensive slugfest, despite leading scorer Mac McClung not having much of an impact. He made up for it on Saturday, scoring a game-high 23 points to lead Texas Tech to a 73-62 win over Kansas State.

This upcoming week is huge for Tech, as they take on a surging West Virginia squad at home, before going on the road to face No. 2 Baylor. The Red Raiders lost to these teams a couple of weeks ago by a combined nine points. Let’s see if they can exact revenge on either opponent.