NCAA Basketball: Creighton, UVA, and Arkansas rise in latest top-25 power rankings

18. USC Trojans (17-3, 11-2)

Most of the teams at the top of the Pac-12 took some stumbles, but the Trojans remained on top on the road against both Washington and Washington State. Against the Cougars, Tahj Eaddy had a career-high 29 points, while freshman Evan Mobley had another double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

USC now will be at home to take on both Arizona and Arizona State, two teams that have been struggling recently. Still, each of them has the talent to keep things competitive. So if the Trojans want to remain in first place in the Pac-12, they’ll need to get another weekly sweep.

17. Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (18-3, 13-1)

After handling Evansville on Sunday, Loyola took its attention to the major battle against Drake, who is tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. After a close first half, the Ramblers outscored the Bulldogs, 50-20 in the final 20 minutes to win 81-54. Aher Uguak had a game-high 20 points on 8/10 shooting, while star big man Cameron Krutwig had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Loyola looks to take full command of the conference with a season-sweep over Drake, before going back home to take on a Valpo squad that has been rolling as of late. Besides the Ramblers, they’re the only other team in the league to beat Drake.

*Rankings were before Sunday loss to Drake

16. Florida State Seminoles (11-3, 7-2)

After not playing for two weeks, Florida State looked to shake off the rust against Wake Forest on Saturday. They looked to be in control until the Demon Deacons came back to force it into overtime. But led by 24 points and 14 rebounds from Raiquan Gray, the Seminoles were able to hold onto the 92-85 victory.

Florida State has two major matchups this upcoming week, taking on first-place Virginia and third-place ACC team Virginia Tech. The results from those two will determine whether or not they can repeat as regular-season conference champions.