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

6. Virginia Cavaliers (15-3, 11-1)

One of the hallmarks of Tony Bennett’s elite defense has been the ability to hold power conference opponents to under 50 points. That happened twice this week, against both Georgia Tech and North Carolina. In the 60-48 victory over the Tar Heels, Jay Huff and Sam Hauser combined with 35 points and 17 rebounds.

The Cavaliers have a chance to get a clear lead in the ACC standings this week, with road matchups against both Florida State and Duke. Win both and the regular-season title will be theirs.

5. Illinois Fighting Illini (14-5, 10-3)

The Illini had just one game on the schedule and it was supposed to be an easy one against Nebraska. Instead, it turned into a hard-fought battle that went into overtime. Illinois was able to come out of it, 77-72, thanks to 31 points from Ayo Dosunmu and 21 points and 13 rebounds from Kofi Cockburn.

Illinois looks to extend the five-game win streak with a pair of games against Northwestern and Minnesota, although the game with the Gophers will be at their place, where they are nearly unbeatable.

4. Ohio State Buckeyes (17-4, 11-4)

The win streak for the Buckeyes has extended to six, thanks to a pair of wins over both Maryland and Indiana. In the 19-point win over the Hoosiers, EJ Liddell had a team-high 19 points, while  Justice Sueing went for 16 points and 10 rebounds. The most impressive part was the team defense, giving up 65 and 59 points respectively.

For now, Ohio State has one game on the slate, a road matchup against a Penn State team that is squarely on the bubble and will be in desperate need of a resume win. They’ll have to avoid looking ahead to Sunday’s epic matchup against Michigan.