NCAA Basketball: UVA drops, Kansas reappears in latest top-25 power rankings
6. Oklahoma Sooners (14-5, 9-4)
Just one game for the Sooners this week due to weather problems. And it was against an Iowa State squad who is currently winless in Big 12 play. But despite all of the upsets on Saturday, this wasn’t one of them, even though the Cyclones made it competitive in the final minutes. Oklahoma pulled out the 66-56 win, led by 20 points from Austin Reaves and 10 each from Umoja Gibson and De’Vion Harmon.
The Sooners will remain on the road against the bottom tier of the conference, this time against Kansas State on Tuesday before facing off in the rivalry matchup against Oklahoma State back at home.
5. Illinois Fighting Illini (16-5, 12-3)
It wasn’t a completely dominant performance but the Illini wasn’t ever in true danger at home against Northwestern, ultimately winning 73-66. The recent run of close games must have been a talking point afterward because Illinois came out on Saturday and completely dominated Minnesota at their place. They won, 94-63, with Kofi Cockburn scoring 22 points and Ayo Dosunmu notching his second triple-double on the season.
With six straight wins, the Illini will remain on the road, taking on Michigan State and Wisconsin. The Spartans have some newfound momentum after beating Indiana and keeping their at-large hopes alive, while the Badgers have been reeling and losing their identity as of late. One of those losses came from Illinois a couple of weeks ago by 15 points.
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (18-4, 12-4)
The Buckeyes may have been looking ahead of the matchup against Michigan on Sunday when taking on Penn State in their lone game of the week. Trailing in the second half, Ohio State pushed through in a shootout, led by a combined 44 points from EJ Liddell and Duane Washington Jr.
The Buckeyes will take on Michigan in a top-5 overall matchup with plenty of implications, before going on the road to take on Michigan State, who still has faint at-large hopes. This week could allow Ohio State to provide heartbreak to its Big Ten rivals.