NCAA Basketball: Michigan, West Virginia rises in latest top-25 power rankings
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys (16-6, 9-6)
It was both a stressful and thrilling past week for the Cowboys, with games against both Texas Tech and Oklahoma each going into overtime. They managed to win both of them, including a come-from-behind effort against the Red Raiders before Cade Cunningham going for a season-high 40 points to beat the rival Sooners.
These two wins effectively cash the ticket for Oklahoma State to go to the NCAA Tournament, assuming their appeal of the postseason ban doesn’t get heard in time (it won’t get heard). And it’s good that they got the wins now because the Cowboys have a brutal final stretch of games coming up. First is the rematch against the Sooners, before taking on both Baylor and West Virginia on the road.
20. Virginia Cavaliers (15-6, 11-4)
The Cavaliers on now on a three-game losing streak after falling to NC State, the most inexcusable of the trio of defeats. Big men Jay Huff and Sam Hauser combined for 40 points and 13 rebounds but the rest of the team had 21 points on 7/26 shooting from the field.
Virginia still has an outside shot at the ACC regular-season title, although they’ll need Florida State to lose a game while the Cavs beat both Miami and Louisville. But the way they’ve been playing as of late, it’s far from a sure thing regarding UVA.
19. San Diego State Aztecs (19-4, 13-3)
The top two teams in the Mountain West Conference faced off twice between Boise State and San Diego State. As expected, both games were tight and could’ve gone either way. But the Aztecs got both wins, including one that ended up going into overtime. Matt Mitchell had 24 points to lead them in the overtime victory, while Jordan Schakel (17) was the lone Aztec in double figures in the 62-58 win.
San Diego State remains in solid position for an at-large bid but would do well to avoid a road loss at UNLV this upcoming week, the last game before the conference tournament. Do that and the No. 1 seed will be theirs.