NCAA Basketball: OK State jumps up, Villanova crashes down in latest top-25 ranking

The 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament can’t get here close enough. It’s been a year to this date when everything shut down just a few days before Selection Sunday. Things certainly look different and we’ve had a few bumps in the road when it comes to teams being forced out of early conference tournament due to covid issues, but we will have a Big Dance coming soon.

For many teams that really can’t come soon enough, as we’ve had several serious injuries among top teams in the past week, some that will alter their respective team’s chances of making a run. That’s something to look for during “Championship Week”.

As the regular season comes to an end on Sunday, here are our last top-25 power rankings. Some teams who just missed the cut include Clemson, BYU, UConn, Winthrop, USC, and Oklahoma. Below are the participating writers for the list.

Tristan Freeman – @hoopsnut351

Andrew Tineo – @D_Tineo4

Benjamin Zacher – @beezacher

Karl Heiser – @karlheiser17

Jacob Zinkula – @1Perfectbracket

Joe Casey – @Joe-Casey1

 Joey Loose – @jloose123

 Chris Thedinga – @CTheDinga

Dave Mullen – @dmull37

Nick Diamantis – @ngdiamantis 29

25. Wichita State Shockers (15-4, 11-2)

The Shockers had a tougher-than-expected road game at Tulane earlier in the week but were able to get by with a 78-70 victory. Things were easier this weekend against South Florida, winning by 17 points to clinch the AAC regular-season championship. Tyson Etienne led all scorers with 21 points in that victory.

Wichita State isn’t a sure bet to get the at-large bid if they lose the AAC Tournament, so the main goal should be to avoid a bad loss in the event, which would be anyone other than Houston and Memphis. But since they’re on the opposite side of the bracket, the No. 1 seeded Shockers would be wise to make the finals this week.