NCAA Basketball: BYU, Seton Hall rise, Michigan falls in latest top-25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
15. St. Bonaventure (4-0)
As the season opened, it was clear that St. Bonaventure was the favorite in the Atlantic 10, especially considering they were the only team ranked in the conference to start the year. As teams like Dayton and Davidson and VCU have lost hard-fought or head-scratching games, it’s even clearer that this league could belong to the Bonnies this year. After two more scrappy tough wins this week, the Bonnies are looking more and more like the real deal.
Kyle Lofton was dynamic in a pair of wins at the Charleston Classic, surviving a late comeback from Boise State and then clawing back against Clemson on Friday afternoon in their best win of the year. The interior shooting was a little questionable against the Tigers, but the Bonnies have scrapped enough offense together to get to 4-0, clawing back from a 16-point deficit against Clemson. The championship game of the Charleston Classic is their next big test.
14. Arkansas (3-0)
Three games into the new season, the Razorbacks haven’t really gotten a chance to turn heads, but certainly have held steady. After two solid wins in the opening week, they passed their sole test this week, hanging on late for a win over a talented Northern Iowa program that came out shooting lights out on Wednesday. A 26-point effort from Chris Lykes certainly helped the cause, as the Razorbacks scored a season-high 93 points in the win.
The Arkansas offense has been putting up points, but could the defense be cause for concern? The Razorbacks play a fast-paced game and have taken care of the basketball this season, but each of their first three opponents hit at least 13 3-pointers. Clearly, it’s going to take those kinds of efforts for mid-majors to topple Arkansas, but it’ll be interesting to see how this defense fares when they start playing more top-level opponents, especially in SEC play.
13. Alabama (4-0)
To this point, Alabama has looked the part as a top 25 team with a lot of potential this season, but the Crimson Tide hasn’t been particularly challenged yet. They’ve played four mid-majors at home, with this past week including a struggle to beat South Alabama by 5 points before a much better effort in a win against Oakland. Regardless, the Crimson Tide has taken care of business and sit unblemished at 4-0.
Jaden Shackelford led the way with 18 and 20 points respectively in Alabama’s two victories this past week. It’s clearly important to stockpile wins at this point in the season, especially against inferior opponents, but the Crimson Tide’s offensive struggles against South Alabama could be cause for concern long-term. Still, Alabama has one of the best interior offenses this season and has done strong work on the defensive end for the most part. We’ll see how that carries over when they see Gonzaga less than two weeks from now.