NCAA Basketball: BYU, Iowa State rise, Alabama, Memphis fall in top-25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
24. San Francisco (8-0)
Early on, the WCC has looked much stronger than even expected. Gonzaga has been fantastic and BYU has taken care of business, but San Francisco is also starting to turn some heads. This past week, the Dons added three more wins to their tally, winning the Las Vegas Invitational along the way. San Francisco got an 83-67 win over Morgan State on Monday before heading to Las Vegas, knocking off Towson by 10 points and netting the title over UAB in a 63-61 thriller.
Jamaree Bouyea scored 20 points in two of those three wins this week and these Dons are doing everything they need through three weeks of play. The weak schedule may be a knock on San Francisco early on, with UAB being their best opponent so far, but they’ve won the games on their schedule and done what they needed. The next week brings just a single game, a very winnable home game against UNLV.
23. Michigan (4-2)
Last week wasn’t particularly kind to the Wolverines, who started the year highly regarded and seem to be slipping with each game. This past week, they had major issues in the Roman Main Event, dropping an 80-62 slaughter to Arizona. They took care of business back at home against Tarleton State on Wednesday, but that game was much closer than expected, with the Wolverines playing very sloppy basketball early in the game.
The ratings systems still like Michigan, but these recent losses are seeing them plummet in other rankings. Freshman phenom Caleb Houstan has been playing well, including a 14-point effort against the Texans on Wednesday, but this Michigan team is still figuring things out. A few challenges lay ahead, even before Big Ten play begins, with a Wednesday date at North Carolina as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. This represents an opportunity for the Wolverines to get back on track against a quality opponent.
22. Memphis (5-1)
There was a lot of hype this season around Memphis, especially with the arrival of 5-star prospects Emoni Bates and Jalen Duren. Consider that they were both kept scoreless in the first half of Wednesday’s win over Virginia Tech, and you start to feel like this Tigers team has the depth to make moves this season. However, we’re left to stomach the remnants of a 78-59 loss to Iowa State in the finals of the NIT Season Tip-Off, a disastrous second half and all-around effort dooming this Memphis squad.
Winning covers up all flaws, but as the Tigers lost their first game of the season, those flaws were out for all to see. They were not making shots against Iowa State and have been very sloppy with turnovers, especially in their last four games. They managed to stack wins before, but a team like Iowa State was able to feast and took care of business. Memphis has four upcoming games against the SEC, with this next week seeing them travel to Georgia for a very winnable game and a chance to get back on track.