NCAA Basketball: BYU, Iowa State rise, Alabama, Memphis fall in top-25 power rankings

15. Auburn (5-1)

It’s hard to hate on what Auburn has accomplished under Bruce Pearl, especially to this point in the season. After stacking a few wins to start the season, they traveled to the Battle 4 Atlantis and came away with a pair of very solid victories. They lost a heartbreaker in double overtime to Connecticut, but took care of business in their next two games, beating Loyola-Chicago 62-53 and then knocking out Syracuse 89-68. Jabari Smith looked fantastic throughout, with 22-point efforts against UConn and Syracuse.

Despite that intense loss back on Wednesday, Auburn has looked pretty great through the first few weeks of the season, with their offense carrying them at times, and their defense really locking down against Loyola. The Tigers still haven’t figured out their outside shooting quite yet, but between Smith and Walker Kessler can feast down low with those two big men. Ahead, they have home dates with UCF and Yale before a very winnable game with Nebraska; a clear chance to make their record look even better in the coming weeks.

14. Florida (5-0)

Three weeks into this new season, Florida certainly looks like a team that could contend in the SEC and even on a national scale. This week took them to the Fort Myers Tip-Off where they scored a pair of wins and a tournament title in dramatic fashion. First, they took care of business against California in an 80-60 victory, with another standout performance from Colin Castleton. Then, Tyree Appleby hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to upend Ohio State 71-68 in the title game, paving the way to a 5-0 start for the Gators.

Defense has been the calling card for the Gators, even if the Buckeyes’ impressive interior shooting was causing trouble back on Wednesday. Including their big win over Florida State last week, the Gators now have a pair of very good wins early in the season and are eager to inject themselves again into that conversation at the top of the SEC. This next week sees a home date with Troy before a big challenge on the road against a talented Oklahoma squad.

13. BYU (6-0)

Last week, BYU endeared themselves by blowing out Oregon. The second-best WCC team continued their winning ways this week, taking out another Pac-12 team in the process. The Cougars scored a win at home over Texas Southern on Wednesday, getting 18 points from Te’Jon Lucas. On Saturday night, the Cougars got that second big win, this time beating Utah 75-64 on the road, getting another 18 points from Lucas.

This BYU team is rolling at a time when other teams around them are starting to drop games. BYU’s offense has been okay, though the shooting has been cold at times, but it’s always been enough when you consider that they haven’t allowed more than 64 points in a game this season. They get a pair of intriguing road games against Utah Valley and Missouri State this upcoming week, two contests they should face stiff challenges in against some decent mid-major competition.