NCAA Basketball: Alabama, Ohio State rise, Gonzaga, BYU fall in top-25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
9. Kansas (6-1)
After a stunning loss at the buzzer to Dayton last week at the ESPN Events Invitational, Kansas took care of business and got back on track this week. On Sunday, they won their final game in that tournament, besting Iona 96-83 to pick up another likely top 100 win. Friday presented another great opportunity, as the Jayhawks went to St. John’s and defeated the Red Storm on the road by 20 points, with 31 points from Christian Braun and a 23-point effort from Ochai Agbaji.
Despite that stumble against the Flyers, Kansas has looked the part of one of the best teams in college basketball this season, even if they haven’t yet played a murderer’s row of games. To this point, Kansas has mostly taken care of business, and that offense looks lethal, putting up 191 points across their two wins this past week. Next week presents two home games for the Jayhawks, as they’ll welcome UTEP on Tuesday and Missouri on Saturday, giving them two more opportunities for easy wins.
8. Gonzaga (7-2)
When all is said and done, Gonzaga might just be the best team in the country, but they’ve already suffered two more losses in the regular season than they did all of last year. Their struggles in the last week and a half have been well-documented, starting with Monday’s 64-55 win over Tarleton State that was certainly in doubt in the second half. They headed to Seattle to play a tough Alabama squad on Saturday evening and left with a 91-82 victory, playing their worst defensive game of the season.
After all that time unbeaten last season, Gonzaga has somewhat tumbled back down to earth with recent losses to Duke and Alabama. This is still a very talented and skilled team that remains one of, if not the best offensive clubs in the nation. The Bulldogs are going to figure things out, and they won’t be playing top 10 teams every week either. Next week they get a pair of very winnable home games against Merrimack and Washington, and a prime chance to get back on track.
7. Kentucky (6-1)
They haven’t exactly done anything notable these last few weeks, but Kentucky looks the part of a top 10 team once again, with this program certainly bouncing back after last year’s massive struggles. Kentucky played just one game this week, their sixth straight home game against a mid-major, and picked up a sixth straight win. This time, the Wildcats took care of Central Michigan, winning an 85-57 decision and getting 20 points from Oscar Tshiebwe.
The Wildcats are winning the games they are supposed to be winning, having not allowed more than 61 points in any of these last six home games. As previously mentioned, they look like a great team, but we’ll have to see how they fare against stronger competition in the coming weeks. Before conference play begins in a few weeks, Kentucky faces stiffer tests against Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Louisville. If they’re 10-1 at the end of that stretch, then we’ll certainly know a lot more about this Kentucky team’s potential.