NCAA Basketball top-25 rankings: Arizona, Ohio State rise, Kentucky, Texas fall
By Joey Loose
It’s been over a month since the NCAA Basketball season began and time has really flown by on a remarkable start to the season. We’ve already seen countless moments and memories that have shocked us and impressed, with buzzer-beaters, wild game endings, and a little bit of everything. We’re midway through December and on the doorstep of conference play for most leagues across the nation, though March Madness is still many weeks away.
Amidst all the chaos of this season, we’ve seen a lot of movement among the top teams, with surprising results seemingly every day in games involving ranked teams. We’ll look closely at those teams and the changes of recent days, continuing our weekly power rankings here on Busting Brackets, comprising the polls off five different writers. There were 29 teams receiving votes this week, seeing Arkansas, Minnesota, Providence, and Texas Tech just missing out on the poll.
Lauren Rosenberg – @lrosenberg101
Benjamin Zacher – @beezacher
Jake Verboven – @JakeVerboven
Joey Loose – @jloose128
Tristan Freeman – @hoopsnut351
25. Xavier (9-1)
When you look at what Xavier has done this season, it’s a bit of a surprise that they aren’t getting more attention. They are one of several good-looking teams in the Big East and the Musketeer have spent the first month of the season building that resume. Their lone loss is to Iowa State, while they already had nice wins over Virginia Tech and Ohio State, with the latter win looking better each week. Three more wins came this past week, with a nice 77-71 road win at Oklahoma State, an easy blowout against Ball State, and a dynamic 83-63 win against Cincinnati on Saturday, with a 31-point showing from Jack Nunge against the Bearcats.
The Musketeers have been remarkably solid this season, especially on the defensive end of the court. There have been nights when the shots aren’t falling from outside, but the Musketeers still find ways to get the job done. They will certainly be one of the teams jockeying for position in a suddenly exciting Big East race, with those conference games starting this upcoming weekend. They’ll get a home date with Morehead State during the week before beginning the Big East slate at home with Marquette.