18. Kentucky (7-2)
Every season Kentucky seems to pull in the highly-rated recruits and put together a team that competes near or at the top of the SEC. This season was no different for the Wildcats; this is a talented team that’s spent much of the early season ranked in the top 10. However, Kentucky has struggled so far against quality opponents. They took care of Southern on Tuesday night, picking up a 76-64 win, but lost their first road game of the season on Saturday, falling 66-62 to a Notre Dame team that has not looked great this year.
By season’s end, Kentucky will likely have figured things out, but for now, this team looks a bit out of sorts. Oscar Tshiebwe has been fantastic and did have 25 points in their game against the Fighting Irish, but the Wildcats were putrid (2-19) from outside, something that’s happened a few times this season. They have lost their two games against power conference foes this season, but get a third chance to get back on track, facing off against Ohio State next Saturday in a very intriguing game in Las Vegas.
17. Michigan State (9-2)
At this point, losses to Kansas and Baylor are forgivable, while the Spartans look the part as one of the Big Ten’s best teams once again. They got a pair of solid wins at the Battle 4 Atlantis and have looked fantastic in running off a 4-game winning streak. This past week, they added two Big Ten wins to their tally, starting 2-0 in conference play. On Wednesday night, they handed Minnesota their first loss of the season in a 75-67 victory before picking up an 80-64 home win over Penn State, getting team-leading 15-point efforts from Gabe Brown in both wins.
After the way their defense has carried them early on, Michigan State played their two most efficient offensive games this past week. Everything is starting to come together for Tom Izzo’s club in a Big Ten that has struggled at times in the first month of the season. The Spartans don’t have any games in the next seven days, getting a well-deserved break after taking care of business for the most part. Though they possess wins over UConn, Louisville, and Loyola-Chicago, the Spartans are certainly still looking for that big impact win.