NCAA Basketball top 25 rankings: Gonzaga, Providence rise, Alabama falls
By Joey Loose
We’ve made it more than halfway through December of this NCAA Basketball season, and have already seen a ton of exciting action in the first month of the season. There have been unforgettable shots, incredible upsets, and everything in between in the opening weeks of this season. We’re starting to see COVID pauses affect many teams, and we’re starting to see the opening of conference play. Through all of this chaos and madness, the real madness of the NCAA Tournament is still nearly three months away.
With all that has happened to this point, the results greatly impact the top teams in the nation, with there seemingly being a surprise upset or amazing performance on a daily basis this season. Here, we look closely at how the last week has shaped the top teams in the nation, continuing our weekly power rankings from Busting Brackets. Our poll of five writers shed votes for 29 different teams this week, meaning Loyola-Chicago, West Virginia, Illinois, and Creighton just missed out on cracking our top 25.
Lauren Rosenberg – @lrosenberg101
Benjamin Zacher – @beezacher
Jake Verboven – @JakeVerboven
Joey Loose – @jloose128
Tristan Freeman – @hoopsnut351
25. Wisconsin (9-2)
After a rough loss at Ohio State last weekend, Wisconsin got back in the win column this week, though it certainly wasn’t easy for the Badgers. Their lone game this week was Wednesday against Nicholls State, a game they played without Jonathan Davis, their best player. Trailing by nearly double-digits at the half, a furious second-half comeback left the Badgers with a 71-68 victory, needing all of Brad Davison’s 19-point effort in the win.
What do we really know about Wisconsin at this point? We know that with winning the Maui Invitational, including a nice win against Houston, that this team can win big games away from Madison, even if they struggled last week in Columbus. We know that they fight, and can survive a big hole against an inferior opponent, even without their star in Davis.
What we don’t know is how they are going to fare with Big Ten play starting just a few weeks from now. Tuneups with Morgan State and Illinois State loom in the coming weeks; hopefully much less exciting games than this past Wednesday.