NCAA Basketball top 25 rankings: Gonzaga, Providence rise, Alabama falls
By Joey Loose
22. Tennessee (8-2)
The SEC has a number of decent teams this season and you can certainly consider Tennessee in that number. The Volunteers have picked up a number of early wins, including by double-digits against North Carolina and Colorado, but their offense was awful in losses to Villanova and Texas Tech. This week, that offense looked just fine in an drama-free 96-52 win over USC Upstate, with Olivier Nkamhoua’s 22 points the leading scoring mark.
It’s fair to wonder if this Tennessee team can hold up, especially when the shooting goes cold. The Volunteers aren’t shooting free throws very well, but their defense can carry this team, as they’ve given up less than 60 points in five straight games, which includes that loss to Texas Tech. We may soon get a read on if this team is for real, as they get a tough home date with Arizona this week before beginning conference play with Alabama the following week. Is Tennessee going to make a run in the SEC and can their offense do enough?
21. Providence (11-1)
The Friars have been flying under the radar a bit this season, but they’ve put together a remarkably solid start to the year. Before this week, they already had a road win at Wisconsin and a solid win at home against Texas Tech. Though they really struggled against Virginia back in November, they got another really good win this past week. Big East play began with a road trip to Connecticut, leading to the Friars scoring a 57-53 win over the Huskies, getting 16 points from A. J. Reeves.
Statistically, Providence has been up and down in the early parts of the season, with good efforts and bad efforts alike, but this team seems to be trending in a great direction. Now winners of six straight games, they have three very solid wins and are on fire as Big East play gets going. Fortunately, the Friars next game is a winnable home game against Georgetown on Wednesday. There will be challenges ahead, and we’ll see if the good version of this team keeps showing up to some of these big tilts.