NCAA Basketball: Texas, Virginia soar on top 25 ranking ahead of Thanksgiving

8. Creighton (4-0)

There’s a lot to like about Creighton this year, which is a major reason why they’re this high up in the rankings. The Bluejays were a longtime MVC darling and have done pretty decent work in the Big East in recent years. This is the year where it all comes together, with a talented roster from top to bottom for Greg McDermott, and it’s looked perfectly fine through four contests.

Monday night saw the Bluejays secure a 94-65 win over Holy Cross, with a 22-point performance from Ryan Kalkbrenner leading the way. He made all 10 of his field goal attempts and was brilliant, guiding Creighton as they hit nearly 58% of their shot attempts. A few days later, Creighton ran their season-opening winning streak to four with an 80-51 victory against UC Riverside. This time it was former Summit League Player of the Year Baylor Scheierman who led the way with 17 points, while nearly every starter was in double-digits.

A pair of 29-point wins at home over mid-majors aren’t going to move the needle for the Bluejays, but it does continue to prove that this team is tough and talented. They’re also ready for tougher competition and they’ll certainly get their shot. They’ll head to the Maui Invitational this upcoming week, starting with a tough opening test against Texas Tech. With a slew of high-powered teams in the field, coming home with a tournament title would be quite the accomplishment; we’re going to find out a lot about this team in the coming days.