NCAA Basketball: Duke, Arizona, Texas rise in latest top 25 power ranking

22. Creighton (21-12)

There were significant expectations in the preseason for Creighton, who has one of the best starting five’s in the entire nation at their disposal. However, injuries marred a rough run through December and the Bluejays have been slowly improving their resume and their standing in recent weeks. A 14-6 mark in this year’s Big East is no joke, though the Bluejays are no doubt frustrated with how this past week ended.

First off, they scored a nice 87-74 win against Villanova in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, virtually ending the season of a team that’s dominated this conference for a decade. Those five starters accounted for 81 of those points, led by Ryan Kalkbrenner’s 21-point performance and another double-double from Baylor Scheierman. Their performance in the semifinals was far inferior, losing 82-60 to Xavier on Friday night. Kalkbrenner had 18 points but the Bluejays were outperformed in nearly every aspect of the game.

One potential worry for Creighton is their depth, as the starting lineup does most of the damage for this team. They’ve already shown that they can win great games when everyone is healthy and those starters are playing well, but what if foul trouble or injuries creep up on them again? This Creighton team can do serious damage in the NCAA Tournament when they’re performing at a high level, though they’ll have tough work ahead as either a 6 or 7-seed in the Big Dance.