NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Duke, fall in latest top 25 power ranking
By Joey Loose
18. James Madison (7-0)
National attention was quickly cast upon James Madison when they upended Michigan State on opening night, but the focus hasn’t gone away. The Dukes didn’t fold after that massive upset and remain unbeaten nearly a month into this new season. Very few certainly expected we’d see this particular Sun Belt team a mainstay in the early national rankings, but James Madison has done just what they’ve needed to do.
They got their seventh with of the season this past week with an 81-66 win against Buffalo back on Wednesday night. It wasn’t their prettiest effort of the year, but it still ended with a solid victory against a disappointing Bulls squad. The Dukes got 18 points and 7 rebounds from T. J. Bickerstaff while Terrence Edwards added 15 in the win.
You can certainly argue that James Madison has been a bit overrated by their performance against Michigan State, but they’ve held serve against the other opponents on their schedule. They’ve looked great on offense at times and have done more than enough to get themselves to this 7-0 perch. The road ahead features a few road tests, including at Old Dominion next Saturday; can James Madison remain among the undefeated?