NCAA Basketball: Kentucky, Purdue, Wisconsin rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
November is often the most exciting part of the NCAA basketball season, though this season has certainly begun in earnest. Nearly two weeks of games have transpired, and we’re starting to feel out the hundreds of D1 college basketball programs. While we’re still far away from conference play, postseason excitement, and the NCAA Tournament, there’s no question that these games mean something important.
Nonconference play provides differing opportunities for each team, though every team is uniquely different. Some have been completely rebuilt with young talent or Transfer Portal additions, while others lean on star returners and veteran talent. A few teams haven’t yet been seriously challenged or even played a game away from home, while others seem to be running the early gauntlet of difficulty.
No one can pretend to know what will happen this season after just a few weeks’ worth of games. This sport is all about unpredictability and chaos, even if we think we know what should happen in the coming days, weeks, and months. Any team from top to bottom could deal with injuries or inconsistent play, though that won’t stop us from examining what we’ve already seen and building early expectations.
While the grasp isn’t firm, we have something of an understanding on which teams are the best this season. We’ll continue presenting those thoughts with our next attempt at the Top 25 rankings. You can certainly expect ebbing and flowing among these and other teams on our rankings, though this is what we’ve got after less than two weeks of games. Let’s begin our deep dives and see what these twenty-five teams have accomplished early on.