NCAA Basketball: Top 10 Player of the Year candidates after Feast Week

Feast Week has come to a close. If there are two takeaways from the never-ending chaos of the week, it's that no team is safe and many players have cemented their place as among the top players in NCAA basketball. Now that we are officially one month into the 2024-25 college basketball season, take a look at the 10 POY candidates as the POY race beings heats up.

10. Eric Dixon, Villanova Wildcats

2024-25 season stats: 25.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.3 APG

Villanova may have its struggles under Kyle Neptune but if there is one bright spot for the 4-4 Wildcats, it's Eric Dixon. Dixon, who currently ranks as the top player in CBB per BartTorvik’s player rankings, is averaging over 25 PPG. He's shooting a breathtaking 54.3% from behind the arc on over six three-point FGA per game. Villanova will go as far as Eric Dixon can take them.

9. Mark Sears, Alabama Crimson Tide

2024-25 season stats: 16.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.6 APG

It hasn’t been the ideal start for the preseason First-Team All-American -- also tabbed as CBS Sports’ preseason POY -- but leaving Mark Sears off this list after an eight-game sample size would feel like a miscarriage of justice.

Sears has struggled to find a rhythm from three and isn’t precisely shooting at a top-notch clip. But given how deep Alabama is and its ability to beat you in many different ways, the Crimson Tide may not need Sears to have the type of season he had last year. Despite this, Nate Oats will need a more efficient (and aggressive) Sears after its recent loss to Oregon because the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Crimson Tide.