College basketball rankings: Purdue stays at the top, UNC and Michigan State are out

It regarded prefer it was going to be a quiet week, and then Sunday got here. Two ranked groups suffered losses that knocked them off my poll and a top-five facet suffered an embarrassing fall at house. We additionally noticed a few convention video games final week, that means some groups have been pressured to show their value on this spookiest of venues… the avenue.

Do not be afraid. Your eternally sensible voters are right here to wash up this blessed mess. Below is the right order of the high 25 groups in males’s collegiate basketball. Meet in the feedback part. Please be good!

dropped out: State of Michigan (17), North Carolina (21)

Almost Famous: Marquette, Memphis, Miami, Mississippi, Saint Louis, Saint Mary’s, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Xavier

Notes on voting

• There’s no disgrace in dropping to Arizona by two factors in Maui or dropping to Texas by 5 factors in Austin. But Creighton adopted up with these losses by embarrassing himself Sunday night time in Omaha from Nebraska, 63-53. This is the similar Nebraska crew that ranked No. 78 on KenPom and misplaced to St. John’s by 20, Oklahoma by 13 and Memphis by 12 this season. I perceive the vagaries of human nature, particularly in terms of school children, however the undeniable fact that the Bluejays have performed so poorly at house in opposition to their state rival after back-to-back losses tells me they should reset their aggressive mentality. I nonetheless suppose this crew can do nice issues, however they’ve work to do.

• Arizona misplaced 81-66 in Utah on Thursday night time, however seven locations is not an enormous drop contemplating the Wildcats have been 20 factors down with seven and a half minutes left and by no means made a recreation out of it. It’s regular for a crew to stumble like this of their first away recreation, and the Wildcats have overwhelmed San Diego State and Creighton in Maui. They play Indiana in a essential check for each groups on Saturday in Las Vegas.

• Although Illinois misplaced in Maryland on Friday, the Illini have been aggressive in a hostile atmosphere in opposition to a ranked crew. I might have dropped them by some extent, however Creighton’s fall threw the Illini again up. Indiana additionally misplaced at Rutgers, however the Hoosiers have been with out freshman level guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and they regarded terrible earlier in the week beating North Carolina.

GO DEEPER

Kravitz: Hoosiers are right here to win with a press release win over North Carolina

• Kentucky lastly obtained a good win on Sunday, beating Michigan 73-69 in London. The Wolverines performed the remaining 8:40 with out their start line guard Jaelin Llewellyn, who injured his knee. Still, the Wildcats had but to beat a high 100 KenPom crew, so that they’ll take victory any means they’ll. They solely have two video games over the subsequent two weeks, however one in every of them is on December 17 at Madison Square Garden in opposition to UCLA. That might be an vital benchmark for each of those groups, as the Bruins additionally obtained their first high 100 wins final week, over Stanford (street) and Oregon (house).

• Arkansas moved up 5 spots largely resulting from lineup adjustments, however the Razorbacks lastly obtained their cherished freshman Nick Smith Jr. again on the discipline. He sat out the first six video games due to a knee an infection. Smith performed two video games final week, together with a 16-point, five-assist efficiency in Saturday’s house win over San Jose State. The Razorbacks defeated San Diego State in Maui with out Smith, dropping to Creighton by simply three factors. That tells you the way excessive their ceiling is.

• Maryland is one other feel-good story as the Terrapins begin Kevin Willard’s freshman 12 months 8-0. They moved up eight locations by beating Illinois at house. Maryland is No. 19 at KenPom, but it surely has some nice alternatives to come back up in opposition to Wisconsin (street), Tennessee (in Brooklyn) and UCLA (house).

• Baylor fell after dropping 96-70 at Marquette. Yes, the Golden Eagles are crew (they misplaced to Wisconsin in time beyond regulation on Saturday) and the recreation was in Milwaukee, but it surely was fairly an embarrassing efficiency for a crew with championship ambitions. Give Baylor credit score for coming again to beat Gonzaga, 64-63, in South Dakota and the Bears have that win over UCLA in Las Vegas. They’re ranked No. 15 at KenPom, however they’re forty third in Bart Torvik’s in-season rankings. The Bears go into the straightforward a part of their schedule forward of their Big 12 opener recreation on New Year’s Eve in Iowa State.

• I used to be prepared to maintain North Carolina on my poll regardless of dropping in Indiana, however when the Tar Heels subsequently misplaced to Virginia Tech, I needed to get rid of them. You’ve misplaced 4 straight now. We’ve been paying a lot consideration to the means this crew completed final season that we neglect a) how poorly they began and b) they’re attempting to exchange the outdoors taking pictures and toughness they inherited from Brady Manek obtained. Northwest switch Pete Nance has the former, however I’m undecided how a lot of the latter he supplies. It additionally does not assist that Armando Bacot is fighting a shoulder harm that handicapped him in opposition to the Hoosiers and pressured him to overlook the recreation in opposition to the Hokies. North Carolina’s subsequent probability to return to the ranks is on December 17 in opposition to Ohio State at Madison Square Garden.

• On the transitive facet, the North Carolina crash pushed the state of Iowa down a bit. The Cyclones simply beat North Dakota and St. John’s at house final week, however they are No. 40 in KenPom and No. 26 in Bart Torvik’s in-season rankings. They’ll possible must win Thursday in Iowa — no straightforward feat — to maintain that quantity subsequent to their identify.

• I used to be prepared to depart Michigan State in twenty fifth place regardless of dropping 70-52 at Notre Dame as a result of the Spartans had a troublesome schedule and misplaced two key gamers by way of harm. But they adopted that up with a 70-63 house loss to Northwestern on Sunday, so that they’re out. We’ve seen this film many instances, and everyone knows the place the plot goes. The Spartans might be again.

• TCU is just No. 37 in KenPom, but it surely’s lastly in full power and confirmed its potential because it dominated 75-62 at house to Providence on Wednesday. They beat Iowa on a impartial court docket on November twenty sixth. The Horned Frogs do not make many 3s, however they’re previous, robust and bodily, and they defend like a few of Jamie Dixon’s finest groups in Pittsburgh. As lengthy as they keep wholesome I consider they are going to be ranked for a lot of the season.

• As for my Almost Famous listing, regulate Chris Jans’ Mississippi squad. The Bulldogs are 8-0 and their impartial wins over Marquette and Utah are wanting just a little higher now than they have been every week in the past. They may very properly be undefeated after they open the SEC house recreation in opposition to Alabama on December twenty eighth.

(Photo by Purdue’s David Jenkins: Justin Casterline/Getty Images)