Power Rankings: Who edges out the undefeated Vols for No
-
Jeff Borzello,
- ESPN Staff WriterDec 12, 2024, 09:00 AM ET Close Basketball recruiting insider.
- Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
- Graduate of University of Delaware.A week ago, we had Tennessee No. 1 and
Auburn No. 2. The Volunteers then headed out and beat Illinois on the roadway … and we’re dropping them to No. 2. So what’s the reasoning?Editor’s Picks 2 Related Simply put, Auburn has actually been even more dominant than Tennessee
, despite
the Vols being undefeated and Auburn suffering a loss to Duke previously this month. The Tigers have been the most dominant team through six weeks in the history of KenPom’s database, and they rank No. 1 in every efficiency-based metric. They also own wins over Iowa State, Houston, Memphis, North Carolina and Ohio State– all far from home– and have the most Quadrant 1 wins in the country with five.Tennessee is great and it’s not a surprise to see the Vols sit at No. 1 in the AP survey. They will highly likely get in SEC play at 13-0. However they have not beaten anyone ranked inside the leading 20 of the Power Rankings yet.While it’s close, Auburn has an exceptional résumé, exceptional metrics– and we would take the Tigers on a neutral court. If Tennessee beats Florida on the roadway on
Jan. 7– or Auburn falls to Purdue this weekend– we will revisit this debate.
play 1:23 Auburn’s Johnson explains offensive outburst coming off the bench Stepping up after aninjury to Johni Broome, Chaney Johnson reviews his state of mind as his function modifications and he scores 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting.
Previous ranking: 2
All eyes are on the schedule of Johni Broome, who played simply 3 minutes versus Georgia State on Monday before leaving with a shoulder injury. He sat on the bench in the second half with his arm in a sling. The school announced Wednesday that Broome didn’t need surgical treatment, however he will be reassessed daily. Bruce Pearl changed Broome on Tuesday with Chaney Johnson, who had the best game of his profession: 26 points on 12-for-14 shooting, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.Next 7 days: vs. Purdue in Birmingham (Dec. 21) Previous ranking: 1 Tennessee’s protective performance versus Western Carolina was the program’s finest in the history of the KenPom database, restricting the Catamounts to 0.49 points per belongings(36 points on 73 possessions ). Provided the Volunteers have actually ranked in the top 5 in adjusted defensive performance in each of the past 5 years, it’s a significantly outstanding record. Oddly enough, Tennessee’s previous record for less points per possession allowed? Nov. 30, 1998, versus … Western Carolina.Next 7 days: vs. Middle Tennessee(Dec. 23 ) Previous ranking: 3 It’s difficult to downplay the impact that Saint Mary’s transfer Joshua Jefferson has had on the Cyclones. He was thought about an ideal pickup in the portal offered his track record for defense and strength with the Gaels, however Jefferson has actually drastically improved Iowa State on the offensive end. He chose 19 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists versus Iowa, has scored in double-figures in 5 straight games and offers the Cyclones’offense different looks due to his versatility.Next seven days: at Morgan State(Dec. 22 ) Previous ranking: 4 Lamont Butler missed out on 2
games, consisting of Kentucky’s win in Seattle over Gonzaga, and wasn’t even a lock to dress against Louisville on Saturday. Not only did he dress, however he likewise started and installed an eye-popping stat line: 33 points on 10-for-10 shooting, 6-for-6 from 3, and six assists. He was only the 2nd SEC player in the previous 20 years to end up with 30-plus points on 100%field goal shooting, according to ESPN Research.Next 7 days: vs. Ohio State in New York( Dec. 21 ) play 1:44 No. 5 UK’s Butler ecstatic after career-high 33 points vs. Louisville Following his ideal shooting efficiency consisting of six 3s in the rivalry win, Lamont Butler states Mark Pope assisted the Wildcats form strong connections in the preseason. Previous ranking: 6 Jon Scheyer made a lineup modification heading into the Auburn game Dec. 4, moving Caleb Foster to the bench
and slotting Sion James into the starting five. James, the fifth-year Tulane transfer, has brought a different level of physicality and two-way ability, while also enabling Foster to be a spark offensively off the bench. In his 4 games as a starter, James is averaging 8.3 and 4.3 rebounds, including 11 points in the win over Louisville.Next seven days: at Georgia Tech (Dec. 21) Previous ranking: 7 Complete credit to Nate Oats for going on the road to North Dakota to play a homecoming game for Grant Nelson
, however it was nearly a devastating journey for the Crimson Tide. They hardly left Grand Forks with a win, making it through a 40-point effort from North Dakota sharpshooter Treysen Eaglestaff. It was fitting that Nelson made 3 big plays down the stretch and finished with 23 points and 10 boards, while Mark Sears has now hit 20-plus points in 5 of his past six games.Next seven days: vs. Kent State (Dec. 22 ) Previous ranking: 8 Next seven days: vs. North Florida(Dec. 21
)Florida had its 2 hardest games of the season in the past week, controling Arizona State in Atlanta over the weekend and then surging late to beat North Carolina in Charlotte after blowing a 17-point
first-half lead. In addition to the usual suspects on the border– Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin– Todd Golden has gotten great mileage recently out of Denzel Aberdeen. He’s scored 12 points in 2 of the past 3 games and is shooting 40%from 3 on the season. Previous ranking: 10 Oregon at No. 8 in the nation may feel high– but the résumé promotes itself. The Ducks have neutral-court wins over Alabama, Texas A&M and San Diego State– three
groups in the leading 20 of the Power Rankings. Their only loss is by two indicate UCLA, another team in
the top 20 of the Power Rankings. Whether Dana Altman’s group is a genuine Huge 10 title contender in its very first season in the league will be checked by its next 5 conference games: vs. Illinois, vs. Maryland, at Ohio State, at Penn State, vs. Purdue.Next 7 days: at Stanford in San Jose (Dec. 21) Leading stories of the week from Get exclusive access to thousands of premium short articles a year from leading authors. – 12-team playoff is here!
Picks, previews”- NBA groups want Jimmy Butler, but how? “- NHL
trade grades: Kakko, Fowler, Trouba”More ESPN+material” Previous ranking: 5 Marquette opened Big East have fun with
a 10-point win over Butler on Wednesday, but
the Golden Eagles’protective issues are continuing to emerge. After allowing simply one team to score more than one point per ownership in their first eight games, they’ve now allowed 4 straight challengers to strike at least 1.11 points per belongings. According to CBB Analytics, Marquette ranks outside the leading 140 nationally in 2-point percentage defense, fast-break points enabled and paint pointsallowed.Next seven days: at Xavier( Dec. 21)
Previous ranking: 11 After one of the least efficient five-game stretches of his college profession, Hunter Dickinson has been far dominant in Kansas ‘past 2 games. He’s coming off a 21-point, 14-rebound, 7-assist performance versus NC State and had 19 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks in the loss to Missouri. In the 5 games before the defeat, he was balancing 10.4 points and 8.8 rebounds–
capped by just 6 points in the loss at Creighton. He depends on No. 4 in KenPom’s Gamer of the Year standings.Next seven days:
vs. Brown( Dec. 22 )Sean Pedulla was one of the more appealing transfers to monitor entering this season. After making All-ACC honors at Virginia Tech, Pedulla selected a completely different system and style when he wound up at Ole Miss. But the Oklahoma local is growing in Oxford. He’s having the most efficient offending season of his profession, while also making his biggest defensive impact. After scoring a minimum of 16 points in 3 straight games, Pedulla was held to 9 points versus Southern however dished out seven helps and amounted to seven
blocks and steals.Next seven days: vs. Queens(Dec. 21 ) Previous ranking: 22 Another team that’s gotten back to playing the strong defense usually connected with its head coach is UCLA, which is now 3rd nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Bruins have enabled simply two groups to score more than one point per ownership, and they won both of those games. They lead the nation in protective turnover percentage, and opponents are shooting just 29.1 %from 3-point variety against them.Next 7 days: vs. North Carolina in New York (Dec. 21) Previous ranking: Unranked Tuesday’s game against UNLV had all the hallmarks of a traditional trap game.
Dayton was coming off a big home win over Marquette and the Flyers head to Cincinnati to play the in-state rival Bearcats on Friday. UNLV, on the other hand, had actually lost three of its past four games. And if not for Malachi Smith’s bucket-and-foul with 8 seconds left, Dayton would have dropped a stunner in the house. However the Flyers came out with the win and have a chance to add a 4th success over a power conference challenger this weekend.Next seven days: at Cincinnati (Dec. 20) Previous ranking: 9 Mark Couple of has a balanced eight-man rotation that appears to feature a various
Aztecs, but he had 13 points in
the overtime win over Houston in Las Vegas and after that had 12 points and 6 rebounds in a victory over San Diego. And most significantly for Brian Dutcher, he’s active defensively and on the offending glass.Next 7 days: at California in San Jose(Dec. 21)
Previous ranking: 15 The development of Joseph Tugler as a genuine NBA prospect has actually been a remarkable storyline for the Cougars this season. He’s averaging simply 5.8 points, however
he’s skyrocketed up NBA draft boards– just outside the top 30 in ESPN’s latest 2025 rankings– because of his elite defensive capability and offending rebounding prowess. Against Toledo on Wednesday,he likewise revealed some offending pop, scoring 13 points(while likewise amounting to 5 blocks and takes). Next 7 days: vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi(Dec. 21 ) Previous ranking: 25 Beyond Kam Jones, there’s a case to be made that PJ Haggerty has actually been the best guard in college basketball this season– and he revealed it again versus Virginia on Tuesday. He completed with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 helps. According to ESPN Research Study, it was the 37th straight game Haggerty has actually scored in double figures, the second-longest active double-digit scoring streak in Department I. He was averaging 21.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists getting in the game.Next 7 days: vs. Mississippi State(Dec. 21) Previous ranking: 12 Against power conference competitors, perhaps Purdue’s biggest predictor of success has been its ability to look after the ball. The Boilermakers turned it over 13 times against Marquette, 22 times against Penn State and 16 times versus Texas A&M– all losses. In their biggest wins– over Alabama, NC State, Ole Miss and Maryland– they coughed it up fewer than 7 times per game. Auburn does not turn teams over a heap, but Purdue is in difficulty Saturday if it ca n’t handle the Tigers ‘aggressiveness and physicality.Next 7 days: at Auburn in Birmingham(Dec. 21)
Previous ranking: 20 After a pair of less-than-impressive efficiencies versus Prairie View A&M and McNeese, Chris Jans made a lineup modification, replacing Riley Kugel with Claudell Harris Jr. Harris, a Boston College transfer, reacted with 19 points and 5 3-pointers in a win over Central Michigan. He’s balancing 14.8 points and shooting 44.4%from 3 in his previous four games. Kugel, meanwhile, is averaging 5.5 points on 37.5 %shooting in his previous 4 games considering that
dropping 22 in the loss to Butler.Next 7 days: at Memphis(Dec. 21) Previous ranking: 21 Michigan State retreated in the second half against
Oakland on Tuesday, with the Spartans running their winning streak to 4 games behind 18 points off the bench from Xavier Booker, who has actually hit double-figures in 4 straight. But the funniest part of the night came from Tom Izzo and Greg Kampe using matching sweaters.Next seven days: Florida Atlantic( Dec. 21) Previous ranking: 24 Baylor is in the midst of a 16-day break in between games– and a 20-day break between games versus Division I challengers. While most of the attention on the Bears has been for their explosive border group or Miami transfer Norchad Omier, the surprise for Scott Drew’s system is junior big guy Josh Ojianwuna. The Nigeria native scored in double figures 5 times overall in his first two seasons in Waco; he’s already matched that number this season. He’s been a genuine possession on the offensive glass, too.Next 7 days: None Previous ranking: Unranked St. John’s has yet to notch a marquee win this season, losing in double overtime to Baylor and by three to Georgia in a four-day span in late November. But the Red Storm have elite metrics
, ranking in the top 25 in the internet, while sitting in the leading 15 at KenPom and Bart Torvik.
Rick Pitino is getting breakout seasons from Zuby Ejiofor and Simeon Wilcher; the latter is averaging 13.3 points and shooting 40 %from 3 over his previous four games.Next 7 days: at Providence (Dec. 20 )Dropped out: Clemson Tigers (No. 16), Illinois Combating Illini (No. 23)