Male’s Power Rankings: A wild, wild week puts UConn at

• Jeff Borzello, ESPN

  • Personnel WriterJan 15, 2024, 09:25 AM ET Close Basketball recruiting expert.
  • Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
  • Graduate of University of Delaware.We have actually talked

about carnage at the top of the males’s college basketball rankings before. But we have actually never ever seen a week like the one we simply finished.Four of the leading 5 teams in the Power Rankings( and in the AP poll) lost to unranked challengers. By the time Sunday ended, 8 top-10 teams had actually lost to unranked challengers, and top-10 groups ended up 9-10 on the week– with 9 of the losses coming to unranked opponents. Top-10 groups finished 3-9 in roadway games.When the dust finally settled, how did the top of the pecking order shake out?To start, we moved UConn from No. 4 to No. 1. The Huskies have been in the leading tier for much of the season, and winning at Xavier on Wednesday when relatively every other high-ranked team couldn’t determine how to win on the roadway was a big plus. Predictive and résumé-based metrics like the Huskies, and they’re 7-2 versus Quadrant 1 and 2 opponents.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Purdue didn’t drop too far, moving

down to No. 2. The Boilermakers still fare well across the board in the metrics, and they have the most Quad 1 wins in the country with 6. Moving forward, are people going to be wary of putting them at No. 1, given their string of upset losses in the leading spot? Possibly, however that appears inexpedient and overlooks their ironclad résumé.The huge mover was North Carolina, which is all the way up to No. 3.

The Tar Heels are playing along with anyone in the nation right now, especially their defense, which we’ll discuss in a second. With RJ Davis looking like the very best guard in America, Carolina is the ACC preferred and a possible Final 4 contender.On to this week’s awards and rankings … play 0:40 TCU upsets No. 2 Houston after Emanuel Miller’s late shot TCU comes away with the win after Emanuel Miller drains pipes the game-winning pail with 6 seconds staying. Getting in the week, it was still entirely unclear how great Jamie Dixon’s group was this season. Its finest win came versus Arizona State, though the Frogs took Kansas to the wire at Allen Fieldhouse. This previous week needs to have addressed any questions. They handed Oklahoma just its second loss of the season on Wednesday, then turned around and beat No. 2 Houston by one in the final seconds on Saturday.According to ESPN Statistics & Info, it was just the second time in program history that TCU defeated AP top-10 groups in successive games– after likewise doing it in 2022. It was likewise the Horned Frogs ‘4th win over a group ranked in the top two, and 3rd in the past five seasons.Dixon has an exceptionally skilled group, with 8 elders and a junior in his 10-man rotation. They’re possibly not as dynamic in the backcourt as they were last season, without Mike Miles Jr., however they’re still elite in transition and shoot it better than they did a season back. This ought to be another NCAA tournament team in Fort Worth. It was a fantastic week for Player of the Week prospects: Drake’s Tucker DeVries, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski and Alabama’s Mark Sears all had substantial individual performances in 2-0 weeks, while the similarity Zach Edey, Dalton Knecht

and Virginia Tech’s Sean Pedulla went off in 1-1 weeks. However Jones had the best combination of specific performances in a huge team week.The previous Idaho transfer started the week with 26 points on 7-for-10 shooting to choose 11 rebounds and 3 assists in an eight-point roadway win at USC. And after that the 6-foot-9 forward went for 24 points and 13 rebounds in the Cougars’three-point upset win over Arizona.

Jones was dominant in the second half, opting for 15 points and 7 boards after the break, consisting of 3 early baskets to help get the result in double digits and after that a game-tying surface with 4:36 left after Arizona had all the momentum.Jones is now approximately 15.4 points and 7.7 boards in his first season in Pullman. After winning 12 of its first 14 games, Nebraska still needed a declaration success for its potential at-large résumé. And they don’t come much bigger than this 16-point win over then-No.

1 Purdue on Tuesday. It was a back-and-forth very first half, but Nebraska ended up the opening 20 minutes on a 13-0 run and took an 11-point lead into the break. Purdue removed nearly the whole deficit in the very first 6 minutes of the 2nd duration, sufficing to one, before the Huskers reacted with a 14-2 run. Matt Painter’s group wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the game.The Cornhuskers shot 14-for-23 from 3-point variety, their sixth time in seven games making double-digit threes. Keisei Tominaga led the way with 19 points.It was Nebraska’s first win over an AP No. 1 team considering that Feb. 6,

1982. play 1:16 No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston go down on wild night of college basketball Take a look at the leading minutes from Purdue’s loss to Nebraska and Houston’s loss to Iowa State. Otzelberger has Iowa State on track to exceed expectations again

in the Huge 12. The Cyclones were chosen last in Otzelberger’s first season at the helm, then reached the NCAA competition. They were eighth in last year’s preseason survey, then earned a 6-seed in the NCAA competition. Selected seventh this preseason, they are now ranked inside the leading 15 in the majority of metrics(consisting of inside the leading 10 of the BPI). Iowa State opened its week by handing Houston its very first loss of the season, then followed that up by preventing a disappointment efficiency and squashing Oklahoma State by 24. Since Otzelberger was employed in 2021, the Cyclones ‘ranks in adjusted protective performance at KenPom have been No. 5, No. 8 and now No. 2. They’re No. 1 in protective turnover percentage and No. 10 in 2-point portion defense, and simply held Houston and Oklahoma State to their worst offending efficiencies of the season.Three groups with questions

Gonzaga Bulldogs: The Zags have run out the Power Rankings for weeks, but they’re poised to drop out of the AP Top 25 for the very first time since 2016 after losing to Santa Clara. They’re now 11-5 overall, with zero Quad 1 wins. They have work to do just to reach the NCAA competition.

Providence Friars: The Friars lost by 20 in your home to Xavier on Saturday, their 4th loss in a row given that Bryce Hopkins tore his ACL and was lost for the season. Prior to the injury, Providence was 11-2 and had simply beaten Marquette and Butler to open Big East play. Wednesday versus DePaul ought to be a get-right chance.

Saint Joseph’s Hawks: Less than a month ago, Billy Lange’s team appeared like it had a case to be the 2nd finest in the Atlantic 10. The Hawks took Kentucky to overtime and beat Villanova and Princeton. However, they have actually now lost 4 of 5 and are 0-3 in the league after a home loss to Loyola Chicago.Power Rankings

1. UConn Huskies (15-2)
Previous ranking: 4
Today: vs. Creighton (Wednesday), at Villanova (Saturday)

On paper, a roadway win at Xavier doesn’t look frustrating– but when every other top-10 group besides North Carolina has a hard time to beat anyone on the road, it matters. The most favorable indication for Dan Hurley’s team this past week was the continued outstanding play of Alex Karaban. After having a hard time to make shots versus Seton Hall and St. John’s a couple of weeks ago, Karaban is now balancing 19.3 points and shooting 41.8% from 3-point range over his previous four games, including Sunday’s career-high 26 points versus Georgetown.

2. Purdue Boilermakers (15-2)Previous ranking: 1 This week: at Indiana(Tuesday

), at Iowa(Saturday)First, the excellent. In Saturday’s win over Penn State, Zach Edey completed with 30 points and 20 rebounds, becoming the first Big 10 player in the previous 25 seasons with multiple games of 30 points and 20 rebounds in his career, and the first Big 10 player in the previous 25 seasons to end up a game with 30 points, 20 rebounds and 80% shooting. Now, the bad. Purdue suffered the abovementioned loss at Nebraska, its 4th loss in the past two years to an unranked challenger while ranked No. 1.

play 0:18 RJ Davis drills the trey Elliott Cadeau chooses a wide-open RJ Davis for 3.< img alt=" "src="
https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/153.png&w=110&h=110″width=” 50″/ > 3. North Carolina Tar Heels(13-3)Previous ranking: 7 This week: vs. Louisville(

Wednesday), at Boston College( Saturday )In the 6 games because UNC lost to Kentucky, the Tar Heels have had the very best defense in college basketball, according to BartTorvik.com. During this span, they’re first in defensive effective basket portion, fourth in 2-point portion defense, 2nd in 3-point portion defense. They’ve held all 6 challengers to fewer than 0.93 points per belongings, with neither NC State or Syracuse– the past two opponents– reaching even 0.80 points per belongings. Their past four opponents have actually shot a combined 12-for-87 (13.8%) from 3-point variety.

4. Kansas Jayhawks (
14-2 )Previous ranking: 3 Today: at Oklahoma State (Tuesday)

, at West Virginia (Saturday )Kansas suffered a sensational loss at UCF on Wednesday with its worst offending performance given that the Maui Invitational. The Jayhawks took simply 11 totally free throws and turned it over 18 times. They did recover with the win over Oklahoma on Saturday, as Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. restored their All-American kind. One note from the win: Freshman Johnny Furphy made his very first start of the season and scored seven points in 19 minutes.

play 2:23 Knecht leads No. 5 Vols to return win at Georgia Dalton Knecht pours in a game-high 36 points as UT erases a double digit second-half deficit in a thrilling victory to snap the Bulldogs’ 10 game winning streak.

5. Tennessee Volunteers( 12-4)Previous ranking: 5 Today: vs. Florida (Tuesday)

, vs. Alabama (Saturday) Tennessee’s seven-game winning streak was snapped at Mississippi State on Wednesday, but the Volunteers were able to get a road win at Georgia on Saturday by closing on a 21-4 go to eliminate an 11-point deficit in the final couple of minutes. While Zakai Zeigler continued his fantastic stretch, it was Dalton Knecht who was the most significant talking point. After scoring 28 in the loss, he had 36 points versus Georgia, consisting of 5 threes– and collected 10 points in the aforementioned game-ending run.

6. Kentucky Wildcats (
12-3)Previous ranking: 6 This week: vs. Mississippi State (Wednesday

), vs. Georgia(Saturday)Kentucky’s six-game winning streak concerned an end on Saturday at Texas A&M, in overtime. It’s easy to pinpoint where things failed in College Station, and it was on the defensive end. UK enabled 1.21 points per possession, by far the most the Wildcats have actually quit all season and the most given that a February loss to Arkansas last season. A&M on the other hand grabbed 25 offensive rebounds, and Aaron Bradshaw playing just 6 minutes due to foul difficulty could have been a consider the Aggies’ success, too.

7. Houston Cougars( 14-2 )Previous ranking: 2 Today: vs. Texas Tech(Wednesday), vs. UCF(Saturday)Welcome to the Big 12, Houston. After the Cougars burnt out West Virginia in their very first Huge 12 game, it was time to head on the roadway– and their very first 2 losses of the season immediately followed. Against Iowa State, it was the offense that had a hard time, with 16 turnovers to just eight helps. Versus TCU, the Cougars had their second-worst defensive performance of the campaign, allowing the Horned Frogs to shoot 53.3% from 3. L.J. Cryer’s 2-for-14 efficiency didn’t assist, either.Top stories

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8. Auburn Tigers( 14-2)Previous ranking: 15 Today: at Vanderbilt (Wednesday

), vs. Ole Miss(Saturday)Auburn continues to roll over any challenger in its method, running its winning streak to nine games after beating Texas A&M and LSU. All 14 wins this season have actually visited double figures. The Tigers ought to take care of business at Vanderbilt and in your home against Ole Miss this coming week, leaving back-to-back roadway games at Alabama and Mississippi State towards completion of January as 2 genuine litmus tests for Bruce Pearl’s group.

9. Arizona Wildcats(12-4) Previous ranking: 8 Today: vs. USC (Wednesday

), vs. UCLA (Saturday) Simply when we thought the Wildcats were going to run away with the Pac-12 title, they lost to Washington State on Saturday and now find themselves a full 2 games behind Oregon in the standings. The loss to the Cougars included Arizona’s worst offensive proving of the campaign: simply 37.5% shooting inside the arc and 29.2% shooting from 3. Kylan Boswell was held scoreless in 25 minutes and is now averaging 5.8 points on 22.0% shooting in Arizona’s 4 losses.

10. Wisconsin Badgers(13-3)Previous ranking: 16 Today: at Penn State (Tuesday

), vs. Indiana (Friday)It’s been an intriguing season for guard Max Klesmit, the former Wofford transfer. Previously this season, he had 21 points and 5 threes in the win over Marquette, however all 21 can be found in the very first half and it was the only time he scored more than 14 in the first 12 games of the season. This previous week, however, Klesmit was the driver for the Badgers in wins over Ohio State and Northwestern. He had 18 points against the Buckeyes, then went for 24, including five threes, versus the Wildcats.

play 0:17 Take a look at this sweet pass from Tyrese Proctor Check out this sweet pass from Tyrese Proctor 11. Duke Blue Devils(13-3)Previous ranking: 12 Today: vs. Pittsburgh(Saturday)Duke ran its winning streak to eight games with the triumphes over

Pitt and then Georgia Tech. Kyle Filipowski presented a dominant week, totaling 56 points, 23 rebounds and 5 helps in the 2 wins, consisting of shooting 8-for-9 from 3-point range. Beginning forward Mark Mitchell missed Saturday’s game with a sprained knee, which permitted Jon Scheyer to put Tyrese Proctor back into the beginning lineup. Proctor reacted with 17 points and 3 3s, by far his best game because returning from injury. play 1:49 Memphis Tigers vs. Wichita State Shockers: Full Emphasizes Memphis Tigers vs. Wichita State Shockers: Complete Emphasizes 12. Memphis Tigers (15-2)Previous ranking: 13

This week: vs. South Florida(
Thursday ), at Tulane(
Sunday)Memphis severely required a performance like it had on Sunday

at Wichita State. The Tigers have won 10 in a row, but the previous 5 or 6 have been a grind despite dealing with far inferior competition in the majority of those games. They needed Jahvon Quinerly threes to beat Tulsa and SMU and overtime to beat UTSA. However on Sunday, Memphis snapped out of it, scoring 112 points for its finest offending efficiency of the Penny Hardaway era by far. The Tigers scored an outrageous 1.55 points per ownership and made 19 3s. 13. Baylor Bears(14-2)Previous ranking: 14 Today: at Kansas State

(Tuesday)
, at Texas (Saturday )Cam angles in Baylor’s new arena aside, it was an excellent week for the Bears, who got two strong Big 12 wins versus BYU and Cincinnati. The win over Cincinnati was particularly appealing, as Baylor shot simply 5-for-20 from 3-point range and was held under one point per possession for just the second time this season. Scott Drew’s defense has been inconsistent in 2023-24, however it has tightened up considering that the loss to Duke on Dec. 20 and needs to continue because direction. 14. Utah State Aggies (16-1)
Previous ranking: In the waiting space
Today: at New Mexico (Tuesday), vs. Fresno State (Saturday)

Utah State’s roadway win at UNLV featured one of the wildest endings on a wild Saturday. Down four in the last 15 seconds, the Aggies came down the flooring and Darius Brown II struck a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left. Then UNLV’s Kalib Boone was likewise required an off-ball nasty on Great Osobor, who hit both free tosses– and Utah State won its 15th in a row on a five-point play.

15. Oklahoma Sooners (13-3)
Previous ranking: 10 Today: vs. West Virginia(Wednesday), at Cincinnati (Saturday)

Back-to-back road losses to TCU and Kansas sent Oklahoma dropping the rankings, and there were some worrying elements to both defeats. The Sooners were held below one point per possession in the two games, a standard they had actually failed to reach simply once all season before the week. Their 2 worst protective efficiencies of the season likewise can be found in the 2 losses. Oklahoma’s defense isn’t precisely asserted on requiring turnovers, but it was worrying to see only 9 combined turnovers from TCU and Kansas.

16. Marquette Golden Eagles (11-5)Previous ranking: 11 This week: vs. Villanova (Monday), at St. John’s (Saturday)

The injury issues are piling up for Marquette, which will be without Chase Ross for a couple more weeks and lost Sean Jones for the season after he tore an ACL in the home loss to Butler. The Golden Eagles are now simply 6-5 in their past 11 games and Tyler Kolek is having a hard time. The preseason All-American has a combined 7 points on 2-for-19 shooting in his previous two games. Today’s games are challenging bounce-back spots.Dropped out: Illinois Combating Illini(No. 10) In the waiting room

Illinois Combating Illini: Of all the top-10 losses this past week, Illinois falling in the house to Maryland may have raised the most eyebrows. The Terps have actually underachieved this season, and their only win away from College Park before Sunday was at UCLA. But the Illini came out and produced their worst offending efficiency because the loss to Marquette 2 months ago, and likewise permitted better than one point per belongings for the 3rd successive game.

Dayton Flyers: UD has actually now won 10 in a row since losing to Houston in Charleston nearly 2 months back. The Flyers are likely to be preferred in every game moving forward in the routine season, and it’s an excellent indication their defense has selected it up in conference play. Dayton has actually held five challengers to listed below one point per ownership all season, and 3 of these instances have been available in their past three games, against Atlantic 10 competitors.

Creighton Bluejays: The defense has actually tightened up over the previous four games, with Greg McDermott’s group holding all of those opponents to below one point per belongings. Just St. John’s shot much better than 40% on 2-point efforts. Ryan Kalkbrenner has been at the heart of that, while likewise stepping up on the offensive end; he’s averaging 20.0 points and 10.0 boards on 61.8% shooting in his previous three games.