Power Rankings: Kansas stays No

• Jeff Borzello, ESPN

  • Personnel WriterNov 13, 2023, 08:00 AM ET Close Basketball recruiting expert.
  • Joined ESPN in 2014.
  • Graduate of University of Delaware.In the weeks leading up to

  the 2023-24 guys’s college basketball season– and then specifically once the ball was finally tipped last Monday– there was a steady stream of problems about the early-season schedule, with people demanding more marquee matchups. While there is possibly some benefit to those arguments(who does not wish to see more excellent games?), here’s a look at what we saw in the very first couple of days of this new project: A top-five group (Michigan State)loses at home to the Sun Belt preferred( James Madison )in overtime A match between two top-12 teams (Duke and Arizona), a game that went down to the last seconds A battle in between a top-25 team(Baylor)and a borderline top-25 team(Auburn)that

• went down to the final minute The best NBA prospect in college basketball(USC’s Isaiah Collier )taking on an Elite Eight team(Kansas

  State)from last season in Las Vegas Fifteen power conference teams suffering losses to groups from outside the power conferences Were there top-10 games each and every single

• night? No. But that does not occur in college football either– and, call us biased, however the first

week of college hoops is definitely better than”Week 0 “on the stadium! Regardless, there was plenty of action worth talking about in the very first week of the college basketball season.As for those marquee matches? 2 huge ones are coming your method Tuesday.On to today’s awards and rankings … play 1:07 KJ Lewis puts exclamation point on Arizona’s win with last-second slam Arizona steals the Duke inbound pass and ends the game with a massive jam by KJ Lewis. Tommy Lloyd has actually had a remarkable start to his head coaching career, winning 61 games and earning a 1-seed and after that a 2-seed in the NCAA competition in his first 2 seasons. However the Wildcats haven’t had the postseason success to back up those wins, getting bounced in the Sweet 16 as a 1-seed in 2022 and losing to 15-seed Princeton in the preliminary in March. So Lloyd took a different approach to his lineup for this season, going for more flexibility, dynamism and toughness in the portal.It certainly looked that way on Friday at Cameron Indoor Arena versus No. 2 Duke. The Wildcats simply appeared like the older, tougher, more skilled group in the 78-73 win. They controlled Duke on the glass and 2 of their transfer additions– Caleb Love and Keshad Johnson– looked completely bought-in to Lloyd’s system. Love, a North Carolina transfer, didn’t shoot it well in his return to his former rival, but did safeguard and hit clutch complimentary tosses when it mattered. Johnson was fantastic at both ends, completing with clutch baskets inside.Arizona looks various this season, but the Wildcats need to as soon as again be in the Final Four discussion. As the weekend came to a close late Sunday night, Weber State made headlines out west. The Wildcats erased a 16-point halftime deficit to beat No. 23 Saint Mary

‘s 61-57. It was just the third loss in the past 39 home games for the Gaels.At the heart of it was Jones, Weber State’s star forward who is on NBA radars. Jones ended up with 29 points and 10 rebounds, playing every second of the game. He kept the Wildcats alive in the very first half, then scored seven straight points late in the 2nd to give his team a lead it would not relinquish. (This, after going for 26 points and 14 boards in Weber State’s season-opening win over Benedictine Mesa.)A couple other top performances worth keeping in mind: Dalton Knecht completing with 24 points in Tennessee’s win over Wisconsin; Baylor freshman Ja’Kobe Walter opting for 28 points in his launching against Auburn; and an unique reference for George Washington freshman Garrett Johnson, who scored 21 points in his college debut, 6 months after completing his ninth round of chemotherapy to deal with a rare benign growth in his hip.Finished my 9th

round of chemotherapy 6 months back, and played in my very first college basketball game last night. Never ever give up on your dreams pic.twitter.com/8ssFQ1aniJ!.?.!— Garrett Johnson (@gjohnson_3)November 7, 2023 James Madison was picked as the preferred in the Sun Belt this season after going 12-6 in its very first season in the conference a year ago. Michigan State was ranked No. 4 overall in the preseason, was bringing back one of the most skilled beginning lineups in the nation and was playing in East Lansing.Nonetheless, JMU jumped out to a 13-point first-half lead and then took every punch Michigan State had in the 2nd half. The Spartans took a six-point lead with 8:35 left and looked like they may pull

away, but JMU continued to await the game. The Dukes ultimately sent it to overtime on a T.J. Bickerstaff basket with 30 seconds left. After Tyson Walker scored the very first two points of OT, Terrence Edwards– who finished with 24 points– scored five directly, and James Madison never routed again. A Raekwon Horton 3-pointer with 10 seconds left put the Dukes up four and sealed the win.JMU wound up with among the very best weeks in all of college basketball, following up this efficiency with a double-overtime win at Kent State and then a blowout home success over Howard. Coach of the Week: Mitch Henderson, Princeton Tigers Editor’s Picks 2 Associated How was Princeton going to follow up its spectacular Sweet 16 run as a 15-seed in the 2023 NCAA competition? Specifically without first-team All-Ivy selection Tosan Evbuomwan, starting guard Ryan Langborg, who transferred to Northwestern, and fellow starter Keeshawn Kellman?Henderson moved three of last season’s rotation pieces– Xaivian Lee, Blake Peters and Zach Martini– into the starting lineup and

, so far, has put more of a concentrate on the group’s boundary

play.The Tigers opened the season with a 68-61 win over Rutgers in Trenton, New Jersey, giving them an early edge for title of the best team in New Jersey. They backed that up by going to Long Island and grabbing a roadway win over Hofstra, last season’s CAA regular-season co-champion. In the two games, 44.4 %of the team’s points came off 3s, consisting of 12 made threes versus Hofstra. Henderson doesn’t have an Evbuomwan on this year’s team, but he has actually retooled the team for another NCAA tournament run.Three groups with concerns Maryland Terrapins: After Purdue and Michigan State, there was space for a team to develop itself as the third best in the Big Ten getting in the season. With three returning stalwarts and a set of inbound impact freshmen, the Terps were in the mix. And after that they went to Asheville and lost to Davidson and UAB, shooting 11-for-46 from 3-point range throughout the two games. DePaul Blue Demons: A home loss to

Purdue Fort Wayne to open the season might have been enough to get DePaul an area in this category on its own, however then the Blue Demons dropped a game in your home to Long Beach State– after trailing by as lots of as 22 points in the very first half. Vanderbilt Commodores: There was stiff competition for this spot(Georgetown lost to Holy Cross, West Virginia lost to Monmouth, Louisville lost to

Chattanooga, Oklahoma State lost to Abilene Christian, LSU lost to Nicholls, etc)– but Vanderbilt’s home loss to Presbyterian may have been the worst of the lot. Heaven Tube won three Division I games last season and went 1-17 in Big South play. Not a good start for Jerry Stackhouse.Power Rankings

play 1:32 Dickinson, McCullar integrate for big first half for Kansas Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. carry their inner Splash Brothers, as they drop a combined 32 points in the very first half for the Jayhawks. 1. Kansas Jayhawks (2-0 )Preseason ranking: 1 This week: vs. Kentucky in Chicago(Tuesday )Doesn’t seem like Hunter Dickinson is having much difficulty adapting to life in Lawrence. He scored 15 points in the very first seven-plus minutes of the season against North Carolina Central and balanced 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in the Jayhawks’

two simple wins to open the season. One thing worth viewing: Dajuan Harris Jr., who scored in double figures in nine of his last 13 games in 2022-23

, attempted simply four shots
and scored two points recently. 2. Purdue Boilermakers( 2-0 )Preseason ranking: 3 Today: vs. Xavier(Monday)Matt Painter made two big changes to his starting lineup after last season, inserting Trey Kaufman-Renn into the frontcourt next to Zach Edey and adding transfer guard Lance Jones for some additional pop on the boundary. Jones dished out three helps in each of the Boilermakers ‘first two games while averaging 10.5 points, while Kaufman-Renn had 14 points in a combined 34 minutes. play 0:25 Kylan Boswell’s acrobatic bucket includes
to Arizona’s lead Kylan Boswell’s unconventional hook shot somehow embraces Arizona 3. Arizona Wildcats (2-0) Preseason ranking: 12 Today: vs. Southern(Monday), vs. Belmont(Friday )Kylan Boswell was probably the very best guard on the flooring in the Wildcats’win over Duke on Friday. He played with toughness and self-confidence and displayed consistent playmakingcapability off the bounce. The sophomore guard completed with 12 points, 8 boards and five assists, after opting for 18 points in the opener against Morgan State. Boswell is

a greatly different point player than Kerr Kriisa,
however it doesn’t appear like there will be a dropoff in Tucson after Kriisa

‘s departure. 4. UConn Huskies( 2-0 )Preseason ranking: 5 This week: vs. Mississippi Valley State (Tuesday), vs. Indiana in New York City (Sunday)A Donovan Clingan breakout this season is inevitable, however watch on Samson Johnson. The 6-foot-10 junior consistently created favorable buzz in the preseason however playing behind Clingan and Alex Karaban, it was unclear how quickly he would produce.

It hasn’t taken long. He had 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks in the Huskies’opener and followed it up with 8 points versus Stonehill. play 0:17 Dalton Knecht ratings late to seal win for Tennessee Dalton Knecht scores late to seal win for Tennessee 5. Tennessee Volunteers(2-0)Preseason ranking: 8 This week: vs. Wofford (Tuesday)An elite defense for each of the last 3 seasons, Rick Barnes understood his group had to improve offensively to have more March success. Eighty points in each of the Volunteers’first 2 games? He’ll take it. More notably, when things got tight at Wisconsin late in the game, Barnes had players who could go and get a basket or make a shot. Dalton Knecht was the headliner, but Jordan Gainey’s shooting capability also provides Tennessee another measurement
. play 0:15 Emanuel Sharp shows off the swagger with deep 3-pointer Emanuel Sharp shows off the swagger with deep 3-pointer 6. Houston Cougars (2-0)Preseason ranking: 6 This week: vs. Stetson(Monday ), Charleston Classic(Thursday )Could Emanuel Sharp be the breakout wing for Kelvin Sampson’s team? The expectation was that Terrance Arceneaux would be that guy, but

Sharp looks the part early on. He’s started both games for the Cougars, scoring

20 points in the opener and then 11 versus Texas

A&M -Corpus Christi. Sharp already showed himself as a prolific shooter last season, and he’s off to a 6-for-13 start from behind the arc in 2023-24. 7. Marquette Golden Eagles (2-0 )Preseason ranking: 7 Today: at Illinois(Tuesday)Kam Jones’breakout season came a year earlier, when his numbers leapt from 7.4 PPG to 15.1 PPG, but NBA scouts thought another action up could be coming this season. And they might be right. Through two games, Jones is averaging 21.5 points–

with 20-plus in both games– while also dispensing four assists in both games and shooting 8-for-16 from behind the

arc. He and Tyler Kolek form an elite backcourt. As for Kolek, keep an eye on his ankle. He left Marquette’s win over Rider with an ankle injury and his status for today is up in the air. 8. Creighton Bluejays(2-0)Preseason ranking: 9 Today: vs. Iowa( Tuesday ), vs. Texas Southern(Saturday)Leading stories of the week from Get exclusive access to

thousands of premium posts a year from leading writers. – Ranking the leading 50 MLB totally free agents”- Lowe: Next

action in LaMelo’s game “- Latest buzz: NFL coaches on hot spot”More ESPN+material”One of the most significant concerns for Creighton getting in the season was whether Trey Alexander might go from being a regular piece for the Bluejays to someone who
can take control of a game. He revealed flashes last season, especially down the stretch, and has actually continued into the new campaign thus far. Alexander had 20 points and five assists in the opener and 21 points and 4 helps versus North Dakota State. 9. Duke Blue Devils (1-1) Preseason ranking: 2 This week: vs. Michigan State in Chicago(Tuesday), vs. Bucknell( Friday)Friday’s loss to Arizona was a good test of whether Duke’s young team had actually developed and established over the summer. And beyond Kyle Filipowski, the majority of

the group is still an operate in progress. The Blue Devils need Tyrese Proctor– a predicted lottery game pick– to take that next step. He resisted Arizona’s guards, shooting simply 3-for-9 from the field and rarely getting to the rim. If he can end up being a go-to guy with the ball in his hands, Duke can live up to its preseason hype. play 1:18 Tom Izzo not afraid to alter beginning lineup after being up to James Madison Tom Izzo discusses what modifications need to be made after Michigan State was disturbed in your home by James Madison. 10. Michigan State Spartans

(1-1 )Preseason ranking: 4 Today: vs. Duke in Chicago(Tuesday), vs. Butler (Friday

)A preseason Last 4 pick by lots of, Michigan State suffered the most spectacular loss of the opening week– as pointed out above. The Spartans’greatest problem in the opening week? Boundary shooting. They made just among their 20 3-point attempts in the loss to James Madison, and
followed that up with a
1-for-11 performance in the win over Southern Indiana. This is a team that ranked 3rd nationally in 3-point percentage last season. 11. Gonzaga Bulldogs( 1-0)Preseason ranking: 10 Today: vs. Eastern Oregon (Tuesday )The season-ending injury to Steele Venters will harm Gonzaga due to his capability to make shots from the boundary and give Mark Couple of a tested college scorer. Who will step up? Freshman Dusty Stromer will have to make a more immediate effect– and he’s a big-time shooter who must depend on the job– but redshirt frosh Braden Huff totaled 19 points and 9 boards in simply 20 minutes off the bench against Yale
. 12. Florida Atlantic Owls (1-0)Preseason ranking: 11 This week: vs. Eastern Michigan (Tuesday ), vs. Bryant(Saturday)Huge guy Vladislav Goldin had among the most outstanding stat lines of the opening week: 19 points, 10 rebounds, two helps, five blocks and four steals. Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin will create most of the headlines in Boca Raton, however Goldin gives the Owls

an opportunity versus a much
harder nonconference schedule than last season. At 7-1 with a capability to affect the game at both ends, he ensures FAU won’t be outmatched in the paint. play 0:30 Yves Missi with the massive stuff at the rim Yves Missi with the enormous things at the rim 13. Baylor Bears (3-0)Preseason ranking: 17 Today: vs. Kansas City(Tuesday)Ja’Kobe Walter had the very best college debut of any freshman in the country this season, ending up with 28 points and six rebounds in a win over Auburn. But it was fellow frosh Yves Missi who raised eyebrows with his very first week. The 7-footer was somebody who generated favorable buzz in preseason, with one source telling ESPN he had days where he appeared like a one-and-done first-round pick. And he published double figures in scoring in all three games while totaling 10 blocks. 14. Villanova Wildcats(2-0)Preseason ranking: 13 Today: at Penn(Monday), vs. Maryland(Friday) While the return of Justin Moore and Eric Dixon and the increase of transfers received most of the offseason attention on the Main Line, sophomore guard Mark Armstrong taking a step forward was maybe the greatest key to Villanova’s season. He’s a real playmaker who can create for others, therefore

far he’s doing his job. In two wins over American and Le Moyne, he had five helps and no turnovers. play 1:26 Armando Bacot chooses 25 and 13 in UNC’s win vs. Radford Armando Bacot sets up a substantial double-double for North Carolina as the Tar Heels retreat from Radford in the 2nd half. 15. North Carolina Tar Heels( 2-0)Preseason ranking: 14 This week: vs. UC Riverside(Friday )It’s going to take exceptionally gaudy numbers for someone to topple Zach Edey in the Wood

Award race this season, but Bacot is off to a strong start. He had 25

points and 13 rebounds in the season-opening win over Radford, then 22 and 20 against Lehigh. The Tar Heels’ schedule will ultimately stiffen up

, however Bacot ought to be among the unstoppable forces in guys’s
college basketball this season. 16. Arkansas Razorbacks( 2-0 )Preseason ranking: 16 This week: vs. Old Rule(Monday ), vs. UNC Greensboro( Friday)Khalif Battle’s scoring ability was never in doubt at Temple– but he was streaky at times. We may see that streakiness play itself out in Fayetteville, but Fight’s Arkansas profession is off to a great start. Coming off the bench in both games this past week, Fight scored 21 points in each win, shooting 6-for-10 from 3 and 16-for-19 from the
free throw line. Eric Musselman has actually constantly longed for a microwave-type scorer off the bench and Fight looks

to be that guy this season.Dropped out: Kentucky Wildcats (Preseason No. 15 )In the waiting room Kentucky Wildcats: The Wildcats leave of the Power Rankings through no fault of their own(Baylor Bears just needed to move up). Early returns on the D.J. Wagner-Rob Dillingham backcourt are positive. They integrated for 30 points, seven helps and one turnover in the opener and 23 points, 7 helps and 2 turnovers versus

Texas A&M -Commerce. Miami Hurricanes: It’s seldom the breakout hype from the preseason instantly pays off, but that’s occurring for Wooga Poplar. Jim Larrañaga said last month he was playing like a first-round NBA draft choice. And through two games, Poplar is averaging 22.0 points and shooting 10-for-14 from 3. Texas A&M Aggies: The Aggies are going to have more experience and connection than a lot of opponents this season– and they leaned on that versus Ohio State. Wade Taylor IV, Tyrece Radford and Henry Coleman III combined for 62 of the group’s 73 points.