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Andy Katz, krikya18.com Correspondent | November 13, 2023

Tennessee, Arizona lead first men's college basketball Power 36 of the regular season

AP poll breakdown: Andy Katz Q&A, reactions to Nov. 13 college basketball rankings

After one week of play, a handful of teams have established themselves with key wins. krikya18.com's Andy Katz delivers his first in-season Power 36, as well as his player of the week, team of the week and the top-10 games to watch for the upcoming week.

Power 36:

  1. Tennessee: The Volunteers were incredibly impressive in a road win at Wisconsin. Iā€™m all in on this squad as a potential title team. 
  2. Arizona: The Wildcats won at Duke and are sending notice that they are going to be in contention for a Pac-12 title. 
  3. Purdue: The Boilermakers are ready to mount a redemption campaign.
  4. Kansas: The Jayhawks lost an exhibition game to Illinois and while they won their regular-season games, they will be tested over the next few weeks to prove they are No. 1 worthy. 
  5. UConn: The Huskies have restocked for another run to a title. 
  6. Marquette: The Golden Eagles were the pick to win the Big East. But itā€™s hard not to lean the Huskies way. 
  7. Creighton: The Bluejays are a scoring machine. The three-way race atop the Big East could be the best in the country. 
  8. Miami: The ā€˜Canes donā€™t look like they have missed a step from the Final Four. 
  9. Baylor: The Bears are going to be in lock-step with Kansas in the Big 12. 
  10. Duke: No shame in losing to Arizona, but it was a wake-up call for the Blue Devils, who will be tested again against Michigan State. 
  11. Southern Cal: The Trojans beat Kansas State and have one of the best backcourts in the country in Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier. 
  12. Florida Atlantic: The Owls are in mid-season form here in the first few weeks of the season. 
  13. Houston: The tests wonā€™t come for a few weeks, but the Cougars are defending like they do in March. 
  14. Texas A&M: The Aggies had a resume-building true road win at Ohio State. 
  15. Arkansas: The Hogs are going to be one of the most entertaining teams to watch this season. 
  16. Alabama: Grant Nelson made a splash in his debut for the Tide with 24 points. 
  17. James Madison: The Dukes won at Michigan State, beat Kent State in double OT on the road and are 3-0. 
  18. Clemson: The Tigers won the Asheville tournament and are off to a strong start. 
  19. Kentucky: The Wildcats havenā€™t been truly tested yet but will be this week against Kansas. 
  20. Illinois: The Terrence Shannon Jr., Coleman Hawkins 1-2 pop should keep the Illini in the chase in every game. 
  21. Memphis: The Tigers had a sneaky resume win that didnā€™t get national attention. Jahvon Quinerly scored 18 in a true road win at Missouri. 
  22. Gonzaga: The Zags are still a work in progress with a lot of new pieces. We will know a lot more about this squad in Hawaii. 
  23. Villanova: The Wildcats are lurking in the Big East as a squad that could be trouble this winter. 
  24. UCLA: The Bruins are a bit under the radar but that could change with a strong performance in Hawaii. 
  25. Texas: The Longhorns wonā€™t get tested much in November but the defense has been strong so far. 
  26. Virginia: The Cavaliers had a gut-check win over Florida in Charlotte but held on for the W. 
  27. Northwestern: The Wildcats held off the A-10ā€™s best in Dayton. The Flyers will be NCAA tournament good. 
  28. North Carolina: The Tar Heels have the core back and should be back in the Dance come March. 
  29. BYU: The Cougars are off to a great start with a home win over San Diego State. 
  30. Wisconsin: The Badgers lost at home to Tennessee, but held their own down to the final minutes. 
  31. Michigan State: The Spartans will need to prove their first-week funk is behind them with Duke and Butler on tap this week. 
  32. TCU: The Horned Frogs never get their due, but this crew is a top-five Big 12 team. 
  33. Michigan: The Wolverines are off to a fantastic start, especially Dug McDaniel. 
  34. St. Johnā€™s: Joel Soriano is going to be a Big East star. 
  35. Oregon: Nā€™Faly Dante had 21 boards in a win over Georgia in Las Vegas. The Ducks should be back.
  36. Pittsburgh: Carlton Carrington had a triple-double in his Pitt debut and the Panthers haven't missed a step after a two-win NCAA tournament run last March.   

Under consideration: Davidson, Providence, Syracuse, Boise State, Dayton, Saint Mary's, Mississippi State, Xavier, San Diego State, Colorado State, Colorado. 

MORE HOOPS: Caleb Love, Arizona stun Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium

Team of the week: 

Arizona: The Wildcats picked up what could end up being arguably the best true non-conference road win of the season at Duke. Arizona won 78-73, continuously holding off the Blue Devils. Transfers Keshad Johnson (San Diego State) and Caleb Love (North Carolina) led the Wildcats. 

Player of the week:   

Terrence Edwards Jr., James Madison: Edwards was on fire in JMUā€™s tremendous start. Edwards scored 24 in the season-opening win at Michigan State, poured in 25 in a crazy double OT win at Kent State and 14 in a win over Howard. The Sun Belt favorites are meeting the moment!

 Top 10 Games to watch this week

  1. Michigan vs. St. Johnā€™s, Monday, New York, Gavitt Tipoff Games: Rick Pitino makes a huge splash at the Garden against a suddenly improved Wolverines. 
  2. Xavier at Purdue, Monday, Gavitt Games: The Boilermakers looked the part of a top-three team in week one while the Musketeers will find out where they stand.
  3. Wisconsin at Providence, Tuesday, Gavitt Games: The Badgers couldnā€™t handle the inside presence of Tennessee. Providenceā€™s Bryce Hopkins will provide another major challenge. 
  4. Duke vs. Michigan State, Tuesday, Champions Classic, Chicago: The Blue Devils and Spartans both lost home games last week, albeit Arizona and James Madison, respectively arenā€™t equal. Crazy to think one of these two will have two losses two weeks into the season. 
  5. Kentucky vs. Kansas, Tuesday, Champions Classic, Chicago: The Wildcats need to get a barometer on where they are this early in the season. The Jayhawks will provide the challenge. 
  6. Marquette at Illinois, Tuesday, Gavitt Games: Wowza. This is major game for the Illini. The Golden Eagles will be tested in a loaded Maui Invitational the following week. Tyler Kolek and Terrence Shannon Jr., are your stars in this one. 
  7. Iowa at Creighton, Tuesday, Gavitt Games: This could easily be a combined plus 200 points. Both teams love to run and have the green light. 
  8. Maryland at Villanova, Friday, Gavitt Games: The Terps had a disappointing run in Asheville and need to rebound against the restocked Wildcats. 
  9. Saint Maryā€™s vs. San Diego State, Las Vegas: The Gaels have been on fire early. The Aztecs got upset by BYU.
  10. Indiana vs. UConn, Sunday, New York: The Hoosiers will need to find some interior presence to deal Donovan Clingan and company.   

 

 

Andy Katz is an krikya18.com correspondent. Katz worked at ESPN for 18 years as a college basketball reporter, host and anchor. He's covered every Final Four since 1992, and the sport since 1986 as a freshman at Wisconsin. He is a former president of the United States Basketball Writers Association. Katz can also be seen covering college basketball on Big Ten Network, Fox and FS1. Follow him on Twitter at . Follow his .

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.

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The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.

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