Greetings, College Football Playoff aficionados. You’ve probably been focused on Ohio State’s road to being unstoppable by everyone not named Michigan and now are wondering what’s been going on so far in the basketball season. This might help.
You’re just in time for unrest. The ranked teams have been falling like the confetti did on the Buckeyes Monday night in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Iowa State . . . Tennessee . . . Marquette . . . Connecticut . . . Gonzaga . . . Baylor — all taken down by unranked opponents the past weekend. Houston was one second away from joining them. Michigan almost did, too. Just another slice of January life in a world where nobody is safe. There were 28 games Saturday and Sunday decided by one possession or in overtime.
You’re too late to see any unbeaten records. The last of those fell when Tennessee lost at Florida. By 30 points. That kind of bashing hadn’t happened to a top-ranked team in over a half-century. To give you an idea of this season, the Vols were atop the polls and could only score 43 points against the Gators. Then they lost to Vanderbilt over the weekend, so in short order went from No. 1 in the nation to a six-way tie for fifth in the SEC.
For that matter, Auburn is the only Division I team in America with one loss. The Tigers have been so good they were a unanimous No. 1 this week in the Associated Press poll. And this country isn't unanimous about anything. In case you’re just catching on about Auburn, here are two words to remember. Johni Broome. He's the top candidate for National Player of the Year not named Cooper Flagg. Once his ankle stops hurting. Maybe the last time you looked at the top 25 rankings was the preseason. Things have changed. Don’t look for Kansas at No. 1 anymore. They hit several bumps in the road and couldn’t even win their conference opener, losing at home to West Virginia. Kansas hadn’t been 0-1 in league play since 1991. No, Houston is in charge at the moment in the Big 12 with 10 victories in a row. But don’t get the wrong idea about the Cougars being invincible. They just needed a last-second shot to escape Central Florida. Still, if you like to see teams struggle to get to 60, the Houston defense is what you want to watch.
Don’t look for North Carolina in the polls
The Tar Heels already have seven losses and just this past weekend dropped a home game when they were leading at halftime for the first time in five years. Stanford did the honors, an opponent that came in 0-13 all-time against North Carolina. Stanford might be 3,000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean but the Cardinal have a math major from Paris — Maxime Raynaud — who’s leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring and rebounding. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels may face a future on the tournament bubble. "Basketball is no different than life," coach Hubert Davis was saying. "There are going to be rainy days and sunny days, so we didn't make enough plays to win the game. Let's look back at it and see if we can learn from it and grow from it.”
Don’t look for Arkansas
The John Calipari marriage had a swell 11-2 start, but then SEC play began and the honeymoon was over. The Razorbacks are 0-5 in league play and that’s something Calipari has never done before. He can probably be grateful for one thing. He’s not 0-5 at Kentucky. Just imagine the call-in shows.
Don’t look for Indiana
The Hoosiers are a Rorschach ink blot test. What do you see, a 14-5 team already with two road wins in Big Ten play? Or the punching bag that has lost five games by at least 16 points and was down 38 to Louisville, 30 to Iowa and 31 to Illinois? The howls surrounding coach Mike Woodson have grown thunderous. “I ain’t going to comment on the outside noise,” he said after Indiana won at Ohio State. “It’s ridiculous.”
📊 POWER RANKINGS: Check out the latest Power 37 rankings
Don’t look for UCLA
The Bruins were quick out of the gate at 10-1 but then discovered how the road is no bowl of cherries in the Big Ten. They lost five of six, then limped home and were up 57-24 at the half against Iowa and got back to winning. “I’m frustrated with myself, so anybody who thinks I’m not accountable doesn’t know me or is just a clickbait person,” coach Mick Cronin said. “Nobody is harder on themselves in coaching than me. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. I don’t know how after NBA games they go out to eat. It’s impossible for me, I’m ready to jump off of a bridge blaming myself.”
Don’t look for Connecticut near the top of the polls
UConn Huskies guard Solo Ball (1) returns up court against the bXavier Musketeers in the second half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
Perhaps you took time off from studying the latest CFP rankings in November to notice what happened to the two-time defending national champions in Maui. Food poisoning? The Huskies wish. No, three losses in three days. The sting of that belly flop was fading with eight consecutive wins, but now they’ve lost two of three, including having their 28-game homecourt winning streak stopped by Creighton. They have more or less breezed to consecutive national championships but it is clear that nothing comes easy this season. Don’t look for Gonzaga in its customary top spot of the West Coast Conference.
Try tied for third. Mark Few might break into hives watching films of his defense since the Zags just gave up 103 points to Santa Clara, the most ever in their Kennel, which opened in 2004. That included 18 three-pointers. The game before that, they coughed up 97 to Oregon State. Those 200 points led to Gonzaga losing consecutive conference games for the first time in 10 years. “I shuffled through every defense we had,” Few said of the Santa Clara game. “A couple would work for a possession or two, and then . . . I mean, 18 (3-pointers), I've never seen that on one of our teams.”
Don’t look for a wave of ACC teams in the top 25
Last week, there was one. Duke. Louisville elbowed in this week. The Cardinals have won eight in a row and are 14-5 overall and 7-1 in the ACC. No, you’re remembering right. Louisville had fallen off the edge of the planet. In the past two years the Cardinals were 12-52, and 5-35 in the conference. They are becoming one of the stories of the season.
As for other usual suspects in the ACC, don’t look for Virginia. It’s been one downer after another. Tony Bennett suddenly left the job and the Cavaliers are 1-6 in the ACC for their worst start in 17 years and 8-10 overall. Or NC State, a year removed from the Final Four and now 9-9. Or Miami, two years after the Final Four, and now 4-14.
Don’t look for Ohio State
Football season is over. Sigh. The gods of that sport might have been all gaga over the Buckeyes but those in charge of basketball fate have been using brass knuckles. Ohio State has lost four of five and its past three defeats have been by one point in overtime to Indiana, two points to Wisconsin and two to Oregon.
So what should you look for?
The power of the SEC
The party might be over in football since the whole league was watching from their couches Monday night, but basketball is a beast. Auburn is No. 1, it has only one defeat, six weeks ago by six points at Duke. Four more schools are in the top 10 and four more are in the top 25. Thirteen members have been ranked at one point or another this season. The SEC is 59-19 against its fellow power conferences and its number in the KenPom ratings is the highest for a league in 28 years.
And when you look in on the SEC, are you not entertained? Kentucky beat Florida 106-100 but lost to Alabama 102-97. Auburn won by two points last weekend at Georgia, who currently is in 11th place in the league.
Look for Duke
Twelve wins in a row for the Blue Devils, the longest active streak in the nation and Duke’s longest streak since 2015. Yeah, 2015. Coach K’s last national championship. The Blue Devils have outrebounded 15 of 18 opponents, outscored 16 of them in the paint and out-dunked them all 81-22. We haven’t even gotten to the good parts yet — The Cooper Flagg Do-It-All Freshman Show and one of the top-rated defenses in the country. Flagg was playing near his Maine roots last weekend when Duke traveled to Boston College and you can understand why the home folks would be excited about one of their own having such a high ceiling in March. Maine is one of only two states — with Alaska — to never have a team in the NCAA Tournament.
🎥 WATCH: Cooper Flagg poster takes college basketball world by storm
Duke’s 21.8-point average winning margin leads the nation and the Blue Devils climbed to No. 2 in the current AP poll and have passed Auburn for the top spot in the KenPom rankings. In case anyone is wondering, Dean Smith and Bob Knight are the only men to both play for and coach a national champion. One down, one to go for Jon Scheyer.
Look for St. John’s
The 16-3 Red Storm are off to their best start in 39 years. They’re leading the Big East and their last title in that league was 1992. No coach has ever taken six different schools to the NCAA Tournament but St. John’s would be No. 6 for Rick Pitino and that’s about in the bag. But February brings road games to Connecticut, Villanova and Marquette.
Look for the race in the Big Ten
Tom Izzo is back at the top. Michigan State has 11 wins in a row and is yet to lose a conference game. Purdue is doing fine without Zach Edey. The Boilermakers have won seven in a row, despite playing only three home games in the past 43 days. Dusty May has quickly lit a fire beneath Michigan. The program that went 3-17 in the league last season is currently 6-1. Those are the top three teams and they have yet to meet, but they will soon. Maybe one of them could even win the national championship, now that it’s been 25 years since the Big Ten produced such a thing (Michigan State in 2000). Ohio State’s triumph Monday night was the fourth national football title for the Big Ten since then.
Look for the stat line of Villanova’s Eric Dixon
Eric Dixon #43 of the Villanova Wildcats reacts after the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Finneran Pavilion on December 3, 2024 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 68-60.
The Wildcats are having their struggles at 12-8 — they lost 64-63 to Georgetown Monday by going the last 4:52 without a point — but Dixon keeps putting up big numbers and leads the nation in scoring at 24.9. The last time Villanova had a scoring champion was Bob Arizin in 1950. Would having another top scorer 75 years later be adequate consolation for missing the NCAA tournament a third consecutive season? Highly unlikely.
Look for West Virginia
Houston and Iowa State and Kansas get much of the Big 12 attention, but please note the team that went 9-23 last season and was picked to finish 13th in the league this year. The 13-4 Mountaineers have played three games this season against opponents ranked in the top seven of the AP poll at the time of the meeting — Gonzaga, Kansas and Iowa State. They beat all three.
P.S., Houston is in Morgantown next week.
Look for the chances to make history if the top of the current AP poll means anything.
No. 1 Auburn and No. 4 Alabama have never played in a national championship game. No. 7 Houston is still waiting for a first title. No. 3 Iowa State hasn’t been to the Final Four since 1944. No. 6 Tennessee has never been there.
In other words, the plots are thickening and there are no more kickoffs. Welcome.
