College Basketball 2014-15: Latest Rankings of the Top Conferences

The Big 12 remains the best college basketball conference in the country, but the bigger news might be that the Big Ten has slipped to No. 4 in our latest rankings of the top conferences.

With the start of conference play only about 10 days away, we're rapidly running out of chances to watch these conferences go to war with one another.

By the time we flip the calendar to January, there will be no more early season tournaments. No more ACC/B1G or SEC/Big 12 Challenges. No more AAC and A-10 losing seemingly every game it plays.

Soon, it will just be a bunch of civil wars playing out across the country as teams take turns chopping rivals down to size.

The following 11 conferences were ranked partially by percentage of teams expected to make the NCAA tournament and partially by noteworthy wins and bad losses.

11. American Athletic

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Previous Rank: 11

Torch Bearers

With Connecticut falling to 4-4 against Duke on Thursday night, it's time to promote Southern Methodist University to AAC torch bearer. The Mustangs do have three losses, but each one came against a quality opponent. They also have wins over Wyoming, UC Santa Barbara and Eastern Washington.

If anyone can save this conference from the pit of despair, it might have to be Larry Brown's squad.

Depth

Entering play on Wednesday—before Cincinnati's nice win over San Diego State—the AAC was a combined 0-19 vs. teams rated in the top 60 on KenPom.com and had also lost 17 other games for good measure.

This conference has a lot of depth. Unfortunately, it's deep doo-doo.

What to Watch For

Is Markus Kennedy coming back, and how effective will he be?

The projected AAC Player of the Year was ruled ineligible for the first semester due to academics, but the assumption was that he would be eligible to return this weekend against Michigan. Mum's the word, though, as I can't find a single report on if or when he'll be returning to the court, unless you count this tweet from Thursday night that says there's still no decision.

10. Atlantic 10

USA TODAY Sports

Previous Rank: 10

Torch Bearers

VCU scheduled tough and paid the price for it, but the Rams seem to have turned things around with a good win over Northern Iowa and a dominant win over Belmont.

After about two weeks in which the defense struggled to produce anything resembling havoc, the Rams have recorded 11 steals in back-to-back games. They still need to be considered a serious threat in March.

Depth

Every noteworthy A-10 team has suffered at least one loss since the last update two weeks ago—some of the "dreadful" variety.

George Washington lost to Penn State. Richmond unforgivably lost to James Madison. Dayton was soundly beaten at Arkansas. Massachusetts pushed its losing streak to three games by falling to Florida Gulf Coast. And Rhode Island lost an in-state rivalry game to Providence.

Dayton also suffered a pretty big loss off the court with the recent news that Devon Scott and Jalen Robinson have been dismissed from the program.

It's a bit of a stretch to find a second team in this conference worthy of playing in the NCAA tournament.

What to Watch For

Can Davidson compete?

The record shows 8-1, but Davidson has only played two games against top-150 programs—a narrow home win over Charlotte and an 18-point neutral-court loss to North Carolina.

This was supposed to be a transition year for the Wildcats as they make the jump from SoCon to A-10, and that may still be the case. They have scored quite admirably against weak teams but have really struggled to defend against the remotely competent ones.

Between now and January 7, Davidson plays road games against Virginia and VCU. If the Wildcats aren't absolutely embarrassed in both of those games, there might be hope for them this season after all.

9. West Coast

USA TODAY Sports

Previous Rank: 7

Torch Bearers

Gonzaga's offense is just plain silly. Take away the loss to Arizona, and the Bulldogs are averaging 87.8 points per game. They have quality wins over St. John's, UCLA, SMU and Georgia and should be on the fast track to a No. 1 seed in the 2015 NCAA tournament.

Depth

BYU came mighty close to winning games against San Diego State, Purdue and Utah, but the Cougars are instead 0-3 against quality teams. They may very well fall to 0-6 in that category after playing games against Stanford, Massachusetts and Gonzaga without Tyler Haws.

Meanwhile, Saint Mary's has lost two games since the last conference ranking, including a home loss to Northern Arizona. In the span of two weeks, the WCC went from a potential three-bid league to a likely one-bid league.

What to Watch For

Will the selection committee pity BYU for losing Haws?

If the Cougars do, in fact, lose their next three games, they should be toast without earning the WCC's auto bid. But what happens if Haws comes back and they suddenly go on a 15-game winning streak before finishing the regular season at Gonzaga?

With several power conferences (AAC, Big Ten, SEC) struggling during the nonconference portion of the season, there's a good chance that a couple of teams get into the tournament with a resume that would have barely merited a second look in recent seasons. Perhaps BYU can be one of those teams.

8. Mountain West

USA TODAY Sports

Previous Rank: 9

Torch Bearers

San Diego State is probably still the better team, but Colorado State is doing a pretty fine job of carrying the Mountain West's torch these days.

The Rams haven't played any outstanding teams, but they also haven't gotten to 10-0 by feasting on the Little Sisters of the Poor. They picked up a huge road win over Colorado last week, adding to a list of victims that already included Georgia State, UTEP and UC Santa Barbara.

Depth

If Colorado State is No. 1 in the Mountain West, San Diego State is No. 1A.

The big question, though, is who is going to challenge those teams?

Wyoming has lost a pair of road games in the past two weeks and has struggled to play away from home in recent seasons. Boise State's best wins have come against middling WCC teams. New Mexico has a long way to go to get back to respectability after already suffering losses to Boston College and USC.

UNLV might be the biggest challenger, and the Rebels have some gigantic upcoming challenges of their own. In the next five games, they host Utah and Arizona and also travel to Wyoming and Kansas. They'll be the underdogs in all four of those games, but we'll see how well they emerge from them.

What to Watch For

Can San Diego State figure out how to score?

The Aztecs miss Xavier Thames more than any other team misses any other player. I'm not taking the time to check all 351 teams, but Winston Shepard (10.9 PPG) has got to be one of the two or three lowest-scoring leading scorers in the country.

Their snail-like pace isn't helping matters, but it can't be the only excuse. The Air Force Falcons play even slower than San Diego State, and they have a guy (Max Yon) averaging 15.9 PPG. San Diego State simply doesn't have a player with a killer instinct that it trusts to take over games.

The Aztecs have one of the best defenses in the nation, but even the world's best goalies and pitchers need some offense to win games.

7. Missouri Valley

USA TODAY Sports

Previous Rank: 8

Torch Bearers

Wichita State has had a rough couple of weeks.

Losing in overtime at Utah? No big deal.

Struggling to win at Detroit or protect home court against Alabama and Seton Hall? Cause for concern.

The Shockers still only have that one loss on the season, but a lot of folks are starting to wonder whether this team can carry on without Cleanthony Early. They're still desperately searching to fill his spot in the lineup. Evan Wessel is the team's fifth-highest scorer, and he has only been good for 4.2 PPG.

Depth

Northern Iowa may have slipped out of the AP Top 25 after just one week, but the Panthers are a very solid team that has suffered just one loss—in double overtime at VCU.

Illinois State is another Valley team that packs a punch. The Redbirds already have a 19-point win over Old Dominion and came within four points of upsetting both Seton Hall and VCU.

The jury is still out on Evansville. The Purple Aces don't have any particularly noteworthy wins, but a two-point loss to Green Bay and a two-point loss to Murray State are worth noting.

This is a much better conference than the one Wichita State steamrolled through last year.

What to Watch For

Can the Valley make a statement on Saturday?

Wichita State gets the weekend off in preparation for the Diamond Head Classic, but the rest of the conference has a big day on Saturday.

There are two huge neutral-court games in the Hawkeye state as Northern Iowa squares off with Iowa and Drake faces Iowa State. Elsewhere, Illinois State travels to Murray State and Missouri State hosts Eastern Michigan.

Drake has almost no hope of beating the Cyclones, but the other three teams could really help the Valley's case for being a two- or even three-bid league.

6. Southeastern

USA TODAY Sports

Previous Rank: 6

Torch Bearers

Kentucky has 11 wins and only 29 to go.

The Wildcats have had a couple of minor scares along the way—most recently from Columbia, of all teams—but they have beaten each and every opponent on the schedule by at least 10 points.

They still have two big nonconference hurdles in the form of UCLA and Louisville, but it's all downhill from there.

Depth

At long last, Florida is showing some signs of life.

Truth be told, everyone overreacted to Florida's early losses. Look back on them now, and you see a bunch of close games played without key players at full strength against very good opponents. All four teams that have beaten Florida could easily reach the Sweet 16. Time to stop worrying about the Gators.

Beyond them, though, it's still a mess.

My gut says LSU is the third-best team in the SEC, but I wouldn't go placing any wagers on that. We could be headed for a repeat of last season, in which it wasn't until early March that Tennessee finally separated from the pack to join Florida and Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.

Tennessee probably won't be that third team this year, but, heck, why not? No one else has proven much of anything yet.

What to Watch For

Can Kentucky go 40-0?

This was our W2W4 in the last go around, but if it isn't broke, don't fix it. It's the primary thing that everyone around the country is talking about, and it's only going to further intensify until Kentucky loses a game.

5. Pac-12

USA TODAY Sports

Previous Rank: 5

Torch Bearers

Arizona has 11 wins and only 29 to go.

Arizona's offense has been simply out of control lately.

It's no surprise that the Wildcats have held their last three opponents to an average of 57.7 points per game. Defense has been their forte since at least the beginning of last season. It is a surprise, though, to see them averaging 89.3 points per game on offense.

In their most recent win over Oakland, five players scored at least a dozen points, and another two had at least eight. The same five scored in double figures against Michigan last weekend.

This is an extremely talented team that shares the workload admirably. Stanley Johnson is the only player on the team attempting so much as 8.0 shots per game.

Depth

The bottom third of the Pac-12 is pretty pathetic, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see at least six or seven teams make the tournament.

Utah is clearly the real deal, and Washington has a chance to prove how good it is this weekend against Oklahoma. California is somehow under the radar with a 9-1 record. UCLA is looking pretty good after a poor showing in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Stanford, Oregon and Colorado are the question marks. Each has at least one bad loss—either because of the score, the opponent or both—but they have each also done some impressive things already this season.

Stanford has road games against BYU and Texas in the next week, and Colorado will be participating in the Diamond Head Classic. Huge opportunities for both schools.

What to Watch For

What, exactly, is Robert Upshaw's ceiling?

Washington's big man had 21 points, nine rebounds and six blocks in just 26 minutes against Eastern Washington on Sunday.

I recognize that Eastern Washington's defense and interior presence is atrocious, but Upshaw has been driving opponents bonkers all season long.

A big challenge awaits on Saturday in the form of Ryan Spangler and TaShawn Thomas. If he can handle Oklahoma's big men, all bets are off for the rest of the season.

4. Big Ten

Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

Previous Rank: 2

Torch Bearers

Wisconsin has been exceptional through the first third of the season, and the Badgers are just now starting to hit their stride.

Sam Dekker was dealing with an ankle injury for more than half of their games to date—including the loss to Duke—but has scored 17 in consecutive games and finally looks confident moving around the court. Hard to believe they have looked this good without getting optimal production out of a guy who has been considered a preseason candidate for B1G POY in back-to-back years.

Depth

I wrote a full column on the Big Ten's issues earlier in the week, but the moral of the story is that there simply aren't many quality wins outside of Wisconsin. There are a few nice ones, for sure—Iowa over UNC, Maryland over Iowa State, Illinois over Baylor, each coming away from home for the Big Ten team—but the bad losses are significantly outweighing the good wins.

Even Big Ten beat writers are worried about this conference.

Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and Ohio State each opened the season ranked in the AP Top 25. They have combined for 11 losses, and the most impressive win of the bunch is either Michigan's win over Syracuse or Nebraska's double-overtime win over Cincinnati—neither of which is particularly noteworthy.

It's still weird to see Maryland in the Big Ten, but the Terrapins might be about as good as it gets beyond Wisconsin.

What to Watch For

Can the Big Ten pick up some quality wins this weekend?

We previously noted the Missouri Valley's chance at some key wins on Saturday, but the Big Ten will also be looking to make some statements.

The most noteworthy game is Ohio State vs. North Carolina, but there's also Michigan vs. SMU, Indiana vs. Butler, Iowa vs. Northern Iowa and Purdue vs. Notre Dame. A 5-0 run through those games would at least push the Big Ten back up to No. 3 in these rankings. A sub-.500 record, though, might drop it below the Pac-12.

3. Atlantic Coast

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Previous Rank: 4

Torch Bearers

For most of these conferences, it's pretty obvious who the top dog is.

Then again, most of these conferences don't have three teams ranked in the top six in the country.

Duke is being billed as the top challenger to Kentucky, but Louisville and Virginia should be right there in the discussion, too. Each of those three teams has been extremely efficient—Duke on offense, Louisville and Virginia on defense—not only remaining undefeated, but barely even getting challenged by anyone.

We still have to wait a month until they start playing each other, but those are going to be some fun, heavyweight battles.

Depth

The gap between these top three conferences is pretty negligible. The ACC and Big 12 each have (at least) four legitimate contenders for the national championship. Those two conferences and the Big East are each likely to send at least six teams to the NCAA tournament.

But the ACC gets penalized for simply having too many bad teams. Tis the peril of being a mega conference.

Duke, Louisville and Virginia are outstanding. North Carolina, Miami and Notre Dame are very good. Syracuse and North Carolina State will likely make the tournament. But with Pittsburgh struggling and Florida State being just plain awful, nearly 50 percent of the ACC has already been virtually ruled out of the NCAA tournament.

Meanwhile, just about every team in the Big East and Big 12 is still in play for a bid.

What to Watch For

Could Jerian Grant win the Wooden Award?

Writers and analysts are all aboard the Jerian Grant bandwagon, but Notre Dame's fifth-year senior hasn't gotten into the mainstream media the way Montrezl Harrell and Jahlil Okafor have.

To be fair, Notre Dame has played an awful schedule. The Irish don't play their first true road game until early January, and they scheduled a lot of home games against very bad teams. As such, it's tempting to say that Grant's numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.

However, his best games have come against Notre Dame's best competition. Against Massachusetts, Providence and Michigan State, Grant averaged 23.7 PPG and 6.7 APG—as compared to his season averages of 18.9 PPG and 6.0 APG.

He has scored at least 13 points in all 11 games, but he hasn't been fattening up on the bad teams. How he fares in early conference games against North Carolina and Virginia will likely dictate whether he makes a real run at the Wooden Award.

2. Big East

USA TODAY Sports

Previous Rank: 3

Torch Bearers

Villanova was 28-3 at the end of the 2013-14 regular season but proceeded to be upset by Seton Hall in the first round of the Big East tournament and lost to Connecticut in the round of 32. Coupled with their blowout losses to Creighton and Syracuse, the Wildcats were brushed under the rug as a team that shouldn't be taken too seriously.

However, all that Villanova really lost from last season was James Bell, and the significantly improved play of Dylan Ennis has gone a very long way toward plugging that gap. Josh Hart has once again been outstanding as the team's sixth man, and Daniel Ochefu is well on his way to earning the Big East's Most Improved Player award for a second straight season.

We're talking about a better version of a team that nearly earned a No. 1 seed last March.

Depth

Villanova, St. John's and Butler are each ranked in the Top 25. For my money, Georgetown is the best unranked team in the country, and neither Seton Hall nor Xavier is that far behind the Hoyas.

Creighton and Providence might not be consistently good, but each is capable of beating just about anyone. Marquette is already looking formidable with Luke Fischer now eligible in the paint. Even DePaul won a game against Stanford.

The ACC has more and better contenders for the national championship, but the Big East is significantly more solid from top to bottom.

What to Watch For

Can St. John's get back to the tournament?

Once a tournament staple, the Red Storm have only gone dancing once in the past 12 years.

This team is loaded with experience—the six primary minute-earners are made up of four seniors, one junior and one sophomore—but is it really good to be experienced in missing the tournament?

In a recent interview with ESPN's C.L. Brown, head coach Steve Lavin said, "This group is on track...to have a special season."

D'Angelo Harrison and St. John's have been great thus far, but we'll be curious to see how this team does early in the conference season after losing its first five Big East games last year.

1. Big 12

Chris Covatta/Getty Images

Previous Rank: 1

Torch Bearers

Kansas is still the Big 12's torch bearer until the Jayhawks undeniably pass it, but there sure are a lot of hands reaching for it. Having four teams ranked in the top 15 tends to have that kind of effect.

Since losing to Kentucky in the Champions Classic, Kansas has been unstoppable, winning six consecutive games against quality teams—most recently Michigan State, Florida, Georgetown and Utah.

This while adjusting to life without point guard Devonte' Graham and continually refusing to put Cliff Alexander or Kelly Oubre in the starting lineup.

Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma have been very good, but Kansas has been great and is only going to get better.

Depth

With seven teams ranked in the top 27 and an eighth (Oklahoma State) picking up a couple of votes for a solid start, it's pretty clear that the Big 12 is the top basketball conference in the country.

Even Texas Tech—8-1 with an overtime loss at LSU—is playing well. And if Kansas State is actually the 10th-best team in this conference, then it might be time to start talking about the Big 12 as the best conference in college basketball history.

It mathematically can't compete with the Big East's 11 bids from a few seasons ago, but there's a much better than slim chance that at least 80 percent of Big 12 teams make the tournament this year.

What to Watch For

When does Rick Barnes fully turn Myles Turner loose?

I love Connor Lammert and Prince Ibeh as much as the next guy, but it's absolutely insane that Myles Turner is just barely playing 20 minutes per game.

Turner is leading the nation in win shares per 40 minutes by a margin that one would think to be reserved for someone like Kevin Durant. With a ratio of 0.415, he is 11.0 percent better than the next-best player in the country.

At this point, playing him less than 30 minutes per game is going to make draft evaluators worry about his stamina and keep Texas from being as great as it possibly can.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.