College Basketball Rankings 2014-15: Bleacher Report's Week 14 Top 25
College basketball's wheat is finally separating from its chaff in the latest Bleacher Report Top 25.
For most of the season, it's been Kentucky clearly at the top spot and then up to a dozen teams jostling for the honor of second-best. But now we're down to four serious contenders for Kentucky's throne and a grand total of nine teams that really seem like serious threats to reach the Elite Eight.
Of course, things will never actually play out that way. It just wouldn't be March Madness without some surprise teams making it into the latter rounds of the tournament. And there's bound to be plenty more movement over the course of the next month.
When you're flipping through our Top 25 for this week, though, ask yourself whether you really trust any teams from outside the Top 10 to win at least three games in the tournament.
Teams Dropped from Rankings: VCU (20), Georgetown (23), San Diego State (25)
Others Considered: Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Providence
Our experts participate in weekly voting for B/R's Top 25. Once a vote is cast for a specific team, it's assigned a value—25 points for the No. 1 team in the rankings, 24 points for the second spot and so on. The point totals are then added up to create the Top 25.
Nos. 25-21: Oklahoma State-Arkansas
1 of 17
25. Oklahoma State
Record: 16-7, 6-5
Previous rank: Not Ranked
The Cowboys were well on their way to the NIT, but then they won at Texas before knocking off Kansas at home. Now they're back in our Top 25. It's funny how quickly things can change in Big 12 play. A road win over Baylor on Monday night would make for arguably the best three-game stretch in the country this season.
24. Maryland
Record: 19-5, 7-4
Previous rank: 21
The Terrapins have really been struggling lately—especially on the road—and have now lost three of their last five games by double-digit margins.
But trying to find 25 teams that deserve to be ranked right now is about as difficult as trying to find a parking spot near Times Square on New Year's Eve. I unofficially have Cincinnati, Eastern Washington and Murray State at No. 28-30 on my ballot. The struggle is real.
23. Stephen F. Austin
Record: 19-3, 9-0
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Case in point, all three of us had Stephen F. Austin ranked this week, despite the fact that the Lumberjacks haven't played an RPI Top 100 team in more than two months. But 18 straight wins, no matter the competition, is good enough for consideration these days.
22. West Virginia
Record: 18-5, 6-4
Previous rank: 15
The Mountaineers lost at Oklahoma by 19 points and lost at home to Baylor by 18 points, yet they still ranked high enough on two of our three ballots to hang around for at least one more week. To be fair, we were a couple of weeks late on letting them into our poll in the first place, so they earned a mulligan.
21. Arkansas
Record: 18-5, 7-3
Previous rank: Not Ranked
The Razorbacks beat both South Carolina and Mississippi State by 20 points this week to jump into a three-way tie for second place in the SEC standings. Let's see if they can finally take some of that Bud Walton magic on the road, though. They play at Auburn and Ole Miss this week, which could either cement their ranking or make us give up on them for good.
Nos. 20-16: SMU-Oklahoma
2 of 17
20. SMU
Record: 19-5, 10-2
Previous rank: 17
This past week, the Mustangs narrowly lost a home game to the third-best team in the AAC standings (Cincinnati) before beating the top AAC team (Tulsa) on the road by double digits. A year ago, that would have been an incredible feat, but SMU dropped a few spots for doing it this year.
19. Butler
Record: 18-6, 8-3
Previous rank: 24
St. John's has really fallen apart in Big East play, but Butler's 23-point win over the Red Storm on Tuesday was still very impressive. The Bulldogs have now won five straight and get a full week to prepare for the big home game against Villanova.
18. Ohio State
Record: 18-6, 7-4
Previous rank: 16
The Buckeyes lost to Purdue, but D'Angelo Russell averaged 21.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists this week, including a triple-double in the win over Rutgers on Sunday. Remind us why he isn't in a three-horse race with Jahlil Okafor and Frank Kaminsky for the Wooden Award?
17. Wichita State
Record: 21-3, 11-1
Previous rank: 18
The Shockers had trouble putting away Bradley on Wednesday, but the 43-point win over Missouri State on Saturday was pretty incredible. Wichita will spend its next three weeks tuning up for the rematch with Northern Iowa.
16. Oklahoma
Record: 16-7, 7-4
Previous rank: 22
Four straight Big 12 wins is like eight consecutive victories in any other conference, and that's what the Sooners have accomplished over the past two weeks. They have a big home game against Iowa State on Monday that could put them in the driver's seat for the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
15. Baylor
3 of 17
Record: 18-5, 6-4 (36 points)
Previous rank: 19
Results since last poll: vs. TCU (W 77-57); at West Virginia (W 87-69)
Games this week: vs. Oklahoma State; at Kansas
Is there a hotter team than Baylor right now?
The Bears have won three straight Big 12 games by a margin of at least 18 points, trouncing Texas and TCU at home before destroying West Virginia on the road this weekend.
In Molly Geary's synopsis of the game against West Virginia for Sports Illustrated, she wrote, "Baylor's length was a problem for the Mountaineers all day, constantly interrupting the flow as West Virginia tried to find itself on offense."
They arguably should have won each of those games, but to do so in such a convincing fashion was a spectacle to behold.
In particular, Rico Gathers has been playing like a man possessed. He has averaged 13.0 points and 16.0 rebounds in those three wins. He has been nothing short of a freight train in the paint for one of the hardest-working teams in the country.
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14. Notre Dame
4 of 17
Record: 21-4, 9-3 (37 points)
Previous rank: 10
Results since last poll: vs. Boston College (W 71-63); at Duke (L 90-60)
Games this week: at Clemson
Margin of victory doesn't matter one iota to the RPI rankings, but it's hard to ignore in these human polls. And Notre Dame's margins this week weren't very inspiring.
After opening up a huge early lead at home against Boston College, the Fighting Irish barely held on for an eight-point win before getting absolutely blown out by Duke on Saturday.
It's been a little while since they had a complete game, and Pat Connaughton is largely the reason why. Demetrius Jackson struggled against Boston College, and Zach Auguste did nothing whatsoever against Duke, but Connaughton has averaged just 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds over his last three games—well below his season averages in those categories (13.3 and 8.1, respectively).
Outside of a road game against Louisville in early March, the schedule is pretty favorable the rest of the way, so they might be able to climb back into the Top 10. However, we haven't much liked what we've seen lately.
13. North Carolina
5 of 17
Record: 18-6, 8-3 (40 points)
Previous rank: 12
Results since last poll: vs. Virginia (L 75-64); at Boston College (W 79-68)
Games this week: at Pittsburgh
At what point do we stop blindly believing in the Tar Heels?
They're 2-6 versus RPI Top 50 teams with a slightly miraculous come-from-behind home win against Louisville and a much-closer-than-it-should-have-been eight-point win over Ohio State standing as those two wins. They already have four home losses and haven't yet played either of their games against Duke.
Yet, here they are, still ranked in our Top 15 based almost entirely on the fact that they don't have any bad losses.
Would a road loss to Pittsburgh this week do the trick? Maybe a road loss to Miami in a couple weeks?
Perhaps North Carolina will never experience that fall from grace, but the list of teams that we trust to win at least two consecutive games in March is shrinking by the day. The Tar Heels' spot here is written in pencil.
12. Northern Iowa
6 of 17
Record: 22-2, 11-1 (42 points)
Previous rank: 13
Results since last poll: at Indiana State (W 61-51); vs. Drake (W 69-53)
Games this week: vs. Illinois State; at Missouri State
Rather than suffering a letdown after the season-defining win over Wichita State, Northern Iowa reaffirmed its status as one of the nation's best mid-major programs with a pair of convincing wins over Indiana State and Drake this week.
The Panthers will continue to climb in the polls as upsets run rampant throughout the country, but what's their ceiling?
It took a long time for Wichita State to nearly unanimously earn our respect as a legitimate contender last season, and those Shockers didn't have any losses—let alone a one to a team outside the RPI Top 100 like Northern Iowa has.
But few teams have displayed as much talent and defensive efficiency as the Panthers. What they lack in strength of schedule, they make up for by simply looking the part of a team destined to do some serious damage in the tournament.
11. Louisville
7 of 17
Record: 19-4, 7-3 (43 points)
Previous rank: 8
Results since last poll: at Miami (W 63-55); at Virginia (L 52-47)
Games this week: vs. Pittsburgh; vs. North Carolina State
Terry Rozier (38), Montrezl Harrell (30), Chris Jones (27) and Wayne Blackshear (15) have combined for 110 points in the past two games.
The rest of the Cardinals have zero points, and that's becoming a problem.
The others are so incapable of scoring right now that Mangok Mathiang botched an alley-oop attempt so badly in Saturday's loss to Virginia that the official scorer credited Quentin Snider with a field-goal attempt for delivering the pass. Anton Gill only attempted one shot in the game, and he bricked his wide-open three-pointer.
Going four-on-five on offense has worked fairly well throughout the season, but it's been a serious issue against good defenses. Look no further than the 47 points against Virginia, 50 points against Kentucky, 45 points against Cleveland State, 52 points against Duke and 58 points against Clemson.
They haven't suffered anything close to a bad loss—that's enough to stay just outside our Top 10—but we're officially concerned about their ability to advance beyond the Sweet 16.
10. Iowa State
8 of 17
Record: 17-5, 7-3 (45 points)
Previous rank: 11
Results since last poll: at Kansas (L 89-76); vs. Texas Tech (W 75-38)
Games this week: at Oklahoma; vs. West Virginia
Iowa State was on both ends of a revenge game this week. Kansas got revenge for the loss that the Cyclones handed them in Ames and then the Cyclones paid back Texas Tech in spades for shocking them earlier this season.
In the midst of those games, Jameel McKay reignited his campaign as the best midseason addition in the country. He scored 25 points on 14 field-goal attempts with 15 rebounds, five blocks, three steals, two assists and just one turnover.
The Cyclones have suffered four losses since he became eligible in late December, but they simply look better and more frightening with him on the court.
And they'll need him to be great the rest of the way to deal with their brutal schedule. Their three remaining home games are against West Virginia, Baylor and Oklahoma and they have five road games against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas State and TCU.
They have the talent to win any or all of those games, but the Cyclones have a long way to go before the start of the Big 12 tournament.
9. Utah
9 of 17
Record: 18-4, 8-2 (53 points)
Previous rank: 14
Results since last poll: at Colorado (W 79-51)
Games this week: vs. Stanford; vs. California
Incredibly, Utah still hasn't had a Pac-12 game decided by fewer than 10 points.
After suffering a disappointing 10-point loss to UCLA, the Utes responded with back-to-back road wins by 28-point margins against USC and Colorado, reasserting their dominance in what has unarguably become the weakest of the six power conferences.
Perhaps most impressive about those recent wins is that Delon Wright was a nonfactor by his normal standards. Between the two games, Utah's Wooden Award candidate had a total of 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Rather, it was Brandon Taylor leading the charge with 27 points and 10 assists with a good amount of help from Jordan Loveridge's 21 points and 14 rebounds and Jakob Poeltl's 21 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks.
This is a much better and more complete team than most people east of the Rockies care to realize.
8. Arizona
10 of 17
Record: 20-3, 8-2 (54 points)
Previous rank: 6
Results since last poll: at Arizona State (L 81-78)
Games this week: at Washington; at Washington State
By itself, the loss to Arizona State wasn't terrible.
In-state rivalries tend to be a bit unpredictable—particularly when the home team is fed up with hearing that there are only two good teams in the Pac-12. Savon Goodman and Bo Barnes both played like they had something to prove for the Sun Devils.
But coupled with the earlier losses to UNLV and Oregon State, the Wildcats now have three bad losses to teams outside the RPI Top 50.
Fool us once, shame on us. Fool us three times and you're putting yourself in danger of not getting a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in March.
They still have a huge game at Utah at the end of the month and a home game against Stanford at the end of the season to prove they belong. But they also have quite a few more Pac-12 games that could result in even worse losses than they have already suffered.
7. Kansas
11 of 17
Record: 19-4, 8-2 (55 points)
Previous rank: 7
Results since last poll: vs. Iowa State (W 89-76); at Oklahoma State (L 67-62)
Games this week: at Texas Tech; vs. Baylor
There are no days off in the Big 12.
After looking fantastic against Iowa State on Monday, the Jayhawks gave less than 100 percent against an Oklahoma State team that had been struggling before Saturday, and Kansas paid the price for it.
The Jayhawks shot 53 percent from the free-throw line and 33 percent from two-point range while committing 18 turnovers in the loss. Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander looked about as good as they did early in the season, which is far from a compliment.
Wayne Selden and Brannen Greene were really the only Jayhawks to show up against the Cowboys, and it wasn't nearly enough. But that has been far from the norm for this team en route to its five RPI Top 25 and 12 RPI Top 100 wins.
The Jayhawks suffered a slight setback, but if they can rebound with a home win over Baylor next weekend, they'll be right back in the discussion for a No. 1 seed.
6. Villanova
12 of 17
Record: 21-2, 8-2 (60 points)
Previous rank: 9
Results since last poll: vs. Marquette (W 70-52); vs. Georgetown (W 69-53)
Games this week: at Providence; at Butler
Villanova played very well against Creighton, DePaul and Marquette after getting blown out at Georgetown in mid-January, but the Wildcats needed a marquee win or two in order to really get back in the discussion for a spot near the top of the polls.
Exacting revenge on Georgetown by a 16-point margin on Saturday afternoon was a huge step in the right direction for the Wildcats. They completely shut down D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Joshua Smith in holding the Hoyas to 31 points for the first 30 minutes of the game.
"They looked like we did last game and we looked like they did," said Wildcats coach Jay Wright after the game, according to Sports Illustrated's Angelina Matarozzi.
No rest for the wicked, though, as this week will be their toughest two-game stretch of the entire season. Win these road games against Providence and Butler, and Villanova could find itself back on the top line in subsequent projected brackets.
5. Duke
13 of 17
Record: 20-3, 7-3 (65 points)
Previous rank: 5
Results since last poll: vs. Georgia Tech (W 72-66); vs. Notre Dame (W 90-60)
Games this week: at Florida State; at Syracuse
The Blue Devils have three losses, but they also have some of the most impressive wins in the country. They already had wins at Wisconsin, at Virginia and at Louisville before the 30-point beating they put on Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon.
What was supposed to be an exciting game between Player of the Year candidates turned into a highlight reel for Duke's outstanding freshmen and a breakout party for Matt Jones (17 points off the bench).
It's hard to believe this was the same team that almost lost a home game to Georgia Tech earlier in the week, but it definitely looked like the team that went on a historic run in the second half against Virginia last weekend.
We have long felt that a fully engaged Kentucky is the most unbeatable team in the country, but that honor might actually belong to Duke. And if the Blue Devils keep playing like this, the ACC is on the fast track to a pair of No. 1 seeds on Selection Sunday.
4. Gonzaga
14 of 17
Record: 24-1, 12-0 (66 points)
Previous rank: 2
Results since last poll: at Santa Clara (W 77-63); at San Francisco (W 81-70)
Games this week: vs. Loyola Marymount; vs. Pepperdine
It has been more than two months since the Bulldogs lost a game, but what was up with their first-half efforts this week? They trailed Santa Clara (RPI: 185) by two at the half and were tied with San Francisco (RPI: 200) at intermission.
And since when does a Kevin Pangos-led team lose the turnover battle in three consecutive games? Neither the Broncos nor the Dons rank in the top 180 in the nation in defensive turnover percentage, but they had no trouble turning over Gonzaga early and often.
The Zags shot 69 percent from the field against Santa Clara but only scored 77 points because of 14 turnovers.
Again, they haven't lost in nearly two months, but against that weak conference schedule they need to do a better job of acing the eye test in order to keep us from finding excuses to vault other teams ahead of them.
3. Wisconsin
15 of 17
Record: 21-2, 9-1 (67 points)
Previous rank: 3
Results since last poll: vs. Indiana (W 92-78); vs. Northwestern (W 65-50)
Games this week: at Nebraska; vs. Illinois
Wisconsin scored 92 points in a 65-possession game against Indiana. The Hoosiers certainly haven't had the best defense in the nation, but it was just the latest statement in what has been an absurd stretch of offensive efficiency by the Badgers.
In the six games since losing to Rutgers, Wisconsin has scored 452 points in 342 possessions for a ratio of 1.32 points per possession. Meanwhile, the Badgers have only allowed 360 points during that stretch. So, on average, they have gained 0.27 points per possession on their opponents over the past three-plus weeks.
Kentucky is undefeated. Virginia and Duke have scored some very impressive wins. But there might not be a team in the country that is consistently greater than the Badgers are right now.
They have not yet been beaten at full strength, and it's getting more difficult to imagine that they will be.
2. Virginia
16 of 17
Record: 21-1, 9-1 (72 points)
Previous rank: 4
Results since last poll: at North Carolina (W 75-64); vs. Louisville (W 52-47)
Games this week: at North Carolina State; vs. Wake Forest
Virginia simultaneously had the best and worst week of any ranked team.
The good news: The Cavaliers beat a pair of AP Top 15 teams in North Carolina and Louisville. Their ability to stifle those fast-break offenses was remarkable. They don't possess the same kind of freakish athletes that Kentucky does, but they might have the best defense in the nation anyway.
The bad news: Justin Anderson is likely out at least until mid-March after suffering a fractured finger in the first half of the win over Louisville, per ESPN's Eamonn Brennan.
Through 21 games, he was leading the Cavaliers in scoring and was shooting 50 percent from three-point range. For a team that already doesn't do a whole lot of scoring, he could be a pretty big loss. But Virginia has a very favorable schedule for the next four weeks and plenty of defense to get by until he returns.
It's been inevitable since before the season began that the winner of the ACC would earn a No. 1 seed, and Virginia currently has a two-game cushion in the loss column over the rest of the league. Even if the Wahoos stumble a little bit down the stretch without Anderson, they should still be in great shape heading into the NCAA tournament.
1. Kentucky
17 of 17
Record: 23-0, 10-0 (75 points)
Previous rank: 1
Results since last poll: vs. Georgia (W 69-58); at Florida (W 68-61)
Games this week: at LSU; vs. South Carolina
Florida pushed the Wildcats to the limit on Saturday night, but UK managed to remain undefeated by hitting 21-of-22 free throws while the Gators shot 7-of-14 from the line—ironic, considering free-throw shooting has consistently been the Achilles' heel of John Calipari's teams over the years.
Karl-Anthony Towns had an incredible week against Georgia and Florida, averaging 17.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks between the two games. When he has been able to stay out of foul trouble, he has been their most valuable player.
The Wildcats have eight games left in the regular season, and KenPom.com gives them a 93 percent chance in six of them. That makes Tuesday's game at LSU—a game they should win seven out of eight times—one of the biggest hurdles remaining before entering the SEC tournament with an undefeated record.
Considering the Tigers lost a home game to Auburn on Thursday, we're not too concerned about Kentucky dropping from the top spot anytime soon.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
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