College Basketball Rankings 2014-15: Bleacher Report's Week 17 Top 25
For four of the teams in the latest Bleacher Report College Basketball Top 25, the regular season has already ended. The only thing standing between those teams and the NCAA tournament are their conference tournaments.
For most, there are still one or two games left on the regular-season calendar, but the end is extremely near.
It's almost officially the most wonderful time of the year.
With Championship Week on the horizon, C.J. Moore, Jason King and I attempted once again to determine the 25 best teams in the country. As has been the case for most of the season, the Big 12 produced the biggest movers. Baylor jumped six spots in this week's poll while Iowa State dropped seven rungs for losing twice.
Three teams who didn't move: Kentucky, Virginia and Duke remain our top three teams, in that order, as they have been for some time. Outside of those teams, though, just about everything changed to some extent.
Teams Dropped from Rankings: San Diego State (22), Michigan State (23), VCU (24), Providence (25)
Others Considered: Oregon, Tulsa, St. John's, BYU, Dayton, Iowa, 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.
25-21: Murray State-West Virginia
1 of 17
25. Murray State
Record: 26-4, 16-0
Previous rank: Not Ranked
If you haven't yet found time this season to catch a Murray State game, be forewarned that Cameron Payne might be the most dangerous individual player in the entire tournament, and he has three sidekicks averaging at least 11 points per game. The Racers have now won 24 consecutive games, and they have no intention of stopping.
24. Davidson
Record: 21-6, 12-4
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Call them an overachieving bubble team if it helps you sleep at night, but this Wildcats team is every bit as capable of a deep NCAA tournament run as the one that made the Elite Eight in 2008.
What they lack in Stephen Currys they make up for with an electric backcourt trio in Jack Gibbs, Tyler Kalinoski and Brian Sullivan as well as a pair of freshman forwards (Oskar Michelsen and Peyton Aldridge) who have been even better than advertised. Throw in Jordan Barham averaging 21.8 points per 40 minutes, according to Sports-Reference.com, and you've got one heck of a sleeper for the NCAA tournament.
23. Ohio State
Record: 21-8, 10-6
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Despite a poor shooting night on Sunday, the Buckeyes buckled down on defense to pick up a crucial win over Purdue, staying in our Top 25 and on the correct side of the tournament bubble. They still have the big showdown with Wisconsin next weekend, but they better not overlook the trip to Penn State on Wednesday. The Nittany Lions have been giving teams fits in the Bryce Jordan Center all season long.
22. Butler
Record: 21-8, 11-5
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Still no Andrew Chrabascz for the Bulldogs, but that didn't stop them from beating up on Marquette and DePaul this week. Kellen Dunham, Roosevelt Jones and Kameron Woods each scored in double figures in both games, and will need to continue that trend at least until Chrabascz returns.
21. West Virginia
Record: 22-7, 10-6
Previous rank: 20
In perhaps their only predictable week of the entire season, the Mountaineers won a home game against Texas before losing at Baylor without Juwan Staten—who has been all sorts of battered and bruised over the past month.
They have a big road game coming up against Kansas on Tuesday for a chance at a sweep of the Jayhawks.
20-16: North Carolina-Iowa State
2 of 17
20. North Carolina
Record: 20-9, 10-6
Previous rank: 19
The Tar Heels are really stumbling to the finish line. Even with Saturday's win at Miami, they have lost five of their last eight, including handing wins to Pittsburgh and NC State that are absolutely massive for their bubbly resumes. Per usual, though, it all comes down to the season finale against Duke. If the Heels win that game, watch how quickly people forget about how poorly they played in February.
19. SMU
Record: 23-6, 14-3
Previous rank: 16
Defending national champions or not, losing to Connecticut on Sunday afternoon was SMU's least forgivable loss of the season. Still, this is a Mustangs team with 10 RPI Top 100 wins and only three losses in the past three months. They deserve a slight drop in our rankings, but don't go kidding yourself into thinking they're on the bubble or anything.
18. Arkansas
Record: 23-6, 12-4
Previous rank: 15
The Razorbacks did not look good against Kentucky, but who does? More concerning was the fact that they nearly gave away a 25-point lead at home against Texas A&M earlier in the week. This team has the talent to do some serious damage, but—as is the case with most SEC teams this season—there's no rhyme or reason as to whether they'll play like they want to win.
17. Louisville
Record: 23-6, 11-5
Previous rank: 21
Perhaps we overreacted to the dismissal of Chris Jones from the team last week, but make sure you don't counter-overreact to a pair of Louisville wins against teams with no tournament hopes. The Cardinals looked stellar at Florida State on Saturday, but let's reserve judgment about what this team will actually bring to the tournament until this week's home games against Notre Dame and Virginia.
16. Iowa State
Record: 20-8, 10-6
Previous rank: 9
After a week in which the Cyclones won back-to-back road games against Oklahoma State and Texas that they easily could have lost, they dropped consecutive games this week that they probably should have won.
They lost at home to Baylor before helping keep Kansas State's at-large dreams alive with a loss at Bramlage Coliseum. If you think you have a solid grasp on the Big 12 conference, you're only fooling yourself.
15. Notre Dame
3 of 17
Record: 24-5, 12-4 (37 points)
Previous rank: 11
Results since last poll: vs. Syracuse (L 60-65)
Games this week: at Louisville; vs. Clemson
It's tough to say which is more unfortunate: The face of Boston College's Alex Dragicevich in the above photo or Notre Dame's home loss to Syracuse this past week.
Keep in mind the Fighting Irish have a strength of schedule in the 100s and a nonconference strength of schedule in the 300s, so a home loss to a non-tournament team damages their resume more than it would most teams. Because of those computer numbers, they were already in danger of not getting a top-four seed, but now it could be even tougher.
But nevermind the resume for a minute, because it was the 3-of-22 three-point shooting at home against Syracuse's zone that particularly disturbed us.
In the previous wins over Wake Forest and Boston College, it looked like Notre Dame's offense was finally getting back on track. However, the Fighting Irish—once the most efficient scoring attack in the country—have now been held to exactly 60 points in three of their last five games. And their remaining regular-season games are against very defensive-minded teams in Louisville and Clemson.
At their best, Jerian Grant and company can outscore anyone in the country. When they aren't at their best, they lose home games to teams like Syracuse. Best of luck deciding how far to take this team in your bracket in a few weeks.
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14. Northern Iowa
4 of 17
Record: 27-3, 16-2 (38 points)
Previous rank: 12
Results since last poll: vs. Evansville (W 68-57); at Wichita State (L 60-74)
Games this week: Missouri Valley Conference tournament
Even great teams can be made to look silly at the Charles Koch Arena, but it's a shame that many casual fans now have Saturday's 14-point loss to Wichita State as the only game against which to judge the Panthers.
For most of the season, Northern Iowa's defense has been impenetrable. Before facing Wichita State, Northern Iowa's previous four opponents had averaged just 48 points per game. In the first showdown between the top two teams in the MVC, the Panthers held the Shockers to just 54 points.
But they couldn't do anything to slow down Wichita State this time around. All five starters scored in double figures as Wichita State hit 11 three-pointers, shot 45.8 percent from three-point range, shot 49.1 percent from the field and committed just three turnovers—each of which was the worst performance by Northern Iowa's defense this season.
Long story short, it was a horribly atypical game for the Panthers and we expect them to bounce back nicely.
13. Oklahoma
5 of 17
Record: 20-8, 11-5 (38 points)
Previous rank: 14
Results since last poll: vs. TCU (W 67-60)
Games this week: at Iowa State; vs. Kansas
The Sooners keep climbing in our Top 25, but that doesn't mean we've been impressed by their recent string of games. Oklahoma just went through probably the easiest four-game in-conference stretch that any Big 12 team could hope for, hosting Texas and TCU and traveling to Kansas State and Texas Tech.
The result, however, was far from inspirational.
The Sooners lost to Kansas State, trailed both Texas and TCU in the final five minutes before eking out a win and needed overtime to beat the Red Raiders.
There's still plenty of time—and huge opportunities this week—to right the ship, but if the NCAA tournament began today, we'd be viewing Oklahoma as a team limping into the tournament, despite the second-best record in the Big 12.
Of course, Iowa State did a similar thing last year, closing out the regular season with two losses and a home win in overtime before rolling through the Big 12 tournament to earn a No. 3 seed and a lot of love as a potential Final Four team.
12. Maryland
6 of 17
Record: 24-5, 12-4 (41 points)
Previous rank: 18
Results since last poll: vs. Wisconsin (W 59-53); vs. Michigan (W 66-56)
Games this week: at Rutgers; at Nebraska
Every team inevitably goes through a rough patch. Even undefeated Kentucky had those back-to-back overtime games against Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
But Maryland had quite the extended rough patch, losing in blowout fashion to Indiana, Ohio State and Iowa while barely beating the likes of Penn State, Nebraska and Northwestern.
Emphasis on "had," though, because the Terrapins snapped out of that perceived funk on Tuesday night with a monumental win over Wisconsin. For all of their struggles, the Terrapins are 4-0 against annual Big Ten powerhouses Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin and are now in the driver's seat for the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament.
Yes, it's been a bit of a down year for the Big Ten, but Maryland has done enough to rank 10th in the country in RPI. Considering many had preseason expectations that this team would finish 10th in the Big Ten standings, it's hard not to applaud the incredible job Mark Turgeon and Melo Trimble have done this year.
The scary news for the rest of the country: Dez Wells finally looks like Dez Wells again. He was extremely hit or miss upon returning to the court after recovering from a fractured wrist, but he has averaged 18.6 points over his last five games.
11. Baylor
7 of 17
Record: 22-7, 10-6 (45 points)
Previous rank: 17
Results since last poll: at Iowa State (W 79-70); vs. West Virginia (W 78-66)
Games this week: at Texas; vs. Texas Tech
Rising from the Big 12 wreckage like a phoenix from the ashes, Baylor has won four in a row and seven of its last nine, including an exceptionally rare win at Iowa State this week.
Before Wednesday night, the Cyclones had been 52-2 in their previous 54 home games, but Taurean Prince, Kenny Chery and company went into Ames and came out with a win. They shot 53.8 percent from three-point range—a trend that is becoming quite troublesome for opponents of Iowa State.
In the Bears' second game of the week, Rico Gathers had a double-double while the team shot 53.3 percent from three-point range and notched 10 steals in completing the season sweep of the Mountaineers.
No one much knew what to make of Baylor back in the preseason, but good luck finding anyone who thought the Bears would be in great position for at least a share of second place in the Big 12 standings and likely a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
10. Wichita State
8 of 17
Record: 27-3, 17-1 (46 points)
Previous rank: 13
Results since last poll: at Indiana State (W 63-53); vs. Northern Iowa (W 74-60)
Games this week: Missouri Valley Conference tournament
Prior to Wichita State's big game this Saturday against Northern Iowa, CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm recorded a podcast with Gary Parrish in which the two discussed the possibility that Wichita State could enter Selection Sunday without a win over a tournament team. After all, the best win the Shockers had scored all season was against Tulsa, and the Golden Hurricane are anything but a lock for the Big Dance.
But after comfortably beating the Panthers, that whole talking point went flying out the window and has been replaced with the debate about just how good Wichita State might be.
The Shockers have three losses this season: a one-point loss in overtime at Utah, a six-point loss to George Washington in Hawaii on Christmas Day in which neither Fred VanVleet nor Ron Baker could buy a bucket and a double-digit loss at Northern Iowa in which Seth Tuttle had perhaps the most efficient individual performance of any player in this entire season.
Outside of those games, Wichita State has looked pretty doggone good.
We can only hope we get a "Round Three" between the MVC titans in Arch Madness, but if the Shockers win the Missouri Valley tournament next weekend, they just might have a resume good enough for a No. 3 seed.
Not bad for a team that would have been somewhat on the bubble had it lost to Northern Iowa again.
9. Utah
9 of 17
Record: 22-6, 12-4 (47 points)
Previous rank: 10
Results since last poll: vs. Arizona State (W 83-41); vs. Arizona (L 57-63)
Games this week: at Washington State; at Washington
Had the officials been a bit friendlier to the home team on Saturday night, Utah probably would have been able to knock off the Wildcats.
Jakob Poeltl was only able to log 12 minutes before fouling out. Brekkott Chapman didn't have much better luck, lasting just 15 minutes before getting DQ'd. Jordan Loveridge was also afflicted by foul trouble, picking up his fourth with nine minutes remaining and not even attempting a shot the rest of the way.
There are a lot of things to love about Utah, but a deep reserve of quality forwards is not one of those things. With all due respect to Dallin Bachynski and Jeremy Olsen, those guys aren't built to play quality minutes against a frontcourt like Arizona's.
Despite all that, the Utes still held a lead in the final two minutes before an invisible lid was placed over their hoop, resulting in a close loss.
Even though the Wildcats swept the season series, the Pac-12 absolutely has two teams capable of making a deep run in the tournament—if the refs let them.
8. Kansas
10 of 17
Record: 23-6, 12-4 (54 points)
Previous rank: 8
Results since last poll: at Kansas State (L 63-70); vs. Texas (W 69-64)
Games this week: vs. West Virginia; at Oklahoma
Despite the loss to Kansas State—and thanks in part to losses by each of the team's previously ranked Nos. 9-12—the Jayhawks remain at No. 8 in our Top 25 for a second consecutive week.
That nearly wasn't the case, as they had a whale of a time trying to win Saturday's home game against Texas. However, Perry Ellis refused to let that happen.
"We rode Perry as hard as we've ever ridden him," Kansas coach Bill Self said after the game, per Vahe Gregorian of The Kansas City Star. "And he was great. He's playing as well as anybody in the country, I would think, right now."
Ellis had 28 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks against the Longhorns. It was his fifth straight game scoring at least 18 points.
The Jayhawks needed more from Ellis than usual, as Cliff Alexander was held out of the game while the school looks into an issue that could affect his eligibility. Keep an eye on that developing story over the coming days, but Kansas is still clearly a Top 10 team as things stand today.
7. Gonzaga
11 of 17
Record: 29-2, 17-1 (57 points)
Previous rank: 5
Results since last poll: vs. San Diego (W 59-39); vs. BYU (L 70-73)
Games this week: West Coast Conference tournament
Well, we can finally—though, perhaps temporarily—take Gonzaga out of the discussion for a No. 1 seed and instead debate the merits of teams like Villanova and Arizona that actually have a good number of quality wins.
What a novel concept!
Of course, the reason for this was Gonzaga's home loss to BYU on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs entered the regular-season finale (and senior night for Kevin Pangos and others) on a 22-game winning streak. However, they were unable to put the finishing touches on a perfect WCC season thanks to a 20-point game from BYU's Kyle Collinsworth and a combined 12 points on 23 field-goal attempts from Pangos and Kyle Wiltjer.
Now, they may have lost their grip on a No. 1 seed, but there's no denying that this is still one of the best teams in the country. Even if Gonzaga isn't ultimately destined for a spot on the top line on Selection Sunday, the Zags remain a serious contender for the Final Four.
Even with Pangos and Wiltjer having possibly their worst nights of the season, this rotation is deep enough that they still came within a bucket of beating an extremely desperate and talented BYU team.
No matter where they end up in the final bracket, they'll be substantially more talented than any team they will face until the Elite Eight—provided they can finally get over the 15-year Sweet 16 hump.
6. Arizona
12 of 17
Record: 26-3, 14-2 (61 points)
Previous rank: 7
Results since last poll: at Colorado (W 82-54); at Utah (W 63-57)
Games this week: vs. California; vs. Stanford
Whether Arizona will actually be the No. 1 seed in the West Region is yet to be determined, but now that the Wildcats are 3-0 against Gonzaga and Utah, there's no question who is best in the West this season.
Saturday night's road win over Utah was defensive, physical and whistle-happy to a fault, but the Wildcats emerged victorious, shooting 33.3 percent from the field while the Utes shot 30.9 percent.
Super frosh Stanley Johnson had a poor showing, scoring just 12 points on 19 field-goal attempts and screwing up so badly on transition defense in the final two minutes that head coach Sean Miller sent him to the bench never to return. Yet, Arizona scored the next and final eight points to gut out a very difficult road win, clinching the Pac-12 regular-season title.
Johnson has consistently been the best and most reliable scorer for the Wildcats this season, so to win a game of this magnitude while he struggled so mightily from the floor was extremely impressive.
Before the season began, Arizona was nearly as popular a pick to win the championship as Kentucky, and these Wildcats just might be peaking at the exact right time.
5. Wisconsin
13 of 17
Record: 26-3, 14-2 (63 points)
Previous rank: 4
Results since last poll: at Maryland (L 53-59); vs. Michigan State (W 68-61)
Games this week: at Minnesota; at Ohio State
It wasn't a great week to be a team hoping for that fourth No. 1 seed, as Wisconsin joined both Kansas and Gonzaga in the loss club.
That game at College Park was quite out of the ordinary for the Badgers. The most efficient offense in the country scored less than one point per possession, committed more turnovers than it forced, missed countless wide-open shots and allowed the Terrapins to score more than one point per possession.
Basically, we saw Bizarro Wisconsin on Tuesday night.
Sunday's game against Michigan State was much better. The Spartans made the final score look a little respectable, but they trailed Wisconsin by 19 points in the final seven minutes. Frank Kaminsky had a "Jahlil who?" type of game, padding his case for the Wooden Award with 31 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals.
They may have lost their grip on a No. 1 seed, but the Badgers are still the class of the Big Ten and one of the only teams in the country that might have a realistic shot at taking down mighty Kentucky.
4. Villanova
14 of 17
Record: 27-2, 14-2 (66 points)
Previous rank: 6
Results since last poll: vs. Providence (W 89-61); at Xavier (W 78-66)
Games this week: at Creighton; vs. St. John's
Are you still not entertained?
After finishing off season sweeps of Providence and Xavier, Villanova is now 10-1 versus RPI Top 40 teams. Yet, perhaps simply for the sake of having a debate, there are several out there wondering if Arizona—with only four RPI Top 40 wins and three losses to teams outside the RPI Top 50—might be most worthy of the fourth No. 1 seed now vacated by Gonzaga.
Please.
On the heels of a 28-point spanking by the Wildcats, Providence head coach Ed Cooley offered his take on Villanova's position in the national hierarchy, according to Kevin McNamara of The Providence Journal.
"They easily, in my eyes, should be in the discussion for the second number one seed," Cooley said. "Everyone would agree that Kentucky is the top team based on the work that they've done. But if you look at the number of wins over great teams, Villanova is not respected enough."
Granted, much of that is a Big East coach simply touting the Big East's strength, but it's a compelling point nonetheless. Villanova doesn't have the individual star power or the future NBA lottery picks to make a lot of headlines, but as far as complete teams and complete resumes go, this is clearly one of the best.
The Wildcats get a fairly favorable finish to the season before buckling in for the annual wild ride that is the Big East tournament.
3. Duke
15 of 17
Record: 26-3, 13-3 (68 points)
Previous rank: 3
Results since last poll: at Virginia Tech (W 91-86 OT); vs. Syracuse (W 73-54)
Games this week: vs. Wake Forest; at North Carolina
On the one hand, Jahlil Okafor playing 37 minutes and scoring 30 points against Virginia Tech might be one of the most impressive performances by a "game-time decision" player this season.
On the other hand, why in the world did Duke need overtime to beat Virginia Tech?
Road games in conference are tough, yada yada yada. This was a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament struggling to beat a team that would need to buy tickets to be a part of the CBI tournament.
At least the Blue Devils responded well by comfortably taking care of Syracuse on Saturday evening, but have you noticed Amile Jefferson's declining minutes?
The junior power forward had a great game against North Carolina two weeks ago, putting up 13 points, six blocks and five rebounds, but he played just 26 minutes between Duke's two games this past week, recording just the sixth-most minutes in each of those games.
Because of Jefferson's relative absence, the Blue Devils have been more reliant on their three main freshmen (Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow) than ever before. Good thing they still have Quinn Cook out there for veteran leadership, but one has to wonder if all those first-year legs can handle these final few weeks of the season.
2. Virginia
16 of 17
Record: 27-1, 15-1 (72 points)
Previous rank: 2
Results since last poll: at Wake Forest (W 70-34); vs. Virginia Tech (W 69-57)
Games this week: at Syracuse; at Louisville
As Justin Anderson and London Perrantes watched from the sidelines, the Cavaliers put together one of their most impressive wins of the entire season, holding Wake Forest to 34 points in a 36-point rout on the Demon Deacons' home court.
Less than two weeks prior to that game, Wake Forest came within one point of beating Virginia in the John Paul Jones Arena, so it was hardly an unpopular opinion to think an upset might be on tap in a rematch in which Virginia was sans another starter.
But poor Wake Forest never had a chance.
The subsequent game against Virginia Tech was much closer—meaning Virginia struggled to some degree in both games this season against the Hokies—but the Wahoos won by double digits to improve to 27-1 and remain the second-best team in the country.
1. Kentucky
17 of 17
Record: 29-0, 16-0 (75 points)
Previous rank: 1
Results since last poll: at Mississippi State (W 74-56); vs. Arkansas (W 84-67)
Games this week: at Georgia, vs. Florida
At this point, it's just plain laughable what Kentucky is doing to the teams that are supposed to be good competition.
After Saturday's win over Arkansas, the Wildcats are now 6-0 versus RPI Top 30 teams and are winning those "contests" by an average margin of 17.0 points per game. The eight-point win over Louisville was the only one decided by 10 points or less.
And, let's be honest, they went easy on the Razorbacks down the stretch. The Wildcats led by 31 with eight minutes remaining before Arkansas went on a 20-6 run to still lose by a margin not befitting to the amount of hype the game received.
The result of the game is made even more ridiculous by the fact that Karl-Anthony Towns—arguably Kentucky's best player—committed two fouls in the first four minutes and never got into a groove.
Either one of the remaining regular-season games could be a pitfall for Kentucky, but we've been saying for months that Kentucky should go undefeated, and that's not suddenly going to change now that the Wildcats are a mere 11 steps away from history.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
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