College Basketball Rankings 2015-16: Bleacher Report's Week 5 Top 25
For the first time in a long time, there's a new No. 1 team in Bleacher Report's official college basketball Top 25 rankings.
On April 7, 2014—before we knew that the Harrison twins and Willie Cauley-Stein would return for another season—Kentucky was No. 6 in our way-too-early Top 25. In every single poll between then and now, the Wildcats were No. 1.
But after losing at UCLA last Thursday, they dropped from the top spot, allowing Michigan State to ascend to the throne.
The early-season tournaments may be over, but the chaos never stops. Teams in last week's Top 25 suffered a total of 10 losses, including a pair by Syracuse. As it turns out, the Orange aren't so good when they're shooting 27.5 percent from three-point range.
Their loss was the Pac-12's gain, as Arizona and Utah both jumped back into our poll after a one-week hiatus.
Keep reading for the rest of this week's poll, and be sure to let us know how badly we undervalued your favorite team.
Teams Dropped from Week 4 Rankings: Syracuse (13), Texas A&M (15)
Others Considered: George Washington, Wake Forest, Connecticut, Florida, Pittsburgh, Dayton, South Carolina, Georgetown
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: Gonzaga-SMU
1 of 17
25. Gonzaga
Record: 5-2
Previous rank: 16
We aren't quite ready to sell all our stock in Gonzaga, but our broker does have a standing order to liquidate if we don't see some signs of life from Eric McClellan and Kyle Dranginis in the near future.
The backcourt duo has combined for a total of 10 points over the past two games—which, with Przemek Karnowski sidelined by back spasms, resulted in a win over Washington State that was far closer than it should have been and a home loss to Arizona.
24. Oregon
Record: 6-1
Previous rank: 14
Friday night at UNLV was just one of "those nights" for poor Oregon. The Rebels were draining contested, step-back threes with ease, three Oregon starters spent seemingly the entire game in foul trouble and a fourth (Tyler Dorsey) somehow only suffered a mild knee sprain on what looked like something so much worse.
Already playing without two projected starters (Dylan Ennis and Jordan Bell), it was too much adversity for the short-handed Ducks to overcome. They're too good to not bounce back, though.
23. Cincinnati
Record: 8-1
Previous rank: 18
The Bearcats gave up an extremely uncharacteristic 78 points to Butler in a loss. They bounced back by obliterating Morgan State on Sunday, but they have something to prove in remaining nonconference games against Xavier, VCU and Iowa State.
22. Utah
Record: 7-1
Previous rank: Unranked
Utah's defense has been subpar this season, but Jakob Poeltl is playing like a dude who definitely could've gone pro last summer.
He went 21-of-28 from the field this week, racking up 47 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks in wins over BYU and IPFW. Most impressive about his early numbers: He's gone five straight games without committing more than two fouls. As long as Poeltl can stay out there, the Utes have a shot to beat just about anyone.
21. SMU
Record: 6-0
Previous rank: 24
Need something fun to root for in the upcoming weeks? SMU is one of 13 remaining undefeated teams, but the Mustangs are ineligible for the NCAA tournament. If they're able to beat Michigan on Tuesday, they will almost certainly make it at least until Dec. 29 without a loss—at which point there might be three or four undefeated teams still standing.
Needless to say, the longer Nic Moore and Co. can last, the more intriguing it gets.
Nos. 20-16: Miami-Louisville
2 of 17
20. Miami
Record: 7-1
Previous rank: 20
For a second straight game, Miami's offense struggled a bit in escaping from Nebraska with an overtime win. But the Hurricanes exploded for 88 points against Charlotte on Saturday. Nine different players scored at least seven points in the rout, a potential sign that they're on their way back to playing like the team we fell in love with in Puerto Rico.
19. Providence
Record: 8-1
Previous rank: 22
If there's a better duo in the country than Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil right now, I'd like to meet them. Bentil has scored at least 19 in six straight. Meanwhile, Dunn is working on a six-game streak of at least 15 points and five assists—most of them with at least five rebounds and/or three steals, to boot. The Friars crushed Hartford before eking out a road win in a rivalry game against Rhode Island.
18. Butler
Record: 6-1
Previous rank: 23
Defense was Butler's strong suit last season, but the Bulldogs have really struggled in that department in the absence of Kameron Woods and Alex Barlow. Fortunately, Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones have paced the team to the nation's ninth-most efficient offense. The big road win over Cincinnati boosted Butler five spots this week.
17. Arizona
Record: 7-1
Previous rank: Unranked
It's weird to say that a team defended well when one opposing player scored 33 points and another had 18 points and 16 rebounds, but the Wildcats absolutely shut down Gonzaga's backcourt on Saturday. Josh Perkins, Kyle Dranginis, Eric McClellan and Silas Melson combined for eight points on 17 shots with eight turnovers.
In other news, Gabe York snapped out of his 3-of-18 three-pointer slump to drain 4-of-6 attempts—all in the span of less than six minutes. There's no denying this team's chances of winning a game increase substantially when he's hitting shots.
16. Louisville
Record: 6-1
Previous Rank: 25
It might seem a bit messed up that the Cardinals jumped nine spots after suffering a loss, but a four-point road loss to the new No. 1 team—in a game in which their third-, fourth- and sixth-most important players dealt with foul trouble, no less—looks pretty good next to six wins by an average margin of 36 points per game.
Say what you want about the strength of schedule, but Louisville is No. 1 in the nation in both offensive rebounding percentage and two-point field-goal defense.
15. West Virginia Mountaineers
3 of 17
Record: 7-0 (29 points)
Previous rank: 19
Results since last poll: vs. Kennesaw State (W 87-54)
Games this week: vs. Virginia, vs. Louisiana Monroe
West Virginia played another game, meaning the Mountaineers had another 10-plus steals, 10-plus offensive rebounds and 25-plus free-throw attempts.
Like the Syracuse 2-3 zone, there has been no surprise over the past year about what Bob Huggins' boys are going to throw at you.
Doing anything about it, though, has been a major problem for most teams.
Kennesaw State committed 31 turnovers against Press Virginia, committed 25 fouls and grabbed just 22 defensive rebounds against WVU's 19 offensive boards.
Unlike VCU's "Havoc" defense of yore, West Virginia doesn't have one or two guys racking up most of its steals. Rather, through seven games, there are six Mountaineers with at least 10 steals; none with more than 16.
The offensive rebounds are mostly the doing of Jonathan Holton and Devin Williams—the duo combined for 11 against Kennesaw State—but the defense is a full-team dedication to selling out to get the ball back.
We shall see how they fare against Virginia on Tuesday, but given their 72-50 win over San Diego State in late November, anything could happen.
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14. Vanderbilt Commodores
4 of 17
Record: 6-2 (32 points)
Previous rank: 8
Results since last poll: vs. Detroit (W 102-52); at Baylor (L 67-69)
Games this week: vs. Dayton
As was the case last season with largely the same roster, Vanderbilt either wins big or really struggles in close games.
The Commodores went 5-12 last year in games decided by eight points or fewer, and thus far this season, they're 1-2 in that department—an overtime home win over Stony Brook and close losses to Kansas and Baylor. This week was the best of both worlds, as they destroyed Detroit before giving away a 13-point second-half lead to the Bears in a span of less than three minutes.
Look solely at the Boolean outcomes, though, and Vanderbilt has a pair of understandable losses away from home against very strong Big 12 teams, a decent win over a solid mid-major in Stony Brook and five blowout wins against other teams. Even though we're disappointed in how the Commodores gave that game away Sunday night, they still have a pretty good resume.
But a "pretty good" resume full of understandable losses and no particularly great wins was just good enough for Vanderbilt to not even sniff the NCAA tournament in 2015. The Commodores might want to beat Dayton and/or Purdue in the next couple of weeks to avoid another March spent fruitlessly searching for quality wins.
13. Baylor Bears
5 of 17
Record: 6-1 (34 points)
Previous rank: 21
Results since last poll: vs. Prairie View A&M (W 80-41); vs. Vanderbilt (W 69-67)
Games this week: vs. Northwestern State
Has any player in the country improved more in the first month of the season than Lester Medford?
In Baylor's first marquee game (at Oregon), Medford was a nightmare. He had two points on six shots with six turnovers, five fouls and just one assist.
Playing at home over the past five games? He merely has 29 assists, 16 steals and five turnovers. Medford was clutch against Vanderbilt on Sunday night, sinking the game-winning three-pointer while getting fouled with 43 seconds left.
"Who said we didn't have a point guard at Baylor?" bellowed Baylor head coach Scott Drew with a smile during his postgame interview on ESPNU.
But Medford's 15 points and five assists were overshadowed by Taurean Prince's 30 point-performance. Like Medford, Prince couldn't get anything going against Oregon, but he has now scored at least 20 in three of Baylor's last four games. If he and Medford continue to play this well, Baylor is going to have a say atop the final Big 12 standings.
12. Xavier Musketeers
6 of 17
Record: 8-0 (40 points)
Previous rank: 17
Results since last poll: vs. Western Kentucky (W 95-64)
Games this week: vs. Wright State; vs. Cincinnati
For a change of pace this week, the Musketeers didn't have a massive advantage in the rebounding department, but they shot quite well from the field and stomped Western Kentucky into the ground.
Trevon Bluiett is quietly putting his name into a Big East Player of the Year race that already includes Kris Dunn, Kellen Dunham and Josh Hart.
Xavier's sophomore wing has scored in double figures and drained multiple three-pointers in every game. He's currently averaging 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game and is 20-of-45 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc. In just 24 minutes, he tied a career high with 21 points against Western Kentucky. He also had 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Just as impressive has been the play of senior big man James Farr. He's only playing 19.5 minutes per game while sharing a job with Jalen Reynolds, but he is averaging 10.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. His dominance in the paint is largely to thank for Xavier's hot start.
11. Purdue Boilermakers
7 of 17
Record: 8-0 (48 points)
Previous rank: 12
Results since last poll: at Pittsburgh (W 72-59); vs. New Mexico (W 70-58)
Games this week: vs. IUPUI; vs. Howard; vs. Youngstown State
Every year around this time, there seem to be a couple of somewhat surprising teams playing extremely well, knocking on the door of the top 10 while we wait for more evidence of how good they actually are.
Last year, Notre Dame and Washington were in this position before quickly trending in drastically different directions. The year before that, Colorado and Villanova were surprise top-20 teams by mid-December thanks to wins over Kansas.
This year, Purdue is the up-and-coming team that the college basketball world seems hesitant to fully invest in, even though the Boilermakers are currently No. 4 in the KenPom rankings.
Anchored by the shot-blocking prowess of Isaac Haas and A.J. Hammons, Purdue's defense has been impenetrable. Just look at what the Boilermakers did to Pittsburgh and New Mexico this week. The Lobos had scored at least 75 points in every game, and the Panthers have scored at least 84 against every other opponent this season.
Neither team hit 60 against Purdue.
Caleb Swanigan has been horribly inefficient on offense—29 points on 42 field-goal attempts in his last five games—and the Boilermakers are still 8-0 with nothing but margins of a dozen or more points. I'm not sure how anyone plans to beat this team once he starts cooking, though.
10. Virginia Cavaliers
8 of 17
Record: 7-1 (49 points)
Previous rank: 11
Results since last poll: at Ohio State (W 64-58); vs. William & Mary (W 67-52)
Games this week: vs. West Virginia
Despite losing starting point guard London Perrantes to an appendectomy, the Cavaliers picked up their two best wins of the season this week.
Of course, Ohio State and William & Mary are anything but locks for the NCAA tournament, so that doesn't say much for the wins they've scored up to this point in the season. However, they're about to go through one of the most difficult three-game stretches that any team will face all year, battling West Virginia, Villanova and California before Christmas.
In Perrantes' stead, Darius Thompson was very good. The Tennessee transfer had yet to play more than 23 minutes in a game, but he logged 36 in both games, tallying 24 points, eight assists, four steals and just two turnovers.
Whether it's Thompson or Marial Shayok who goes back to the bench when Perrantes returns, the Cavaliers just might have the best sixth man in the ACC.
9. Duke Blue Devils
9 of 17
Record: 8-1 (54 points)
Previous rank: 10
Results since last poll: vs. Indiana (W 94-74); vs. Buffalo (W 82-59)
Games this week: None
Ladies and gentlemen, the Blue Devils appear to be ready to defend their title.
Early on in the season, this team was Grayson Allen or bust. Well, that's not entirely fair to Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones, both of whom have been solid from the outset, but it certainly felt that way.
One by one, though, the freshmen have come along. Derryck Thornton is already a completely different player than the one we saw struggle mightily with Kentucky. Luke Kennard has shot 8-of-19 from three-point range after opening the season 2-of-17.
And the last piece of the puzzle fell into place this week, as their highest-rated freshman (Brandon Ingram) scored 47 points against Indiana and Buffalo, shooting 60 percent from downtown and pitching in 14 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
Ingram looked completely disinterested on the big stage against Kentucky, VCU and Georgetown, but he was extremely engaged and effective this past week. Here's hoping he doesn't lose that fire during this long break—Duke doesn't play again until Dec. 15—because the college basketball world is a better place when the best freshmen are living up to their potential.
8. Iowa State Cyclones
10 of 17
Record: 6-0 (55 points)
Previous rank: 7
Results since last poll: vs. North Dakota State (W 84-64)
Games this week: vs. Buffalo; vs. Iowa; vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Over the past few years, it seems like Iowa State has gotten a fair amount of national respect as a team, but its individual players never seem to reap the same benefits.
Before the season began, I had Monte Morris near the top of my list of under-the-radar candidates for the Wooden Award, but there's another non-Georges Niang Cyclone who is every bit as deserving of that consideration thus far this season: Jameel McKay.
Iowa State's competition hasn't been particularly fierce, but McKay has been. After Tuesday's 15-point, 19-rebound game against NDSU, he's now averaging 14 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
A bit more consistency from McKay would be fantastic moving forward, though. He had just five points and six rebounds in 27 minutes against Illinois in his previous game.
Elsewhere, Abdel Nader continues to excel, averaging 15.3 points per game while shooting better than 54 percent from the field. If the guy who entered the season as Iowa State's fifth-best starter is still producing like that in January and February, put a bow on the Big 12 championship and send it to Ames.
7. Oklahoma Sooners
11 of 17
Record: 5-0 (56 points)
Previous rank: 6
Results since last poll: vs. Central Arkansas (W 111-68)
Games this week: vs. Villanova; vs. Oral Roberts
Four-fifths of Oklahoma's starting five is playing out of its mind.
Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins and Jordan Woodard have combined to shoot 34-of-68 (50 percent) from three-point range, and each member of the trio has more made three-pointers than turnovers. Ryan Spangler is shooting better than 63 percent from the field and already has three double-doubles.
We expected them to be the stars, though. It was the fifth spot (power forward) that has been of concern. And coming into this week, here were the numbers from the three guys "battling" for that job:
Khadeem Lattin: 56 minutes, 24 rebounds, nine points, four blocks, three steals
Akolda Manyang: 33 minutes, 13 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks
Dante Buford: 40 minutes, 11 rebounds, seven points, two blocks
Like a Lance Thomas, David McClure or Josh Hairston from Duke rosters past, Lattin had been one of those big men who is worth playing because of his ability to crash the glass, even though he doesn't give the Sooners much else. He did break out for 12 points against Central Arkansas, but does it really count against a team ranked 348th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency?
Likewise, Manyang had 11 points, six rebounds and four blocks against Central Arkansas. Is the JUCO transfer ready to put up those types of numbers against a real opponent?
That'll be something to keep an eye on this week in the big showdown with Villanova, particularly as power forward is the biggest question mark for the Wildcats as well.
6. Maryland Terrapins
12 of 17
Record: 7-1 (60 points)
Previous rank: 4
Results since last poll: at North Carolina (L 81-89); vs. St. Francis (PA) (W 96-55)
Games this week: vs Connecticut; vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
In the ACC/B1G Challenge loss to North Carolina, Maryland looked equal parts contender and pretender for the 2016 national championship.
Starting with the bad—since it's how the Terrapins have started far too many games this year—they had already committed nine turnovers just over seven minutes into the game. At that point, Melo Trimble was scoreless with three turnovers. It's kind of hard to believe that the Tar Heels were only up by four at the time of that ninth turnover.
But they didn't fold. Trimble finished the night with 23 points and 12 assists as Maryland bounced back from a 13-point deficit to very briefly take the lead midway through the second half. Jake Layman and Diamond Stone both had disappointing nights, and Maryland still nearly won a true road game against the preseason No. 1 team in the country.
Once the Terrapins figure out how to play a full game with the intensity and urgency of the last 10 minutes of the first half and first 10 minutes of the second half from Tuesday, they'll be the best team in the country.
4. (Tie) Villanova Wildcats
13 of 17
Record: 7-0 (62 points)
Previous rank: 5
Results since last poll: at Saint Joseph's (W 86-72)
Games this week: vs. Oklahoma
In what is quickly becoming an annual tradition, Villanova has quietly been one of the most solid teams in the country for the first several weeks of the season.
The Wildcats certainly haven't played the most difficult schedule in the world, but they have won every game by at least a 14-point margin, including five wins over teams in the KenPom Top 125.
But if it's the strength of schedule keeping you from jumping in on Villanova with both feet, take solace in what's to come in the next two weeks. The Wildcats play a neutral-court game against Oklahoma on Monday and have a huge road game against Virginia on Dec. 19.
Between those two games, we should get a pretty good look at whether Josh Hart truly belongs in the National Player of the Year discussion. The jack-of-all-trades junior has scored in double figures in all seven games, despite a bit of a disappointing performance beyond the arc in his last few games.
Hart had 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the Philadelphia Big 5 game at Saint Joseph's on Saturday and should be Villanova's go-to guy against those upcoming elite opponents.
4. (Tie) Kentucky Wildcats
14 of 17
Record: 7-1 (62 points)
Previous rank: 1
Results since last poll: vs. Illinois State (W 75-63); at UCLA (L 77-87)
Games this week: vs. Eastern Kentucky; vs. Arizona State
A microcosm of how much the college basketball landscape has changed in the past year, UCLA avenged last year's 83-44 loss to Kentucky with a stunning upset of the Wildcats this past Thursday.
Injuries to Marcus Lee and Tyler Ulis and foul trouble for Alex Poythress contributed significantly to Kentucky's not-so-stellar performance, but the Bruins dominated that game from the opening tip.
Skal Labissiere delivered yet another game not becoming of an eventual top-three draft pick. Even though Kentucky is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, it was Labissiere's third straight game without an offensive board. In fact, the 6'11" freshman has a grand total of seven rebounds (and 10 fouls) in his last 61 minutes.
The guards—when fully healthy—aren't a concern for the Wildcats, but if Thomas Welsh could have his way with Kentucky's frontcourt, what's going to happen against Louisville's Chinanu Onuaku, Vanderbilt's Damian Jones and Florida's John Egbunu?
Despite the question marks, this is certainly still a top-five team. It's only because the Wildcats rarely lose that some will want to see them more harshly punished for an understandable road loss.
3. Kansas Jayhawks
15 of 17
Record: 6-1 (69 points)
Previous rank: 3
Results since last poll: vs. Loyola (MD) (W 94-61); vs. Harvard (W 75-69)
Games this week: vs. Holy Cross; vs. Oregon State
Despite shooting 42.9 percent from three-point range and forcing 19 turnovers, the Jayhawks struggled at home against Harvard on Saturday.
In years past, that would be nothing to be ashamed of. But this is not the Harvard team we've grown accustomed to seeing lately. The Crimson are currently 1-6 against Division I opponents, including losses to Boston College, Northeastern and Holy Cross.
Wayne Selden played just 22 minutes amid foul trouble, and Cheick Diallo played just seven minutes after his impressive debut against Loyola (MD) earlier in the week. Devonte' Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk were key contributors in the Maui Invitational, but they were quite inefficient in their return to the mainland, combining for 37 points on 37 field-goal attempts between the two games this week.
At least Frank Mason was there to bail out Kansas, per usual. A solid candidate for National Player of the Week, Mason had 31 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and eight steals against Loyola (MD) and Harvard. It's because he puts up such great numbers on both ends of the court that the Jayhawks can survive the occasional game like Saturday in which nearly everyone else's output is subpar.
2. North Carolina Tar Heels
16 of 17
Record: 7-1 (70 points)
Previous rank: 9
Results since last poll: vs. Maryland (W 89-81); vs. Davidson (W 98-65)
Games this week: at Texas
You know, this North Carolina team might not be half bad with that Marcus Paige fella back in the mix.
Playing against a very good Maryland team in his first game of the 2015-16 season, Paige went for 20 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range with five assists and a pair of steals. As far as KenPom was concerned, Paige was the MVP of the resume-building win.
But even more astounding than the win over the Terrapins was North Carolina's decimation of a previously undefeated Davidson team. The Wildcats were averaging 88.2 points per game, but they scored just 65 against North Carolina. The Tar Heels dominated the glass and defended the arc admirably against one of the best three-point shooting units in the country.
Here's a fun fact for UNC fans to toss around the water cooler on Monday: North Carolina's last four wins came against opponents who are currently 25-0 against teams not named North Carolina.
1. Michigan State Spartans
17 of 17
Record: 9-0 (75 points)
Previous rank: 2
Results since last poll: vs. Louisville (W 71-67); vs. Binghamton (W 76-33)
Games this week: vs. Maryland Eastern Shore; vs. Florida
Denzel Valentine has been fantastic, but we expected him to be pretty great as the star of this team. Perhaps he wasn't quite at the top of the National Player of the Year discussions that he is currently dominating, but he was certainly one of the top candidates for Big Ten POY.
Rather, the pleasant surprise about Michigan State's early success has been Bryn Forbes.
Remember, before Eron Harris was arrested for an OWI in early July, most assumed that he was going to be the starting shooting guard for the Spartans. ESPN's Jeff Goodman gave his projected starting fives for every team in his top 50 in late June. Harris was in there. Forbes was not.
But the Cleveland State transfer has capitalized on the mistake of the West Virginia transfer by shooting 49 percent from three-point range and averaging 12.7 points per game.
His best game of the season came this past week against Louisville, earning high praise from Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul, who joined ESPN's announcing crew for a few minutes in the second half. Forbes made five triples and finished with a season-high 20 points in the comeback win.
Because the Spartans were able to hang on against the Cardinals, they are our new No. 1 team this week. We wish them luck in trying to hold onto that crown during this topsy-turvy season.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
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