College Basketball Rankings 2015-16: Bleacher Report's Week 12 Top 25
It was just another normal week in the 2015-16 college basketball season as 13 of the teams in our Top 19 from last week suffered at least one loss in the past seven days, including six teams that were in the Top Seven.
As a result, most of the teams that lost didn't fall far—if at all—but the teams who survived the week ended up looking much better for it. Iowa, for example, jumped from No. 8 all the way up to No. 3. Texas A&M followed suit in leaping five spots to No. 5.
The biggest riser, however, was Kentucky. Not only were the Wildcats out of our consensus Top 25 last week, but not one of us even had them in the top 30. But after their best week of the season, they're back in the polls at No. 20—just in time for Saturday's ultimate nonconference game at Kansas.
Read on for the rest of this week's rankings, and do it quick. The way this season has gone, there might be three more upsets by the time you've reached the last slide.
Teams Dropped from Week 11 Rankings: Duke (15), USC (16), Pitt (22), Clemson (25)
Others Considered: VCU, Texas, Dayton, Michigan, Pitt, USC, Duke
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: Arizona-Purdue
1 of 17
25. Arizona
Record: 16-4
Previous rank: 19
When California lost Tyrone Wallace to a broken hand, the Pac-12 was supposed to be Arizona's to lose. Apparently, no one mentioned that to Jordan Mathews, as Cal's junior shooting guard dropped 28 in helping upset the Wildcats on Saturday night.
24. Saint Mary's
Record: 17-2
Previous rank: Not Ranked
The Gaels outscored Gonzaga 19-6 over the final seven minutes on Thursday night to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They don't get many chances to make statements, but that was a pretty big one. And this team should only get better over the next 15 months, as there's not a single senior on this year's roster.
23. Notre Dame
Record: 14-5
Previous rank: Not Ranked
The Fighting Irish improved to 5-2 in ACC play with home wins over Virginia Tech and Boston College. Just like last season, they have one of the most efficient offenses in the country, but their defense leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully Demetrius Jackson isn't out too long with the hamstring injury he suffered Saturday, because the first half of February (at Miami, vs. UNC, at Clemson, vs. Louisville) is a pretty brutal stretch.
22. Oregon
Record: 16-4
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Another week, another best team in the Pac-12. Get used to it because this conference is absolutely loaded with good-not-great teams who are going to keep beating each other up. The Ducks comfortably won home games this week against USC and UCLA. Elgin Cook had 43 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on the week. Up next? A road trip to Arizona on Thursday.
21. Purdue
Record: 17-4
Previous rank: 17
Don't be fooled by the 12-point margin. Purdue was absolutely manhandled by Iowa in the first 12 minutes of the second half on Sunday afternoon. The Boilermakers already have three conference losses and have not yet faced Maryland, Michigan State or Indiana. On the bright side, their tournament resume could use a marquee win, and there are plenty of such opportunities remaining.
Nos. 20-16: Kentucky-Iowa State
2 of 17
20. Kentucky
Record: 15-4
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Don't call it a comeback, but the Wildcats bounced back from a hideous loss to Auburn with their best two-game stretch of the season, blowing out Arkansas on the road and doing the same to Vanderbilt at home.
As precisely zero people predicted before the season, the recent insertion of Derek Willis into the starting lineup seems to have cured their woes, as the offense looks much smoother with him out there for 30 minutes per game.
A home game against Missouri is the only thing standing between Kentucky and its first three-game winning streak since November.
18. (tie) Providence
Record: 17-3
Previous rank: 23
There might not have been a team in the country that needed a big week more than Providence did. The Friars delivered by beating Butler and picking up a rare road win over Villanova. Ben Bentil had 51 points and 20 rebounds in a two-game stretch that instantly put this team back among the nation's legitimate contenders.
18. (tie) Wichita State
Record: 14-5
Previous rank: 24
Yes, the strength of schedule has dropped like a rock, but if you want to be impressed by Indiana's 12-game winning streak, you have to also acknowledge that Wichita State has been on fire lately too.
The Shockers have won nine straight, all but one by a margin of at least 16 points. They'll play at Evansville on Sunday, but that's the only remaining game they aren't expected to win at least 75 percent of the time, as far as KenPom.com is concerned. November didn't go according to plan, but Wichita State could still be a major factor in March.
17. Miami
Record: 15-3
Previous rank: 18
After consecutive losses to Virginia and Clemson, Miami desperately needed a "just take care of business" type of week against Boston College and Wake Forest. The Hurricanes answered the call with a pair of 14-point wins ahead of Monday's showdown with Duke.
16. Iowa State
Record: 15-4
Previous rank: 21
So, about that 1-3 start in Big 12 play...
Iowa State bounced back quite nicely this week with a home win over Oklahoma and a road win over TCU to get right back in the mix for the conference title. Unfortunately, the Cyclones cannot afford to let off the gas one bit, as their next three games are against teams higher in our rankings: Kansas, Texas A&M and West Virginia.
15. Indiana Hoosiers
3 of 17
Record: 17-3 (32 points)
Previous rank: 20
Results since last poll: vs. Illinois (W 103-69); vs. Northwestern (W 89-57)
Games before next poll: at Wisconsin; vs. Minnesota
In their 12-game winning streak, the Hoosiers have only beaten one team that is likely to make the NCAA tournament—and they trailed by 16 in the second half of that come-from-behind win against Notre Dame.
We're well-aware of how weak the schedule has been.
But we're also blown away by the fact that Indiana just won consecutive Big Ten games by a margin of more than 30 points—especially since neither opponent was Rutgers. We are all waiting to see what Indiana will be able to do against quality teams, but that doesn't prohibit us from being amazed by the run it's currently on.
Everyone has marveled at the Hoosiers' improvement on the defensive end, but their offense has been even more phenomenal.
In each of the two wins this week, Indiana had eight different players score at least seven points. As a team, the Hoosiers recorded an assist on at least 70 percent of made shots. They shot 32-of-64 from three-point range and made better than 60 percent of their attempts from inside the arc, yet still somehow they missed enough shots to grab 23 offensive rebounds.
Since the loss to Duke, Yogi Ferrell has quietly averaged 18.4 points and 5.8 assists while playing 34.4 minutes per game. His veteran leadership has been invaluable and should be what keeps the wheels turning when the Hoosiers run into the meat of their schedule in a couple of weeks.
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14. Baylor Bears
4 of 17
Record: 15-4 (34 points)
Previous rank: 12
Results since last poll: vs. Kansas State (W 79-72); vs. Oklahoma (L 72-82)
Games before next poll: at Oklahoma State; vs. Georgia
For a team that needed double overtime to win a home game against Kansas State and was subsequently beaten soundly at home by Oklahoma, we didn't exactly fall out of love with Baylor.
Part of that is because the Bears simply didn't have everyone bring it in both games. Lester Medford and Rico Gathers played very well against Kansas State before struggling with Oklahoma. Vice versa, Taurean Prince was pretty great against the Sooners and terribly inefficient against the Wildcats.
But two players did show up for both games, and both are pretty indicative of where this team could be headed.
The first was Johnathan Motley, who has been the Bears' rock for most of the season. The 6'9" forward scored 30 points on just 16 field-goal attempts and corralled 19 rebounds—this coming not too long after his 27-point, 13-rebound performance in Baylor's big win over Iowa State. There might not be a better sixth man in the country.
The other was King McClure, and that's a relatively new development.
From Dec. 19-Jan. 9, the freshman shooting guard played a total of 44 minutes in six games and scored just five points. This week, though, he played 30 minutes, scored 20 points and even tallied four steals against Oklahoma. McClure leads the team in effective field-goal percentage but has barely played 10 minutes per game. If he's gearing up to make a bigger impact moving forward, Baylor only becomes that much more dangerous.
13. West Virginia Mountaineers
5 of 17
Record: 16-3 (41 points)
Previous rank: 9
Results since last poll: vs. Texas (L 49-56); at Texas Tech (W 80-76)
Games before next poll: vs. Kansas State; at Florida
On the one hand, it was a pretty ugly week for a West Virginia team that was one possession against Oklahoma away from serious consideration as the No. 1 team in the nation one week ago. The Mountaineers lost at home to Texas and needed eight points from Tarik Phillip in the final 54 seconds to avoid an upset against Texas Tech.
Yet, the resilience they showed was both impressive and promising.
There were games last season when the offense simply wasn't clicking, and the Mountaineers were absolutely murdered in those affairs. They were beaten by a margin of at least 18 points in four regular-season games and then infamously destroyed 78-39 by Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.
But on a night when they shot 14.3 percent from three-point range and an unfathomable 34.8 percent from the free-throw line, they hung right with Texas until the bitter end, thanks to 24 offensive rebounds and tireless two-point defense. And when Texas Tech made 32 of 34 free-throw attempts against them, the Mountaineers got back on track offensively and forced turnovers at crucial junctures.
Last year, those were the types of games that got out of hand in a hurry, but West Virginia is much better conditioned to be a major factor near the top of the Big 12 standings this season.
12. Virginia Cavaliers
6 of 17
Record: 15-4 (44 points)
Previous rank: 14
Results since last poll: vs. Clemson (W 69-62); vs. Syracuse (W 73-65)
Games before next poll: at Wake Forest; at Louisville
In their last six games, the Cavaliers are 3-3 and have not won or lost by a margin of more than eight points.
Fortunately, they have won the last two and three of the past four, so it feels like they're starting to get back on the right track—even though they haven't won a game away from John Paul Jones Arena since early December.
Malcolm Brogdon had another strong week, scoring 20 against Clemson and 21 against Syracuse to remain in the conversation for ACC Player of the Year. Anthony Gill was also solid with 28 points and 13 rebounds.
That's par for the course for Virginia, though.
The big positive change this week was the play of Devon Hall. The sophomore guard had made a limited impact over the previous two months, but he has responded well to his recent insertion into the starting lineup. He had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists this week.
It may not seem like a ton, but for one of the slowest-paced teams in the country, a little bit can go a long way. At any rate, the Cavaliers looked better this week than they did with Darius Thompson and Marial Shayok sharing that spot in the lineup in losses to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
10. (tie) Michigan State Spartans
7 of 17
Record: 17-4 (47 points)
Previous rank: 13
Results since last poll: vs. Nebraska (L 71-72); vs. Maryland (W 74-65)
Games before next poll: at Northwestern; vs. Rutgers
We don't often refer to basketball as a game of inches, but that was really the difference between "fine" and "funk" for Michigan State.
In consecutive one-point losses to Wisconsin and Nebraska, the right man had the ball in his hands with the clock running out. Unfortunately, Denzel Valentine was unable to sink either of those game-winning attempts, leading to a three-game losing streak and a plethora of "What's wrong with Michigan State?" think pieces.
"Saturday's win, however, showcased the ceiling of a program that took the first step toward shaking that murky chapter," wrote ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf after the nine-point win over Maryland.
Really, the only problem was Bryn Forbes not making enough shots to justify the number of minutes spent on the court as a defensive liability. The senior shooting guard scored a total of 20 points in 101 minutes of action during Michigan State's four losses, but he had 25 points in 39 minutes in a win over Maryland that served as a reminder of what the Spartans can accomplish when they have more than two guys playing well.
Outside of an early February road trip through Michigan and Purdue, the rest of the schedule is quite favorable for Michigan State. Despite the rough three-week stretch to open Big Ten play, don't be surprised if the Spartans get back into the conversation for a No. 1 seed before all is said and done.
10. (tie) SMU Mustangs
8 of 17
Record: 18-1 (47 points)
Previous rank: 7
Results since last poll: vs. Houston (W 77-73); at Temple (L 80-89)
Games before next poll: vs. Memphis
SMU's quest for a perfect season is over, and head coach Larry Brown's guys are still ineligible for postseason play. However, let's make sure not to immediately forget about the Mustangs, as they're still the only team in the country that doesn't have at least two losses.
They simply ran into a buzzsaw Sunday afternoon.
Well, perhaps snowblower is the more appropriate tool for this analogy, because blizzard conditions across the mid-Atlantic resulted in a 16-hour delay in tipoff for this one.
As it turns out, it merely postponed the inevitable. Temple entered the game a 31.4 percent three-point shooting team, but the Owls shot 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Devin Coleman made all seven of his three-point attempts to lead all scorers with 23 points.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs entered the game with a team accuracy of 41.5 percent from downtown, but they hit just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) of their three-point looks. Even Sterling Brown couldn't find the bottom of the bucket, as the nation's most efficient scorer missed all four of his long-range attempts after making 17-of-24 through the first 18 games.
It just wasn't meant to be, but this is still a darn good team seeking a second consecutive AAC regular-season championship. You won't hear nearly as much about the Mustangs for the rest of the year, but it's going to take more than one road loss to get them out of our Top 10.
8. (tie) Maryland Terrapins
9 of 17
Record: 17-3 (51 points)
Previous rank: 6
Results since last poll: vs. Northwestern (W 62-56); at Michigan State (L 65-74)
Games before next poll: vs. Iowa; at Ohio State
I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired of waiting on this team to live up to its full potential.
The Terrapins were my preseason pick to win it all, and for a few hours last weekend against Ohio State, that was finally starting to look like a feasible reality. They dropped 100 on the Buckeyes in a game that they absolutely dominated from the opening tip.
But what about the other four games they've played recently? They just barely eked out wins over Wisconsin and Northwestern and lost to Michigan and Michigan State—each of which was playing without one of its starting guards. This came after home struggles earlier this season against Rider, Penn State and Georgetown.
Maryland simply doesn't seem to be playing with any sense of urgency.
Diamond Stone is one of the best big men in the country, and he had just eight field-goal attempts this week. Melo Trimble could have gotten by Eron Harris whenever he wanted on Saturday night, but instead he took 65 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. And Rasheed Sulaimon has been a complete non-factor. He had 22 against Ohio State, but he had a combined total of 22 points on 30 shots in Maryland's other four games in the past 16 days.
There's still plenty of talent here to win a title, but I wouldn't feel comfortable picking the Terrapins to even make the Sweet 16 right now. (To be fair, though, this is true for most teams. January has not been a confidence-boosting month for college basketball's elite.)
8. (tie) Louisville Cardinals
10 of 17
Record: 16-3 (51 points)
Previous rank: 11
Results since last poll: vs. Florida State (W 84-65); at Georgia Tech (W 75-71)
Games before next poll: at Virginia Tech; vs. Virginia
Louisville's NCAA tournament resume is less than stellar, as this week's wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech were arguably the best victories the Cardinals have scored all season. But while they have a lot of work to do to get into position for a top seed in the Big Dance, they certainly look the part of a team that can win it all.
Early on in the season, it felt like this team was going to be Damion Lee and Trey Lewis or bust. In close losses to Michigan State and Kentucky, the grad-transfer duo combined to score 61.4 percent of its points.
It has been a much more balanced attack recently.
Chinanu Onuaku—of granny-style free-throw fame—has averaged 13.2 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in ACC play and has recorded a double-double in all six conference games. Quentin Snider led the way with 20 points against the Seminoles, and Anas Mahmoud came out of nowhere for 15 points against the Yellow Jackets—more than doubling his previous career high of seven. Freshman Donovan Mitchell also scored in double figures in both games this week.
Two-man show? Please. Louisville has one of the more well-rounded lineups in the country. Given all this team lost from last season and the scandal that broke in October, there's a pretty strong case to be made for Rick Pitino as National Coach of the Year.
7. Xavier Musketeers
11 of 17
Record: 17-2 (59 points)
Previous rank: 5
Results since last poll: vs. Georgetown (L 72-81); vs. Seton Hall (W 84-76)
Games before next poll: at Providence; at DePaul
During the nonconference portion of the season, Xavier was one of the most elite rebounding teams in the country. On average, the Musketeers corralled 13 more rebounds per game than the opposition. Fueled by that edge, they practically cruised to a 12-0 record.
Big East play has been a different ball of wax, though, as Xavier is only pulling down 3.9 more rebounds per game than the competition—looking pretty mortal as a result.
The inability to muscle its way to victory in conference play came to a head this week as Georgetown dominated Xavier in the paint. The Hoyas won the rebounding battle, blocked seven shots and shot 61.5 percent from inside the arc, while the Musketeers shot 35.0 percent and blocked just one Georgetown shot.
Truthfully, it was disturbing to see Xavier lose a home game in which it had twice as many made three-pointers (10) as turnovers committed (five).
The Musketeers had struggled in road games against Villanova, St. John's and Marquette, but now they're having trouble in the Cintas Center as well?
They had better hope Jalen Reynolds gets back on track soon. James Farr was a monster against Seton Hall with 24 points and 15 rebounds, but Reynolds has just a 95.8 O-rating in seven Big East games and hasn't been nearly the offensive rebounding machine he was early in the season.
6. Villanova Wildcats
12 of 17
Record: 17-3 (59 points)
Previous rank: 4
Results since last poll: at Seton Hall (W 72-71); vs. Providence (L 76-82)
Games before next poll: at St. John's
Villanova had been flirting with disaster for the past few weeks, winning road games against Butler, Georgetown and Seton Hall by a combined margin of just 11 points. Even home games against Seton Hall and Marquette were closer calls than they probably should have been.
It finally caught up with them when Ben Bentil and Providence came to town Sunday.
Normally the conversation with the Friars begins with Kris Dunn, and he was pretty great in racking up 13 points and 14 assists before fouling out in overtime. Bentil was the unstoppable one, though, finishing the afternoon with 31 points and 13 rebounds while playing every minute of the game. He also limited Daniel Ochefu to just three field-goal attempts and one blocked shot—absolutely crucial with Villanova struggling from downtown.
In making just nine of their 31 three-point attempts, it marked the fourth time just in the month of January that the Wildcats failed to shoot better than 30 percent from deep. They had gotten away from relying too much on that shot in recent weeks, but 50 percent of their field-goal attempts came from beyond the arc in the loss to Providence.
They have plenty of guys who can shoot, but the shots just haven't wanted to fall this year. Freshman Jalen Brunson leads the Wildcats at 35.1 percent, so they don't even have one guy who is reliably draining shots this season. It's pretty impressive that they have won 85 percent of their games despite that problem.
5. Texas A&M Aggies
13 of 17
Record: 17-2 (62 points)
Previous rank: 10
Results since last poll: vs. LSU (W 71-57); vs. Missouri (W 66-53)
Games before next poll: at Arkansas; vs. Iowa State
Just about every team in the country has fallen on hard times as of late, but Texas A&M keeps taking care of business with what has become an incredibly stagnating defense. In the last three games against Georgia, LSU and Missouri, the Aggies have held the opposition to a combined total of 155 points on 208 possessions (0.745 points per possession).
Good thing, too, because their offense was less than stellar this week.
Jalen Jones had 20 points in each game, but the team shot just 24.5 percent from three-point range and 58.5 percent from the free-throw line.
Danuel House will eventually turn things around, right? A 40.0 percent three-point shooter last season, House is just 9-of-31 (29.0 percent) in his last four games and 31.1 percent from downtown on the season. He started the year pretty well, but this has been a cold spell of nearly two months for A&M's best player.
But even without their star playing as well as we know he can, the Aggies have won 10 straight games and have a two-game lead in the SEC standings. They have a rough stretch of six games coming up (at Arkansas, vs. Iowa State, at Vanderbilt, vs. South Carolina, at Alabama, at LSU), but this winning streak should continue as long as they keep getting it done on the defensive end.
4. Kansas Jayhawks
14 of 17
Record: 16-3 (65 points)
Previous rank: 3
Results since last poll: at Oklahoma State (L 67-86); vs. Texas (W 76-67)
Games before next poll: at Iowa State; vs. Kentucky
No one really talked about it, but Kansas had one hell of a hangover from that memorable triple-overtime win over Oklahoma.
First, the Jayhawks struggled at Texas Tech, but that's OK because the Red Raiders are somewhat respectable for the first time in a few years. Then they turned the ball over 22 times against the Mountaineers, but hey, that's what happens when you run into Press Virginia. After that, it was just a seven-point home win over TCU—by far the closest thing to a gimme in Big 12 play—but at least they won, right?
It nearly all came unraveled this week, though, as they were blown out at Oklahoma State before staking Texas to a 17-5 lead at the Phog.
But the light finally came back on late in the first half against the Longhorns. For the first time in a while, Wayne Selden Jr. and Devonte' Graham were shooting with confidence, and everyone was engaged on defense. For about 28 minutes, the Jayhawks looked like the team we fell in love with in December.
Not a moment too soon, either, as they're about to face two teams in Iowa State and Kentucky who appear to have (re)discovered their mojo too.
A win at Iowa State would go a long, long way toward getting the Jayhawks back into our top three (where they had been for the entire season), but we had to at least temporarily penalize them for that stinker against the Cowboys.
3. Iowa Hawkeyes
15 of 17
Record: 16-3 (69 points)
Previous rank: 8
Results since last poll: at Rutgers (W 90-76); vs. Purdue (W 83-71)
Games before next poll: at Maryland; vs. Northwestern
The Jarrod Uthoff for National Player of the Year bandwagon has gained an awful lot of steam in the past couple of weeks, and that isn't going to change, as his 22-point game against Purdue on Sunday afternoon slightly elevated his January scoring average to 21.7 points per game. Like Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell a season ago, it's almost as if things have inexplicably gotten easier for Uthoff in Big Ten play.
But how about the incredible job Peter Jok has done over the past several weeks?
Dating back to Dec. 22, the junior wing has averaged 17.5 points and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 45.1 percent from three-point range. Just like Uthoff last season, his drastic development from his sophomore to junior year has been a huge catalyst for Iowa's success as a whole.
With Uthoff doing everything well, Mike Gesell running the point, Adam Woodbury and Dom Uhl playing well in the paint and Jok scoring and defending like this, it's pretty hard to find a weakness in the team that is clearly the favorite to win the Big Ten after sweeping both Michigan State and Purdue.
If you've been holding out on taking the Hawkeyes seriously as a threat to win the national championship, it's about time to correct that error.
"It's hard to argue that anyone is playing better than Fran McCaffery's team at this juncture," wrote Sam Vecenie for CBS Sports after Iowa's win over Purdue on Sunday.
2. North Carolina Tar Heels
16 of 17
Record: 18-2 (72 points)
Previous rank: 2
Results since last poll: vs. Wake Forest (W 83-68); at Virginia Tech (W 75-70)
Games before next poll: vs. Boston College
Leading Virginia Tech by a score of 36-16 late in the first half, North Carolina was well on its way to the type of dominant road win that would have made voters think twice about keeping Oklahoma at No. 1.
But then the Hokies made eight of their next nine field-goal attempts, cutting the lead to 44-43 less than two minutes after the intermission.
VT is tough to beat at home—just ask Virginia—but allowing one of the worst teams in the ACC to go on a 27-8 run in a span of about seven minutes is not a defensive stretch befitting of the best team in the country. Moreover, it's the main reason people have conveniently forgotten about North Carolina's 11-game winning streak, while griping that there are no elite teams this season.
Even though Marcus Paige is 1-of-22 from three-point range over his last four games, UNC has just about the best offense in the country. The Tar Heels rarely commit turnovers, they dominate the offensive glass and they score in the paint like their lives depend upon it.
Their defense hasn't been that great, though, and that problem reared its ugly head in the middle of their seventh straight ACC victory.
The first week in February will be a great litmus test for how far the Tar Heels can go in the tournament, as they'll play road games against one of the best defenses in the country (Louisville) and one of the best offenses in the country (Notre Dame). Unless Boston College pulls off the most unlikely upset of the season, North Carolina will be looking to get to 10-0 in conference play against that gauntlet.
1. Oklahoma Sooners
17 of 17
Record: 16-2 (75 points)
Previous rank: 1
Results since last poll: at Iowa State (L 77-82); at Baylor (W 82-72)
Games before next poll: vs. Texas Tech; at LSU
It seems as though the Sooners are unbreakable.
Three weeks ago, they took a No. 2 ranking into Lawrence and pushed the No. 1 Jayhawks to triple overtime before ultimately falling short. Given how rarely Kansas has even been challenged at home over the past decade, it was the type of game where the losing team actually impressed more than the winning one. Oklahoma remained No. 2 and even retained one of its first-place votes in the AP Top 25 one week later.
It was more of the same this week as Oklahoma went into Hilton Coliseum as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country and lost to Iowa State. Yet, the Sooners remain No. 1 in our rankings—and will likely hold serve in the AP poll tomorrow as well—thanks to quite the convincing bounce-back win over Baylor on Saturday afternoon.
Early on against the Bears, things were looking bad. Buddy Hield went to the bench with his second foul midway through the first half. Three seconds later, Taurean Prince drained a three to put Baylor up by six. And yet—with Hield on the bench for all of it—the Sooners went on a 21-5 Jordan Woodard-fueled run to get right back into the driver's seat. They led by 24 late in the second half before taking their foot off the gas and letting Baylor at least make the final score look a little more respectable.
It was a spurt that I'm going to have a hard time forgetting two months from now when trying to decide which team is most likely to win six games in a row.
The loss to Iowa State was an understandable hiccup, but the win (and nature of it) against Baylor was a statement that it's going to take more than a little Hilton Magic to knock this team from its throne.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames. Advanced stats courtesy of KenPom.com unless noted otherwise.
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