Updated College Basketball Freshman of the Year Rankings for 2015-16

It's obvious who the top Freshman of the Year candidate for college basketball is this season. Granted, we would have liked a little more sizzle out of LSU Tigers star Ben Simmons last weekend in his "Ben vs. Buddy" showdown with the Oklahoma Sooners, but we're not quite ready to downgrade.

The rest of the nine spots, however, continue to be up for grabs. Performances of late, plus a recap of the overall season, continue to have us taking stock—raising and lowering it for a quality group of candidates from around the country.

There are mainstays on the list, such as Maryland Terrapins center Diamond Stone, Duke Blue Devils do-everything Brandon Ingram and Kentucky Wildcats shooter Jamal Murray.

But there's also room to meet some new candidates, a couple of perfect-fit guys who are young but are helping their programs reach new heights.

The list of the top freshmen in the country has changed some since we last featured this crop in mid-December. It's even changed since two weeks ago. Just as you'd expect of freshmen, there have been ebbs and flows.

Remember, we're not here to peg the NBA draft order.

We've ranked the nation's 10 best freshmen based on their overall performance in comparison to other first-year players and how much they have helped their teams' play to this point.

10. KeVaughn Allen, Florida

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KeVaughn Allen became a quick priority for a new coach, after it temporarily looked like he wouldn't become a Florida Gator.

If that had happened, big games such as a home win against West Virginia in the Big 12-SEC Challenge wouldn't have happened. He scored 19 points, making half of his eight shots and keeping the Mountaineers from a foul-induced comeback by hitting all nine free throws.

Allen has proved to be a key part in helping the Gators be arguably ahead of the curve in returning to some prominence in coach Mike White's first season of having the unenviable task of replacing Billy Donovan.

Florida (14-7) carries a top-25 KenPom ranking as of Monday, and Allen is a capable complement to veterans Kasey Hill and Dorian Finney-Smith. He pumped in 16 points earlier in the week against Vanderbilt, again hitting half of his shots.

"He's not playing like a freshman lately," White said Monday, upon announcement of the 6'2" guard being the SEC's Freshman of the Week, per GatorSports.com.

Allen also had a career-high four assists against "Press Virginia" and scored the Gators' final 11 points in a rally attempt against Vanderbilt the game before that.

For the season, he's at 11.9 points and nearly two assists. Given Florida's resurgence, he deserves to make the cut this week.

9. Jaylen Brown, Cal

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In high school, Jaylen Brown showed an ability to play all five positions.

He's back it with the Cal Golden Bears, who have been stifled by injuries and find themselves in desperation mode to make the most out of a onetime sky's-the-limit season.

Noted Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, after the Bears lost veteran wing Tyrone Wallace to a hand injury for four to six weeks last month: "Coach Cuonzo Martin asked Brown to add floor general to his responsibilities. The Marietta, Georgia, native provided Cal a worthy backup point guard in Saturday’s 74-73 win over then-No. 12 Arizona, finishing with 15 points and a personal-best seven assists."

Cal may have its best days in the rearview mirror. A 14-8 record and losses in five of the last seven games could well punch a ticket to the NIT for one of the most highly touted freshman duos (Brown and Ivan Rabb) in the country this year. But we can't totally hold that against Brown.

For better or worse, Brown is a top-15 guy when it comes to dominating his team's possessions. He at least looks worthy when considering he's a 53 percent shooter from the field. He's still so good at drawing whistles.

This won't be the first freshman we look at with room to grow in upcoming seasons.

8. Tyler Dorsey, Oregon

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The first-place Oregon Ducks have gotten perhaps more than the nation bargained for in Tyler Dorsey's production levels.

Especially of late. He had 16 points against Arizona State, and three days earlier (Jan. 28) he scored 12 by making five of 10 shots in a wild road win at Arizona.

That means Oregon has won four in a row, and seven of the last eight, to seize control of the Pac-12 race.

Dorsey is a 6'4" guard who is averaging 13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

He is an above-average shooter when it comes to pure efficiency, and he is also making 42 percent of his three-point attempts.

Dorsey had a key layup to hush some Arizona momentum at the end of the first half and then executed an alley-oop pass that basically put the Wildcats away. It snapped a 49-game home winning streak, which had been the longest active one in the country.

He's showing he's not intimidated by tough environments. Combined with Dillon Brooks' skill set and swagger as a sophomore, it's no wonder the Ducks are thriving—and Dorsey is ending up on a list like this.

7. Tyler Davis, Texas A&M

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Texas A&M is having one of those special seasons. That's in part because it has one of those special, similarly under-the-radar freshmen.

Tyler Davis has gone from "who?" to "wow!" in recent weeks. The transformation includes putting up 15 points and six rebounds (making six of the eight shots he took) in a thriller with Iowa State last weekend.

Before that, he had put up 14 against Arkansas and 18 against LSU, relying on his already trademarked prudence. He's hitting nearly 68 percent of his shots, which is in the top 10 for shot-takers inside the arc.

It's hard to believe this was a guy who weighed 350 pounds just four years ago, dropping 90 since then.

“If he keeps working, he’s going to be the best big man in the country,” Iowa State star senior Georges Niang told ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman after the game. “He has tremendous upside. He’s got great touch, is aggressive, fearless. You don’t see freshmen like him out there who don’t get rattled.”

Davis boosted his numbers slightly last week to 11.5 points and nearly six rebounds. He's terrific at forcing fouls; now, all he needs to do to sneak up this list is start converting free throws—he's only at 62.9 percent.

6. Jamal Murray, Kentucky

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There's no other way to say it: Kansas messed with the Kentucky Wildcats and Jamal Murray last weekend. The Jayhawks went into a triangle-and-two defense that stymied point guard Tyler Ulis and Murray; they were followed extensively, while their teammates didn't take advantage of openings.

Murray is still one of the most versatile, explosive freshmen in this class, averaging 17.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and close to three assists.

He uses up a ton of minutes and shots for this team—no platoon system is rolling in Lexington this year—but he more than atones for it by making 46 percent of his shots inside the arc and 37 percent from three-point range. And he's often forced into taking tougher ones than he'd like.

Coach John Calipari was all over him a couple of times at Allen Fieldhouse for not going straight up on his jumper. There are times when it looks like he's drifting a little bit.

Right now, it sure seems like he's mostly straight ahead. Murray is the fifth-best scorer in the SEC, but he is still looking like a top-10 NBA draft pick who just needs to continue growing—and learning to adapt to whatever is thrown at him.

He'll build on a six-of-11 shooting night in Kansas that was a little too quiet for what UK—and someone of his skill level—should command.

5. Diamond Stone, Maryland

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Diamond Stone hit a bit of that freshman wall last week.

He missed 11 of the 17 shots he took. But the Maryland Terrapins continued to roll, beating Top Five-ranked Iowa and Ohio State, so we can't dock the big fella too much. A lot of possessions go through him, even though he only gets about 51 percent of the available minutes.

We give Stone the love because of his strong numbers despite his relatively modest playing time. The 6'11" newcomer is averaging 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds (both numbers are slightly down for the season over the last two weeks) in just 20.8 minutes per game.

However, he's still considered Maryland's "go-to guy" in KenPom's ratings. And no wonder, as Stone is making 57 percent of his shots from inside the arc and is also a terrific free-throw shooter, sinking nearly 81 percent of them.

4. Brandon Ingram, Duke

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Like with Jamal Murray and Kentucky, it's a tough year to be Brandon Ingram when so much is expected collectively and it's hard to do it all for Duke.

Ingram still gets our respect because he's a stat-stuffer all over the floor who shoots 41 percent from three-point range and 55 percent from inside the arc.

The 6'9" freshman had 19 points, making eight of 13 shots, in a loss at Miami last week. It's just been that kind of season for the Blue Devils, who have four recent losses by a total of 22 points. At one point late in the first half, Ingram's teammates missed nine of 10 shots before he scored six straight points to keep the game competitive.

He is second to sophomore Grayson Allen as far as productivity goes for the Blue Devils, and he has handled all of the shifting around with aplomb, especially after a slow start.

Ingram needs to curb his turnover rate (though some of that's understandable as he shifts positions so much).

But 17.1 points and 6.4 rebounds are really good averages around all of Duke's roster turmoil. Ingram has only missed two minutes over the course of the last three games, yet he's still hit nearly 50 percent (eight-of-17) of his three-point tries in that span.

That's veteran-level effort.

3. Henry Ellenson, Marquette

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Ellenson's impact makes him arguably the nation's most valuable freshman and a nightly double-double waiting to happen.

The 6'11" newcomer has been dynamic in rebuilding Marquette and at least keeping it in contention for an NCAA tournament bid. Marquette is still 15-7 with a KenPom ranking in the low 100s as of Monday.

But just check out what he's done—scoring 60 points and grabbing 39 rebounds during the last three games (all wins).

He is a stat-stuffer of the highest regard at both ends of the floor.

During a Jan. 30 home win against Butler (which was critical to at least keep Marquette in the bubble conversation), he hit eight of 14 shots, including both three-pointers, and 14 of the 16 free throws he took.

Ellenson is averaging 16.3 points and 10 rebounds and has done it against a variety of competition.

Earlier this year he fared well against the biggest star of this freshman class, LSU's Ben Simmons, producing 16 points and 11 boards in an 81-80 win.

Only once has he failed to score in double figures—an early-season dud against Iowa. Otherwise, he's a been reliable rebounder at both ends of the floor and has a deft offensive game from all around as well.

2. Thomas Bryant, Indiana

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No one in the country is better at shooting inside the arc than this guy. That's why we can put only LSU's Ben Simmons ahead of him.

But what Indiana Hoosiers newcomer Thomas Bryant has accomplished has been a real thrill for a team that has come out of nowhere since looking left for dead in December.

The 6'10" Bryant is averaging 12.4 points and 5.5 rebounds. He posted 39 points and 15 rebounds in a split last week against Wisconsin (a loss in overtime) and Minnesota.

Against the Golden Gophers, he made 11 of his 13 shots and got "down and dirty," doing just about everything to make sure the Hoosiers didn't start a losing streak. He did a lot more than score a career-high 23 points, that's for sure.

Sure, we'd like to see him block a few more shots. And make a few more free throws, because he can draw some fouls.

But let's put some perspective on this. There was talk in the offseason that Bryant could be a missing piece to a special IU season. It's taken longer than anyone thought to unfold—remember the feedback from that loss to Duke?—but now Bryant and Co. deserve some praise for overcoming an underachieving start.

1. Ben Simmons, LSU

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Arguably the most versatile offensive player in college basketball, regardless of age, the 6'10" forward is still valued as KenPom's eighth-ranked Player of the Year.

The Tigers are 13-8 and came this close to beating No. 1-ranked Oklahoma at home last weekend—a win that would have really helped their at-large bid hopes.

Simmons had 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals. We certainly could have handled him taking more shots, considering he made six of the seven he did attempt.

But the well-coached Sooners were prepared to make anyone but him defeat them. Simmons also had five turnovers, which hurt his production numbers and the scoreboard totals.

We're not ready quite yet to bump him from the top spot, though. Don't be surprised if we never do.

He's still doing just about every KenPom category at a ferocious rate. And he's still showing why we're certain he'll be the top pick in the next NBA draft.

Advanced stats courtesy of KenPom.com unless otherwise noted.