Mid-February Player of the Year Rankings for College Basketball in 2015-16

Buddy Hield was having one of his worst shooting nights of the year on Monday, and the Oklahoma Sooners were about to lose their second game in a row. An opening was about to present itself for anyone chasing Hield in the National Player of the Year race. 

Then Hield dropped the game-winning three, set up by a beautiful crossover, to knock off the Texas Longhorns, 63-60. Even on an off night, the stat sheet read: Hield, 27 points. 

So, welcome to the race for second place. There's Hield, having a historic shooting season, and then there's everyone else. 

The nine other candidates on this list are having fine seasons in their own right, but Hield is going to have to go cold for a prolonged stretch to make this an actual competition. See where the rest of the field has moved from our previous version of the rankings. 

Also considered: Perry Ellis, Kansas; Damion Lee, Louisville; Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga; Dillon Brooks, Oregon

10. Grayson Allen, Duke

Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports

Previous rank: Not ranked

2015-16 stats: 20.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.0 SPG, 49.4 FG%, 43.9 3P%, 86.1 FT%

Grayson Allen is the hardest guard to check in the country outside of Hield. 

The Duke sophomore is a slashing daredevil. He drives to the basket without fear of who might get in his way or how hard he's going to land. He also has the ability to drive at full speed and then throw up a scoop shot with a soft, feathery touch. 

As with seemingly every great guard who plays under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Allen also has a great stroke from beyond the arc. Coach K has done another masterful job crafting his offense to the strengths of his best players, and the Blue Devils spread the floor to make sure Allen gets his touches. It's especially impressive how they've been able to set up Allen considering they often play without a true point guard. 

Allen has been consistent, nonetheless. In ACC play, he's scored at least 16 points in every game. 

9. Josh Hart, Villanova

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Previous rank: 12

2015-16 stats: 15.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 52.1 FG%, 34.3 3P%, 72.1 FT%

Josh Hart is the best player on what the polls say is the best team in the country, which is usually enough to get in the POY conversation. 

The junior guard has always flown under the radar, but it's hard to ignore him or his team now. The Wildcats have risen to No. 1 in the Week 14 Associated Press poll because they play smart basketball and understand who they are. Hart is a beast as a 6'5" guard—just look at his rebounding numbers)—and his physicality and niftiness in the mid-range has turned him into a dangerous scorer.

He's shooting an impressive 63 percent inside the arc and thrives in Villanova's spread attack. 

8. Kris Dunn, Providence

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Previous rank: 5

2015-16 stats: 17.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 6.7 APG, 3.2 SPG, 43.9 FG%, 37.2 3P%, 67.2 FT%

Kris Dunn's recent shooting struggles—he went 9-of-35 in Providence's last two games, which were losses to DePaul and Villanova—have him a few spots lower than expected. He also had six turnovers in the loss to Villanova, which has been a recurring issue in losses this season. He's averaging 4.5 giveaways in Providence's six losses.

But despite Providence's recent struggles and a 6-5 start in the Big East, its record is still better than what expectations were coming into the season. Dunn deserves some credit for helping Ben Bentil turn into an elite scorer, and he has more on his plate than perhaps any guard in the country. On most nights, he handles all of that responsibility well and shows why he'll be one of the first guards off the board at the NBA draft in June.

7. Georges Niang, Iowa State

David K Purdy/Getty Images

Previous rank: 6

2015-16 stats: 19.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, 52.0 FG%, 37.8 3P%, 82.4 FT%

Georges Niang is terrorizing the Big 12's big men for one last tour of the conference. Head coach Steve Prohm has wisely used him similarly to how former coach Fred Hoiberg did, getting Niang the ball in different spots all over the floor and often letting him create off the bounce.

Niang is the best version of himself as a senior. The biggest improvement he has made from last year is his efficiency inside the arc, as he's knocking down 58.1 percent of his twos compared to 48.5 percent last year. Considering the degree of difficulty of some of the shots he attempts, that's an impressive jump. 

The Cyclones (17-6, 6-4) are slightly underperforming compared to expectations, but it's hard to put that on Niang. In Iowa State's six losses, he's averaging 23.8 points on 58.3 percent shooting.

6. Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Previous rank: 14

2015-16 stats: 17.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, 46.2 FG%, 40.7 3P%, 86.9 FT%

Virginia is in contention for a third straight ACC title after a six-game winning streak—currently sitting a half-game behind North Carolina in the conference standings—and Malcolm Brogdon is killing it. 

Brogdon is putting up 21.7 points per game during UVa's winning streak and scoring at an efficient rate, shooting 58.3 percent from the field, 55.2 percent from deep and 96.8 percent at the free throw line. Even Hield would be jealous of those marks. 

This is a good time to remind everyone that the 'Hoos play at a snail's pace, so scoring more than 20 points per game over any length of time is quite the feat. It's also worth pointing out that Brogdon is a muzzle on the defensive end. He rarely gambles—hence the low steals numbers—but he's excellent defending on and off the ball.

You could argue he's the most complete two-way guard in the country. With his recent hot shooting and UVa's improved play, I'll give him a slight edge over Providence's Dunn.

5. Brice Johnson, North Carolina

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Previous rank: 2

2015-16 stats: 16.6 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG, 60.8 FG%, 79.2 FT%

I was in the North Carolina locker room after its November win over Kansas State in Kansas City, Missouri, and Brice Johnson was giddy to find out he had reached double figures in rebounds when he looked over the stat sheet. It appeared to be a mark the coaching staff had challenged him to reach on a nightly basis. 

Whatever the motivating factor was, Johnson has become a double-double machine this season. He has the double-double of the year—39 points and 23 rebounds in a win at Florida State last month—and he's a rebounding hog on the defensive end. His defensive rebounding rate, gobbling up 31 percent of available rebounds, ranks sixth nationally and second among major-conference players, according to kenpom.com.

That's quite the feat when considering teammate Kennedy Meeks is a pretty good rebounder himself. 

Johnson has been the best true post player in America—Ben Simmons, for those wondering, doesn't qualify as a "true post." His bounciness has always provided some nifty highlights, but he's consistently producing this year and has emerged as UNC's star.

4. Jarrod Uthoff, Iowa

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Previous rank: 3

2015-16 stats: 18.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 2.9 BPG, 46.7 FG%, 45.2 3P%, 84.1 FT%

The above photo is a great illustration of why it's so difficult to guard Jarrod Uthoff. 

Iowa hits you with a ton of screens away from the ball to get its shooters, such as Uthoff, open looks. But when a defender stays connected to Uthoff and makes him go one-on-one, he's 6'9" and can shoot over most perimeter defenders or use his quickness to get by big men.Even when someone like Maryland's Jake Layman (the pictured defender) has the speed and size to deal with Uthoff, he can hit you with the Dirk Nowitzki one-footed fadeaway. 

In addition to being a great scorer, Uthoff's length and quickness is also a problem on the defensive end. He ranks 30th nationally in block rate, per kenpom.com, and he's one of the best in the country at blocking jump shots. 

3. Ben Simmons, LSU

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Previous rank: 4

2015-16 stats: 19.4 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.9 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 56.7 FG%, 69.7 FT%

Since the tournament field expanded to 64 in 1985, Navy's David Robinson is the only player to ever win National Player of the Year on a team that was seeded below the six line—the Midshipmen were a No. 8 seed in 1987. 

LSU's nonconference performance has been working against Simmons all season, but it's getting harder to point to a lack of team success as a reason to rule him out now that LSU sits atop the SEC standings at 8-2. 

If the season were to end today, the Tigers would still likely be a double-digit seed, but they are trending upward. 

As for Simmons, he just keeps filling the stat sheet. Averaging a double-double with five assists on top of that is unreal. Simmons just happens to be playing college basketball in the same year that Hield is putting up historic numbers on one of the nation's best teams. 

2. Denzel Valentine, Michigan State

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Previous rank: 7

2015-16 stats: 18.6 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 6.7 APG, 46.9 FG%, 44.0 3P%, 83.3 FT%

The Spartans are back to crushing it, and Denzel Valentine has returned to controlling games like he was before his knee injury put him on the shelf for four games. 

During Michigan State's current winning streak, Valentine is averaging 19.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists and knocking down 53.3 percent of his threes. 

Sparty looks like a national title contender again, and if Valentine had never been injured and Michigan State didn't go into a funk when he got back, the POY race might actually be a race. 

At this point, Hield is going to have to slip up for Valentine to get back in. If he somehow maintains his recent four-game pace and the Spartans stay this hot, though, that's enough to at least demand consideration. 

1. Buddy Hield, Oklahoma

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Previous rank: 1

2015-16 stats: 25.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.4 SPG, 51.8 FG%, 50.0 3P%, 90.2 FT%

Hield has been off the last two games, shooting 6-of-18 from beyond the arc, but he's still averaging 25.0 points per game during his "off" nights. 

Even after his mini-slump, Hield is still putting up a remarkable 50-50-90 shooting line. Two weeks ago, I wrote about how rare that is, and it's unprecedented for someone who shoots as often as Hield.

Big 12 defenses are getting smarter defending Hield. Both Kansas State and Texas did a good job of staying tight to him in transition, which is where he gets a lot of his clean looks from deep. But even when you run Hield off the three-point line, he's improved his handle and slashing game, so he can still burn you.

Next up for Hield is a rematch against Kansas. He put up 46 points in the game of the year at Allen Fieldhouse. KU's perimeter defense has been in a funk since that game. Sounds like a perfect scenario for Hield to heat back up. 

C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @CJMooreBR.