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

The calendar has turned to March in college basketball, which for teams across the country means we've reached crunch time for the 2015-16 season. In terms of who will go down as being the top freshman player in Division I, it just means we're closer to crowning a winner who seemed a lock months ago.

LSU's Ben Simmons continues to run away with our Freshman of the Year rankings, though unlike the news networks tirelessly covering the presidential primaries, we're not going to call it until all the votes—er, games—are counted. However, we have cut the list down from 10 to eight candidates. At this point in the season, there's not much chance of someone rising from outside the top eight to claim the top spot. And we're speaking of a normal year, not one with such a runaway leader as this.

The following rankings are based purely on how the players are performing this season and how they're impacting their college teams. What the future holds for them, whether that be the NBA draft or another year in school, has no bearing on this order.

The rankings are also weighted toward recent performance, which can be reflected by how players have moved up or down since our last rankings.

With that being said, follow along as we list the order of the nation's best freshmen as March begins.

8. Nick Emery, BYU Cougars

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Position: Guard

Height, weight: 6'2”, 185 lbs

2015-16 stats: 15.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.3 SPG, 42.9% FG, 37.6% 3-pt FG

A new edition to the rankings is a freshman by definition but not of the traditional sense in terms of age. Nick Emery graduated from high school in 2013 but spent the next two years serving an LDS mission in Germany.

Emery has proved worth the wait, ranking second on BYU in scoring and three-pointers made. He's drained 79 threes, including 10 in a February win at the San Francisco Dons when he poured in a career-high 37 points.

It hasn't been all good news for Emery this season, though. In December he was suspended one game after punching a player on the rival Utah Utes.

7. Allonzo Trier, Arizona Wildcats

Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images

Position: Guard

Height, weight: 6'6”, 190 lbs

2015-16 stats: 15.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, 48.8% FG, 34.9% 3-pt FG, 79.5% FT

Allonzo Trier took a few games to get back up to speed after missing time with a broken finger, but as Arizona moves toward the postseason, it's again putting its offense in the hands of a dynamic freshman guard. While not as physically imposing as Stanley Johnson from the year before, Trier is still the Wildcats' best option on a very experienced team.

In two of his last three games, he has gone for 20 or more points, including 23 in Saturday's loss at Utah when he was 8-of-17 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range. His final shot from beyond the arc was too strong at the buzzer, resulting in a second consecutive setback to knock the two-time Pac-12 regular-season champs down in the standings.

Trier has seven 20-point games, four in conference play, despite missing seven games because of injury.

6. Thomas Bryant, Indiana Hoosiers

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Position: Center

Height, weight: 6'10”, 245 lbs

2015-16 stats: 11.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 0.9 BPG, 70.1% FG

Thomas Bryant's overall offensive numbers aren't going to ever stand out on an Indiana team with so many shooters and slashers. But the Hoosiers' second Big Ten regular-season title in four years wouldn't have happened without him down low to draw attention as well as collect their misses.

Bryant had 12 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's win at the Iowa Hawkeyes to clinch the league crown, making five of six shots while pulling down three offensive boards. It was only Bryant's second double-double but 12th time with at least three offensive rebounds, giving him 65 overall.

Now shooting 71.7 percent on two-pointers, Bryant is fifth in the country in that statistic.

5. Henry Ellenson, Marquette Golden Eagles

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Position: Forward

Height, weight: 6'11”, 245 lbs

2015-16 stats: 16.4 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.5 BPG, 43.7% FG

Marquette has fallen off the bubble despite a 19-11 record, including Tuesday's one-point home win over the Georgetown Hoyas, but the Golden Eagles will be a tough out in the Big East tournament and could make a run if Henry Ellenson can concentrate on what he does best.

And that would be scoring inside and cleaning up the boards. Against Georgetown he logged his 16th double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, making five of eight two-pointers to up his just-under 49 percent inside the arc. His trouble comes when he tries to show off his range, which at 28.1 percent isn't very good.

Six of Marquette's losses have come when Ellenson doesn't attempt at least 10 two-point shots.

4. Jaylen Brown, California Golden Bears

Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images

Position: Forward

Height, weight: 6'7”, 225 lbs

2015-16 stats: 15.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.0 APG, 46.4% FG, 31.1% 3-pt FG

California is finally starting to live up to its preseason hype, having won seven straight, including its first two road victories in the Pac-12. And not surprisingly, this surge has come as Jaylen Brown has established himself as the Golden Bears' best offensive weapon.

Brown scored at least 15 points in six of Cal's last seven games, averaging 16.0 points and 6.3 rebounds during the win streak. He's shot at least 50 percent in four straight games, and though turnovers remain an issue—his 17.1 percent turnover rate is second-worst among the Bears' rotation players—the giveaways aren't coming in critical situations.

With Brown garnering so much attention on the offensive end, it's helping Tyrone Wallace come back from a hand injury without having to be the go-to player.

3. Brandon Ingram, Duke Blue Devils

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Position: Forward

Height, weight: 6'9”, 190 lbs

2015-16 stats: 16.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.4 BPG, 45.0% FG, 40.6% 3-pt FG

Brandon Ingram is starting to show signs of wear like many freshmen do at this point of the season, but more because of the added work he's had to take on over the year as a wing playing the post. That comes with a lot of extra energy that needs to be expended on defense, and as a result his offensive numbers have ticked down of late.

He had 15 points and 11 rebounds in Duke's 79-71 home win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Tuesday, but that came on 6-of-17 shooting. It was his fifth straight game shooting worse than 40 percent, during which he's averaged 15.2 points and 8.4 rebounds.

Ingram had an eight-point, 10-turnover game in a loss at Louisville, then eight days later had 17 points but only three rebounds in a loss at the Pittsburgh Panthers.

2. Jamal Murray, Kentucky Wildcats

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Position: Guard

Height, weight: 6'4”, 207 lbs

2015-16 stats: 19.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.0 SPG, 45.0% FG, 41.9% 3-pt FG, 77.4% FT

Jamal Murray began Tuesday's game at the Florida Gators by making just one of his first six shots. He made his last four, scoring 18 of his 21 points in the 88-79 win in the second half.

That was Murray's ninth consecutive game with at least 20 points and 15th in 30 games, all but guaranteeing he'll finish with the highest season scoring average by a Kentucky player under John Calipari.

"Jamal Murray reminds me a lot of JJ Redick," CBS Sports' Seth Davis tweeted. "Am I allowed to say that?"

Sure, Seth, but the difference is that Redick didn't play like this as a freshman. He also wasn't as good of a rebounder as Murray has become, with eight on Tuesday to give him at least five boards in 11 of Kentucky's last 13 games.

1. Ben Simmons, LSU Tigers

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Position: Forward

Height, weight: 6'10”, 240 lbs

2015-16 stats: 19.7 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 5.1 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.9 BPG, 56.6% FG, 68.5% FT

Ben Simmons and LSU are going to end up being studied by future generations, possibly even civilizations from other galaxies, to figure out how a player as skilled as he could be part of such a disappointing season from a team standpoint. The discussion on what has gone wrong with the Tigers is for another time, though, as we're only interested in what Simmons has done in 2015-16.

And frankly, it's quite a bit.

Simmons has slipped behind Kentucky's Jamal Murray in scoring, but putting the ball in the basket might be the thing the Australian native does the worst. He's not a jump shooter, which makes opponents try to force him into taking those, but instead he ends up dishing to an open man for a better look.

On Tuesday that resulted in him getting credited for seven assists, his ninth game with at least seven dimes, while also going for 22 points (on 6-of-8 shooting and 10-of-11 at the line) and 14 rebounds. Simmons has 21 double-doubles, tied for fourth most in the country and four more than any other freshman.

Yet barring a major run through the SEC tournament, and probably only if LSU wins that tourney, Simmons' college career isn't going to include the NCAA tournament.

Statistics provided by Sports-Reference.com.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.