College Basketball Rankings 2015-16: Bleacher Report's Week 17 Top 25
The Kansas Jayhawks earned at least a share of their 12th consecutive Big 12 title this week, thus remaining the No. 1 team in the Bleacher Report Top 25 for a third straight week.
There's sadly only one week left in the 2015-16 regular season, but even after three-and-a-half months of nonstop evaluations of the nation's (supposedly) best teams, our opinion on a lot of squads is still in flux.
Iowa, for instance, was No. 10 in our rankings last week, but we booted the Hawkeyes completely out of our poll this week because of their current three-game losing streak. Meanwhile, Utah wasn't even in our consensus Top 25 seven days ago, but the Utes jumped all the way to No. 11 after a pair of serious statements against the Arizona schools.
Who will use these final seven days of the regular season to move the needle in a big way? And will they do so in a positive or negative direction?
If you thought it was a crazy November-February, make sure to fasten those safety belts for a wild March.
Teams Dropped from Week 16 Rankings: Iowa (10), Notre Dame (23), Texas Tech (25)
Others Considered: Wichita State, Saint Joseph's, Saint Mary's
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: Wisconsin-Maryland
1 of 17
25. (tie) Wisconsin
Record: 19-10
Previous rank: Not Ranked
After wins over Iowa and Michigan this week, the Badgers have now won 10 of their last 11 games. The only loss during that stretch was a road game against a team that should probably be the favorite to win the national championship (Michigan State). If you're picking anyone other than Greg Gard for Big Ten Coach of the Year, you're trying too hard.
25. (tie) Iowa State
Record: 20-9
Previous rank: 22
It has been four weeks since the Cyclones had a two-game winning or losing streak. They are 4-5 in their last nine games, and three of those wins came against the three Big 12 teams unlikely to make the NCAA tournament (Oklahoma State, Kansas State and TCU). Their short rotation looks downright exhausted.
24. SMU
Record: 24-4
Previous rank: 24
The Mustangs may not be eligible for postseason play, but they're still tied for first place in the AAC standings with games remaining against Connecticut and Cincinnati. Should they win the regular-season conference championship, it probably means one of those two teams is missing the tournament.
22. (tie) Seton Hall
Record: 21-7
Previous rank: Not Ranked
For the first time in about six years, head coach Kevin Willard might be able to comfortably sleep through the night. After wins over Providence and Xavier this week, Seton Hall is a stone-cold lock to make its first NCAA tournament in more than a decade. And with the way the Pirates defend and crash the offensive glass, they should at least make it out of the first round in one piece.
22. (tie) Texas
Record: 19-10
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Facing one of the most potent offenses in the country, Texas leveraged a 22-0 run in Saturday's 13-point win over Oklahoma. Who thought the Longhorns would be fighting for second place in the Big 12 in head coach Shaka Smart's first season?
21. Maryland
Record: 23-6
Previous rank: 14
The Terrapins have lost three of their last four games, and they were lucky to escape with that one win at home against Michigan. Melo Trimble shot 4-of-12 from the field in Saturday's loss to Purdue, and that felt like a promising sign that he might be coming out of his slump—in case you needed some indication of how far this team has fallen.
Nos. 19-16: Baylor-Purdue
2 of 17
19. (tie) Baylor
Record: 21-8
Previous rank: 17
Despite 20 offensive rebounds, Baylor was able to score just 60 points in a home loss to Kansas before taking care of business against TCU. It was a big missed opportunity in advance of a difficult final week of the regular season (at Oklahoma, vs. West Virginia). The Bears will make the NCAA tournament, but their projected seed has been slowly trending downward over the past five weeks.
19. (tie) Duke
Record: 21-8
Previous rank: 16
The Blue Devils have been hurting for depth without Amile Jefferson, but they really missed his impact in the post on Sunday. Pittsburgh out-rebounded Duke 39-20 in a 76-62 loss that was much uglier than the final score indicates. But hey, at least Grayson Allen didn't trip anyone in this game. That's progress, right?
18. Arizona
Record: 22-7
Previous rank: 8
Proving once again that it's difficult to play on the road in the Pac-12 this year, Arizona was swept at Colorado and Utah. The Wildcats were mighty close in both games, but losing twice in the final week of February is never a great look.
17. California
Record: 21-8
Previous rank: 20
California entered November as seemingly everyone's "sexy sleeper" to reach the Final Four, and after going 7-0 in February, there's a good chance the Golden Bears will enter March brandishing the same distinction. They have played much better since getting Tyrone Wallace back in the lineup, especially Jabari Bird, who is getting more wide-open looks from the perimeter thanks to the penetrating guard.
16. Purdue
Record: 22-7
Previous rank: 21
Save for a three-game winning streak in mid-January against Penn State, Rutgers and Ohio State—which, let's be honest, doesn't say much—Purdue hasn't looked particularly good or bad for more than one game at a time in nearly three months. But after Saturday's marquee win over Maryland, the Boilermakers get a chance to close out the regular season strong with likely wins over Nebraska and Wisconsin.
15. Louisville Cardinals
3 of 17
Record: 22-7
Previous rank: 9
Results since last poll: at Pittsburgh (W 67-60); at Miami (L 73-65)
Games before next poll: vs. Georgia Tech; at Virginia
Louisville had the misfortune of running into a Hurricane on Saturday.
The Cardinals played quite well, shooting 46.4 percent from the field and committing just six turnovers. However, Miami shot 72.7 percent from three-point range and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line while committing just seven turnovers and 11 fouls.
Despite that ridiculously efficient output from the Hurricanes, Louisville could have won the game if it had gotten a better night from its star. Damion Lee had just six points on 12 field-goal attempts, as he and fellow grad transfer Trey Lewis struggled this week. (Lewis was held scoreless in the win over Pittsburgh.)
For the postseason-ineligible Cardinals, the good news is the young guns have been playing well. Quentin Snider had 14 points in each game this week, Deng Adel now has 33 points and 14 rebounds in his last three games and Chinanu Onuaku is rapidly emerging as the most well-rounded big man in the country, averaging 10.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.0 blocks over his last four games.
We'll see how good of a job incoming freshman V.J. King does of replacing Lee, but it's already apparent that Louisville will be tough to beat next season.
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14. Texas A&M Aggies
4 of 17
Record: 22-7
Previous rank: 19
Results since last poll: vs. Mississippi State (W 68-66); at Missouri (W 84-69)
Games before next poll: at Auburn; vs. Vanderbilt
It's always a good idea for a team to not suffer any losses, but that was especially true this week for Texas A&M.
As far as two-game weeks in major conference play go, the Aggies came about as close to a bye week as it gets with a pair of games against Mississippi State and Missouri—though they didn't make the home game against the Bulldogs look easy.
Danuel House appears to finally be snapping out of what has been a season-long cold spell, shooting 6-of-14 from beyond the arc while scoring 30 points this week. The Aggies also got a pair of quality games from freshmen Tyler Davis and D.J. Hogg.
Building on last week's wins over Ole Miss and Kentucky, Texas A&M closed the month of February on a four-game winning streak after opening the month with a four-game losing streak. It has been a nice turnaround, to say the least.
But the real reason the Aggies jumped five spots was the carnage in front of them. Teams we previously had ranked Nos. 8-17 suffered a combined nine losses, including two each by Arizona and Iowa. As a result, by the time we got to around No. 12 or No. 13 on our ballots, simply beating a pair of SEC bottom-feeders was enough for a vote.
13. Kentucky Wildcats
5 of 17
Record: 21-8
Previous rank: 11
Results since last poll: vs. Alabama (W 78-53); at Vanderbilt (L 74-62)
Games before next poll: at Florida; vs. LSU
It might not quite be enough to steal the Freshman of the Year trophy away from LSU's Ben Simmons, but Kentucky's Jamal Murray was absolutely the Freshman of the Month in February—if not the National Player of the Month.
The Canadian import averaged 26.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in eight February games while shooting 53.1 percent from three-point range. He scored at least 21 points in every game, including Saturday's 33-point effort against Vanderbilt.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats lost that game and two others during the shortest month of the year.
They just weren't the same without Derek Willis—who missed both games this past week with an injured ankle. It wasn't a problem against Alabama, as Tyler Ulis, Alex Poythress and Isaac Humphries all played well, but the Commodores held Poythress and Humphries scoreless while frustrating Ulis into his worst game of the season.
We can't judge Kentucky too harshly for the loss, though. Vanderbilt is always a tough place to play, especially when the Commodores are a bubble team desperate for a win and especially when you're playing without arguably your third-most important guy.
If the Wildcats continue to struggle this week, however, it'll be time to put more stock into the sheer number of losses that Kentucky has suffered against less than stellar competition this season.
12. West Virginia Mountaineers
6 of 17
Record: 22-7
Previous rank: 18
Results since last poll: vs. Iowa State (W 97-87); at Oklahoma State (W 70-56)
Games before next poll: vs. Texas Tech; at Baylor
In both of West Virginia's games this week, Jaysean Paige led all players in scoring, totaling 51 points against the Cyclones (34) and Cowboys (17).
This was hardly a new development, as Paige has averaged an absurd 26.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.6 steals per 40 minutes this season. But because he comes off the bench and only averages 22.0 minutes per game, he doesn't get the type of attention he deserves.
Plain and simple, the man is a scoring machine.
In Big 12 play, Paige is averaging 16.5 points and 5.7 free-throw attempts per game—again, while coming off the bench and playing fewer than two-thirds of possible minutes. He's doing even more than what we expected Juwan Staten to do for this team last year.
Devin Williams and Jonathan Holton get most of the attention for the incredible job they do in the paint and on the offensive glass, but Paige is the biggest reason the Mountaineers are a threat to press their way into the Final Four.
11. Utah Utes
7 of 17
Record: 23-7
Previous rank: Not Ranked
Results since last poll: vs. Arizona State (W 81-46); vs. Arizona (W 70-64)
Games before next poll: vs. Colorado
Utah had its fair share of stinkers in the first two months of the season—most notably the 24-point loss to Miami and 17-point loss to Wichita State—but has any team in the country been better since mid-January?
After sweeping the Arizona schools this week, the Utes have won six in a row and 11 of their last 13. And one of those two losses (at Oregon State) only happened because of a foul at midcourt with 0.1 seconds remaining on the clock.
Jakob Poeltl didn't do much this week, but he is quietly averaging 17.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 67.8 percent from the free-throw line (compared to 44.4 percent a year ago). There have been quite a few cases in recent years of outstanding freshmen returning for one more season and hurting their draft stock, but that has not been the case for Poeltl.
The bigger cause of Utah's turnaround is the re-emergence of senior combo guard Brandon Taylor.
He entered the season shooting 42.0 percent from three-point range in his career, but he couldn't buy a bucket through his first 18 games this season, shooting just 25.8 percent (24-of-93) from beyond the arc. He has flipped the switch, though, shooting 46.3 percent over his last 12 games and 55.9 percent during the current six-game winning streak.
With Taylor and Jordan Loveridge playing well on the perimeter and Poeltl and Kyle Kuzma dominating in the paint, Utah has the necessary pieces for another Sweet 16 appearance.
10. Oregon Ducks
8 of 17
Record: 23-6
Previous rank: 15
Results since last poll: vs. Washington State (W 76-62); vs. Washington (W 86-73)
Games before next poll: at UCLA; at USC
Ranking metrics grounded in margin of victory like KenPom, BPI and Sagarin don't much care for the Ducks, because they don't blow out many opponents. But they aren't squeaking by everyone, either, as only three of their 23 wins have come by a margin of five points or fewer.
This is a solid team that consistently looks good without making its opponents look too bad.
We saw more of that this week as Elgin Cook and Co. won home games against Washington and Washington State by 13 and 14 points, respectively. Cook had 26 against the Huskies and 24 against the Cougars. Dillon Brooks and Chris Boucher also scored in double figures in both games.
The Ducks typically only go seven players deep, but this quietly might be the best seven-man rotation in the country. They have two outstanding shot-blockers, several ball-hawking defenders and a go-to guy at just about every spot in the frontcourt.
As long as the opposing team isn't red-hot from three-point range—in Oregon's last three losses, the opponents shot a combined 26-of-43 (60.5 percent) from downtown—this is one of the more unbeatable teams out there this season.
9. Indiana Hoosiers
9 of 17
Record: 23-6
Previous rank: 12
Results since last poll: at Illinois (W 74-47)
Games before next poll: at Iowa; vs. Maryland
It's a shame Indiana can't play Illinois every day. In two games against the Fighting Illini this season, the Hoosiers have made 32 three-pointers and have a combined margin of victory of 61 points.
Of course, they're capable of shooting like that against just about anyone.
They have made at least 10 three-pointers in 16 of their 29 games and shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc 18 times. Turnover woes are the only reason the Hoosiers don't have the most efficient offense in the country, but they still rank seventh in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom, despite coughing the ball up once every five possessions.
It's on the defensive end, though, where Indiana continues to play drastically better than last season. The Hoosiers aren't a defensive juggernaut, but they're 67th in adjusted defensive efficiency after ranking 214th in that category in 2014-15. And they gave Illinois a healthy dose of that defense Thursday, outscoring the Illini 47-19 in the second half.
Yogi Ferrell is an outstanding player. Robert Johnson and Nick Zeisloft can shoot it as well as anyone in the country. But the new defensive contributions from Thomas Bryant, OG Anunoby and Max Bielfeldt are why Indiana is in a position to win the Big Ten title and make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
8. Xavier Musketeers
10 of 17
Record: 25-4
Previous rank: 6
Results since last poll: vs. Villanova (W 90-83); at Seton Hall (L 90-81)
Games before next poll: vs. Creighton
We were singing Xavier's praises after Wednesday night's win over Villanova, but we're right back to worrying about this team's ability to play defense after Sunday afternoon's loss to Seton Hall.
The Musketeers do play at a faster tempo than most teams, but they have now given up at least 82 points in four of their last eight games.
The crazy part of the 90 points allowed to Seton Hall is that Xavier had 15 steals in that game, and the Pirates only made five three-pointers. Similar to the mid-January home loss to Georgetown, though, the Musketeers were outworked on the glass and on the free-throw line.
Normally one of the best rebounding teams in the country—they entered the game ranked in the top 30 nationally in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage and had an average rebounding margin of plus-eight per game—the Musketeers were minus-five on the glass against the Pirates.
Evidently, Seton Hall is Jalen Reynolds' kryptonite, as Xavier's frontcourt stud had just seven points and three rebounds Sunday after a disappointing six points and five rebounds in the first battle between the Big East rivals. Because of his inability to show up, the Musketeers can just about kiss goodbye any hope of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
7. North Carolina Tar Heels
11 of 17
Record: 23-6
Previous rank: 6
Results since last poll: at NC State (W 80-68); at Virginia (L 79-74)
Games before next poll: vs. Syracuse; at Duke
The Tar Heels were impressive in defeat against Virginia on Saturday night.
This team thrives on pushing the tempo, scoring in the paint and crashing the offensive glass, but the Cavaliers kept them from accomplishing any of those goals. It was one of the slowest-paced games the Tar Heels have played this season, and they had just two fast-break points and 10 second-chance points.
Brice Johnson had one of his least effective games of the year, finishing with just 12 points, seven rebounds and five turnovers. It had all the ingredients of a blowout loss, yet North Carolina managed to keep it close until the end.
Atypically great three-point shooting was a large part of that. Every time Virginia was about to put the game out of reach, either Joel Berry or Marcus Paige silenced the crowd with a long-range shot. The Tar Heels also defended well in the paint, though they had trouble closing out those possessions with defensive rebounds.
All told, the game couldn't have been much further outside their comfort zone, and they still had a chance to win on the road against a title contender. That's a sign of a team that's going to be dangerous in March.
6. Oklahoma Sooners
12 of 17
Record: 22-6
Previous rank: 5
Results since last poll: vs. Oklahoma State (W 71-49); at Texas (L 76-63)
Games before next poll: vs. Baylor; at TCU
Two weeks ago, we noted the Sooners had been having difficulty getting on the same page in the same game for most of the season. Buddy Hield has been consistently great, but it's often just one of his teammates who shows up with a strong second fiddle.
That trend continued this week.
Against the in-state rival Cowboys, Ryan Spangler was a monster, finishing the night with 26 points, 14 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Despite entering the game 0-of-12 from three-point range in the month of February, the big man sank four triples on a night where he could do no wrong. But three days later in the loss to Texas, he had just two points, five rebounds and four turnovers.
Jordan Woodard took the opposite approach, scoring just two points in a lackluster game against Oklahoma State before putting up 15 points with one turnover against Texas.
And while that duo was sharing the role of Robin to Hield's Batman, Isaiah Cousins snapped a streak of 10 consecutive games scoring in double figures with back-to-back poor performances.
This team has the talent to win it all, but we're starting to doubt whether the Sooners are consistent enough to pull it off. All was well when they entered the month of February shooting 46.8 percent from three-point range, but they have lost four of their last seven while making just 33.1 percent of those long-range shots.
5. Miami Hurricanes
13 of 17
Record: 23-5
Previous rank: 12
Results since last poll: vs. Virginia (W 64-61); vs. Louisville (W 73-65)
Games before next poll: at Notre Dame; at Virginia Tech
Can we talk about how crazy it is that no one is talking about Miami?
I can appreciate that there are much more compelling ACC storylines than the success of one of the most experienced rosters in the country. And last weekend's 25-point loss to North Carolina was just the latest instance of the Hurricanes suffering a bad loss right when the national media was ready to start paying them some mind.
But come on. After home wins over Virginia and Louisville this week, the Hurricanes are tied for first place in the ACC standings with North Carolina. The Tar Heels still have to travel to Duke next Saturday, so an outright ACC title for Miami is still on the table.
The 'Canes are on the short and shrinking list of legitimate threats to win the national championship thanks to perhaps the best backcourt in the country.
Sheldon McClellan has tapered off a bit over the past couple of weeks, but he's still one of the nation's most efficient players, averaging 1.65 points per field-goal attempt while rarely committing turnovers.
Davon Reed—who posted the highest O-Rating, per KenPom, in ACC play last season—is heating up, scoring 38 points this week while shooting 8-of-10 from three-point range. And though Angel Rodriguez's three-point shot hasn't always been there, he has the best assist rate and fourth-best steal rate in conference play.
Toss in Tonye Jekiri and Kamari Murphy in the frontcourt and Ja'Quan Newton off the bench—though not for the final three games of the regular season due to a suspension for a violation of team rules—and the Hurricanes have a litany of talent deserving of far more attention than they are receiving.
3. (tie) Virginia Cavaliers
14 of 17
Record: 22-6
Previous rank: 4
Results since last poll: at Miami (L 64-61); vs. North Carolina (W 79-74)
Games before next poll: at Clemson; vs. Louisville
Malcolm Brogdon doesn't always put up the per-game numbers of a Buddy Hield or Denzel Valentine, but he has been playing out of his mind for the past six weeks—including averaging 27 points per game this week.
He takes the most pride in what he's able to do on defense, but his offense has been incredible since mid-January. Over his last 11 games, Brogdon is shooting 50 percent (29-of-58) from three-point range and averaging 21.5 points per game—even though Virginia has only averaged 60.5 possessions per game during that stretch.
According to KenPom.com, he was the MVP in eight of those 11 games and is in the conversation for National Player of the Year.
"He gets my vote," teammate London Perrantes told Bleacher Report after Saturday's win over North Carolina. "He's been able to do this since I got here, but now that he's been the one guy on our team who's 'The Man,' I think he's just raising it to another level."
Whether he's ultimately a Wooden Award finalist or not, we wish the best of luck to the teams in the NCAA tournament that need to figure out how to both slow down and score on Brogdon.
3. (tie) Villanova Wildcats
15 of 17
Record: 25-4
Previous rank: 2
Results since last poll: at Xavier (L 90-83); at Marquette (W 89-79)
Games before next poll: vs. DePaul; vs. Georgetown
Kris Jenkins has quietly been on a tear for Villanova over the past nine games. Despite a dud against St. John's in which he scored just four points and missed all four of his three-point attempts, Jenkins has averaged 15.4 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from three-point range over the past four weeks.
The shooting guard trapped in a power forward's body has come a long way since nonconference play. Through Dec. 28, Jenkins was averaging 10.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting just 28.8 percent from three-point range.
In the loss to Xavier on Wednesday, he had 22 points in just 19 minutes before fouling out for the second time in his collegiate career. He was the only Wildcat to show up in the first half, but he was enough to keep them in that game for the first 25 minutes.
In non-Jenkins news, as long as Villanova doesn't get swept at home by DePaul and Georgetown this week, it will clinch a third consecutive outright Big East regular-season championship. That isn't as ridiculous as the runs that Kansas and Gonzaga have been on since the early 2000s, but it makes for a compelling argument that Villanova has been the best regular-season squad in the country over the past three years.
Will this finally be the year that carries over into the tournament? The Wildcats haven't even made it to the Sweet 16 since 2009.
2. Michigan State Spartans
16 of 17
Record: 24-5
Previous rank: 3
Results since last poll: at Ohio State (W 81-62); vs. Penn State (W 88-57)
Games before next poll: at Rutgers; vs. Ohio State
At this point, the only possible concern with the Spartans is they might be peaking too early, because they are playing better than anyone over the past five weeks.
Denzel Valentine had 36 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists this week, which absurdly amounts to a good bit of regression from what he had been doing for the prior month. His three-game streak of points-assists double-doubles came to an end, but he's still very much in the running for the Wooden Award.
Meanwhile, Bryn Forbes remained hotter than the sun, sinking 11 of 16 three-point attempts against Ohio State and Penn State to improve to 56.4 percent from downtown over his last nine games.
For as great as Valentine has been, there might not be a player in the country more important to his team's success than Forbes. In Michigan State's 24 wins, Forbes is averaging 16.5 points and shooting 55.3 percent from downtown. In Sparty's five losses, he averaged 5.4 points and shot 16.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Perhaps most important of all, though, was Matt Costello and Deyonta Davis combining for 25 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in Sunday's win over Penn State. It wasn't until the frontcourt started playing well that Michigan State really became a threat to reach the 2015 Final Four, and if those big men keep playing anywhere near this well, there is no formula for slowing down the Spartans.
1. Kansas Jayhawks
17 of 17
Record: 25-4
Previous rank: 1
Results since last poll: at Baylor (W 66-60); vs. Texas Tech (W 67-58)
Games before next poll: at Texas; vs. Iowa State
Everyone is clamoring over the historical streaks that Kansas is riding. The Jayhawks clinched at least a share of a 12th consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship Saturday, and let's just say there's a pretty good chance they're two weeks away from matching North Carolina's record of 27 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
But it doesn't take decades of evidence to see that Kansas is pretty doggone good. While highly ranked teams are dropping games left and right, the Jayhawks have won nine in a row, including difficult road games against Oklahoma and Baylor and tricky home games against Kentucky and West Virginia.
Of particular note is their two-point defense. Over the past seven games, Kansas has held its opponents to a combined two-point percentage of 36.7. Landen Lucas has put up solid numbers in February (8.1 PPG, 8.9 RPG), but the greatest testament to his impact in the starting lineup is that opponents are averaging just 62.5 points per game this month.
The craziest thing of all, though, is that Kansas has ascended to the top of the national pecking order despite getting next to nothing from its star. Wayne Selden is shooting 21.6 percent (8-of-37) from three-point range and averaging just 0.96 points per field-goal attempt in the month of February, yet the Jayhawks have won every single one of those games.
If he can rediscover his shooting stroke in March, Kansas could just about moonwalk to its fourth national championship.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
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