Rank | Team | Reason |
---|---|---|
1 | Kentucky | Undefeated Wildcats deserve to be number 1 easily. |
2 | Virginia | Far better strength of schedule than Gonzaga, the only other one-loss team. |
3 | Villanova | Only one more loss than Zags and far better strength of schedule. |
4 | Wisconsin | See Villanova, above. |
5 | Gonzaga | Even poor strength of schedule can't drop Gonzaga further than this. One loss this late in the year is an accomplishment. |
6 | Duke | 20-3 overall, 7-3 in the ACC, and coming off a big win against Notre Dame. |
7 | Arizona | Also 20-3 but hasn't played as tough a schedule as Duke. |
8 | Louisville | A four loss team, but the best four-loss team in the country. No bad losses. |
9 | Notre Dame | Pitt was a bad loss, but it was close so it's better than Kansas' loss to Temple. The close loss to Providence is bad, but not breaking. |
10 | Kansas | Also four losses, but that blowout loss to Temple earlier in the year still haunts them. |
11 | Utah | Slowly rising sleeper team out of the Pac-12. Worst loss was @UCLA and they beat Wichita State. |
12 | Northern Iowa | 22-2 is impressive, even with the mediocre strength of schedule. |
13 | Wichita State | Only slightly worse record than UNI, and two of three losses were to higher-ranked teams. |
14 | Iowa State | Several quality wins in a tough conference puts them ahead of the 'Terps. |
15 | Maryland | Recent struggles force the drop. |
16 | Baylor | Good team in a power conference. Only bad loss was @KSU. |
17 | Arkansas | Good team who could very well be 22-5 heading into key back-to-back matchups with TAMU and UK |
18 | West Virginia | 'Neers have struggled recently, but the Top 25 measures the whole season, not just recent performance. |
19 | North Carolina | 18-6, no horrible losses. Early-season wins against UCLA and Florida seem less impressive in hindsight. |
20 | Texas A&M | Aggies may be the most underrated team in the SEC. |
21 | LSU | LSU hosts Kentucky next week. They're definitely capable of pulling off the upset on their home court. |
22 | Ole Miss | The Rebels may be 16-7, but they beat Arkansas on the road and took Kentucky to the limit in Lexington. |
23 | Stephen F. Austin | Once again, the Lumberjacks have a great regular season record but a poor strength of schedule. They may surprise again in March. |
24 | SMU | Mustangs finally living up to expectations. College Gameday comes to campus next week for the UConn game |
25 | Wofford | Terriers are only 20-5, but three losses were on the road to Stanford, West Virginia, and Duke. Other two were by <5 points. Perfect @ home. |