By Josh Cochran and Joel Steiner
NCAA Power 16: January 18th
We’ve reached the mid-point of the college basketball season and just when you think you’ve figured things out, the game throws you a curve. Like Purdue losing three in a row following a 14-0 start. Or Tennessee reeling off four solid wins after the dismissal of their best player and the suspension of three contributors. Did anyone think North Carolina would get blasted at Clemson and then lose at home to Georgia Tech to fall out of our Power Rankings? Well, believe it. And believe that there will be more surprises in store during the second half of the season, just when you think you have things figured out again.
Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Texas (1) | 17-0 | The Longhorns are quickly learning that the #1 ranking comes along with a large bull’s-eye. They survived a quality test at Iowa State and an OT affair with Texas A&M. Damion James continues to make his case for national POY as he averaged 24.5 pts and 13 rebs for the week. However, someone needs to put out an APB for Dexter Pittman as he’s only averaging 4.7 pts and 3.7 rebs in three Big 12 games. They’ll need Dexter to perform well this week as the Horns face two tough road tests at Kansas State and UCONN. |
2. Kentucky (2) | 18-0 | We found out last week that it’s not easy to win conference games on the road. That’s why Coach Cal’s squad deserves credit for picking up two road wins this week at Florida and Auburn. Eric Bledsoe’s 25-7-5 performance at Florida put everyone on notice that Kentucky’s backcourt is more than just John Wall. |
3. Syracuse (3) | 17-1 | What’s not to like about this team? They’re solid at every position on the court. Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine and Mookie Jones are producing from the bench. They’re running Boeheim’s 2-3 zone to near perfection. And they have one of the best players in the country, Wes Johnson. The only thing we can nitpick is their poor 63.7% free throw shooting. |
4. Kansas (4) | 16-1 | The Jayhawks are 2nd in the nation in 3pt shooting at 42.9%. However, we still feel that Kansas is at their best when they get the ball to Cole Aldrich and Marcus Morris in the post. Their ability to draw fouls and get easy buckets opens up the offense for KU’s perimeter players. Tyshawn Taylor raised questions earlier in the week about some players being unsure of their roles. The sooner they figure out their role is to get the ball into the post, the sooner the Jayhawks return to the #1 spot. |
5. Villanova (6) | 16-1 | It may be time to start putting Scottie Reynolds in the National Player of the Year conversation. Along with consistently hitting big shots at the end of games, he is averaging 18.8 ppg while shooting 43% from behind the arc. This will be a tricky week for Nova with road games at St. Johns and Rutgers but they should both be wins. |
6. Duke (10) | 15-2 | Duke proved they could beat a good team on a night when Jon Scheyer struggled. The Plumlee brothers and Kyle Singler stepped up to lead the Blue Devils to a win over a solid Wake Forest squad. Duke could claim early ACC frontrunner status if they can get a win at Clemson this Saturday. |
7. Tennessee (7) | 14-2 | Bruce Pearl’s team continues to surprise and impress us. Wayne Chism was huge this week averaging 19 pts and 12 rebs in wins over Auburn and Ole Miss. The Volunteers get some much needed relief after a tough home stand as Melvin Goins and Cameron Tatum have been reinstated. They’ll be needed, as Tennessee hits the road to face Alabama and Georgia this coming week. |
| 8. Michigan State (9) | 15-3 | Sparty staked an early claim to the Big Ten race with home wins over Minnesota and Illinois this week. Izzo’s teams always seem to improve as the season progresses and that appears to be the case again this year. MSU has tightened its defense in conference play, only allowing 0.87 points per possession and a meager 37.0% from the field. However, there are two points of concern: 1) the Spartans are 10th in the Big Ten in turnovers per game and 2) the toughest portion of their conference schedule remains. |
9. Kansas State (11) | 15-2 | Solid week with a 23 point win over Texas A&M and a road win in the thin air of Colorado. Think Monday night will be big in Manhattan with Texas coming into town? Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly have been fantastic all year, as this team has been overlooked in the Big 12 with Kansas and Texas taking all of the headlines. A win here and the potential ceiling rises for this team. |
10. Pitt (15) | 15-2 | Why didn’t anybody see this coming from Pitt? What you must realize is last year Levance Fields, Sam Young and DeJuan Blair dominated the ball and minutes, thus Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker were not able to show their talents. We are believers after winning at Syracuse, at Cincinnati, at UCONN and home in the Oakland Zoo against Louisville. Lucky for us, we get to see them play another big game against Georgetown Wednesday. |
11. BYU (12) | 18-1 | Won by 34 against 11-6 Colorado State as Jimmer Fredette finally got back to scoring in double figures after missing two games and playing sparingly in two others due to mono. It will be tough to beat this team if they are up in the final minutes since BYU shoots 78.5% from the line, which best in the country. |
12. Georgetown (11) | 13-3 | Tough road loss on Sunday for Georgetown after battling back from a big early deficit before falling to Nova. Greg Monroe was a man against Nova with 29 points and 16 rebounds as he showed off his skill level scoring in a variety of ways. This week they will try to get back on track with a big road game at Pitt. |
13. Gonzaga (NR) | 14-3 | The Zags have won four straight road games including the WCC showdown against Saint Mary’s. Even though Omar Samhan of the Gaels had a big game with 31 points, Gonzaga freshman Elias Harris was able to match it with 31 points of his own. This week they have two WCC games at The Kennel, which means two more wins. |
14. West Virginia (14) | 13-3 | The Mountaineers showed a ton of heart fighting back against Syracuse at home but they came up one point short. This may be the only team in the country that will not play a conference game next week, but it will not be easy with games against Marshall and Ohio State. |
15. Ohio State (NR) | 13-5 | Ohio State may have five losses but three of them happened without Evan Turner, so you have to cut this team a little slack. It looks like Evan Turner is rounding into form after watching him dismantle Purdue with 23 2nd half points. The Buckeyes followed up the Purdue victory on the road with a home win against Wisconsin who is playing without their most versatile player Jon Leuer. Leuer is out indefinitely, which is why Wisconsin is in the next five. |
16. Purdue (5) | 14-3 | All of a sudden Purdue has lost three in a row and find themselves three games behind Sparty in the Big Ten race. When this team was successful JaJuan Johnson was getting the ball more in the post, but they are starting to fall in love with the three lately. When you shoot 31.9% from three that is not a good thing, so Coach Painter needs to get this team attacking the rim again. |
The Next Five: Northern Iowa, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Temple
Games to Watch:
Monday January 18th
Texas at Kansas State – This may be Texas’ toughest test to date as they face a top ten team on the road. Kansas State is the best offensive rebounding team in the country, which is why the Longhorns need Dexter Pittman to reemerge. Jacob Pullen has taken his game and Kansas State to the next level. If the Wildcats want the Big 12 regular season title this game would go a long way.
Tuesday January 19th
Clemson at Georgia Tech – Young teams like Georgia Tech seem to be up and down, so what will the young Jackets do coming off a big win in Chapel Hill? Tune in to watch Iman Shumpert because he was impressive Saturday and is starting to show is potential.
Northern Iowa at Wichita State – The Panthers are 16-1 and travel to what will be a hostile environment in Wichita. When a team wins 15 in a row like Northern Iowa you have to take notice.
Wednesday January 20th
Baylor at Kansas – Baylor probably has no chance in Lawrence, but watching Aldrich go up against Udoh will be fun.
West Virginia at Marshall – West Virginia is reeling and they have to travel to Charleston for a neutral court rivalry game against a good Marshall squad. Marshall needs this game to build its at-large résumé and West Virginia just needs to get back on track. The best part about this game is you get to see possible lottery pick Hassan Whiteside against quality competition.
Georgetown at Pitt – Whoever thought Pitt would be a hunted team at this point in the season must have also predicted Ashton Gibbs had star power. If Georgetown wants to win the Big East they will need to win a tough road game like this one.
Saturday January 23rd
Texas at UCONN – At some point UCONN is going to have to get a quality win or they are going to find themselves on the bubble. Can you get a better match-up of seniors than Stanley Robinson and Damion James? If you can, they will not be as athletic as these two players.
Duke at Clemson – If Clemson wants a shot at the ACC title they have to win this game at home. You have to like Clemson’s odds with this game at their place and Trevor Booker playing at a high level.
Ohio State at West Virginia – These two teams may have a lot of blemishes but this game has Evan Turner, William Buford, Da’Sean Butler, Kevin Jones and Devin Ebanks, which is a scout’s dream.
Sunday January 24th
Georgia Tech at Florida State – This game probably has little importance in the ACC race but the talent on the court with Favors, Lawal, Shumpert, Alabi, Singleton and Snaer will be great for assessment.
Follow Joel and Josh on Twitter at NBADRAFTNETJJ.
Questions or comments, email Joel and Josh at: [email protected] and [email protected]
