College Basketball

College Basketball Power 10: Florida State Best Team In ACC?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:51 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Jeremy Karll/FanSided via Hoops Habit

andatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a lot of change in this week’s Power 10 after three top 10 teams lost last week.

The college basketball season had a lot of upsets, and last week was no different. Three top 10 teams in UCLA, Creighton and West Virginia all lost and fell in the polls.

As a result, there are only three one-loss teams left in the nation and Gonzaga remains the last undefeated team. Three of those four teams also received votes to be ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press this week too.

The divide between the upper echelon of teams and simply good teams is becoming clearer every week, but it’s still near impossible to figure out who will make the Final Four with over a month left in the season.

Key players have also been lost for the season on Tournament-caliber teams recently. Indiana will be without OG Anunoby and Creighton lost the nation’s leader in assists in Maurice Watson Jr.

It’s hard to imagine the Hoosiers getting their season back on track without Anunoby, while Marquette embarrassed Creighton with a 102-94 upset win in the Bluejays’ first game without Watson.

Here’s a look at the top 10 teams in college basketball this week.

Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

10. Oregon Ducks (18-2)

Oregon won their school record 15th and 16th straight game of the season last week with wins over California and Stanford. The Ducks beat California by 23 and Stanford by 17, but they did not come without a scare.

Dillion Brooks left in the first half of Oregon’s 86-63 win over California with a left foot injury and many feared it would cause him to miss the rest of the season. Brooks had surgery on his left foot this past offseason. However, Oregon found out later that it’s only a sprain.

There is no timetable for his return, but the Ducks are just glad that he’ll return at some point this season. He missed the first three games of the season, but Oregon is 15-1 this season when he plays.

Oregon is better suited to be without their leading scorer now though. The Ducks are playing their best basketball of the season, as they lead the Pac-12 in points allowed per game and second in points per game. Plus, they have four players outside of Brooks who also average double-digit points.

The Final Four-caliber Oregon Ducks team everyone envisioned heading into the season is starting to come to form.

Oregon travels to Utah and Colorado this week.

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

9. UCLA Bruins (19-2)

UCLA is one of the surest bets in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this year because of their explosive offense. Their second in the nation in points per game, first in the Pac-12, and their season average of 43.4 percent three-point shooting has gone up to 44.4 percent in conference play.

Still, their defense makes it hard to trust UCLA against great teams. The Bruins beat top-ranked Kentucky earlier in the year, but after losses to Oregon and Arizona in Pac-12 play, UCLA is just 1-2 against ranked teams.

Arizona shot 50 percent against UCLA last week and held the Bruins to 45.1 percent shooting from the field. Although, the difference in the game came from three where UCLA only shot 32.3 percent. Despite their poor outside shooting, UCLA still attempted 31 threes, which led to them becoming stagnant on offense.

On a team with six players averaging double-digit points and a potential Player of the Year winner in Lonzo Ball, the 277th ranked scoring defense is still the difference in close games for the Bruins. Trying to simply outscore their opponent evidently did not work in their 96-85 loss to Arizona, and it’s unlikely to work against good teams who play both ends the rest of the season.

UCLA owns just a half-game lead over Utah for third in the Pac-12. The Bruins will try to get their schedule back on track at USC this week.

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

8. Arizona Wildcats (18-2)

Arizona has been patiently waiting outside of the top 10 for Allonzo Trier to return from his PED suspension. With losses to Butler and Gonzaga but no wins over a currently ranked team, many overlooked the Wildcats until Saturday when they handily took down UCLA.

In front of angry fans chanting “Steroids! Steroids! Steroids!” at him every time he touched the ball, Trier still managed to record 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes. In his first game back, he showed why Arizona missed him so much, but the nation also saw the abundance of talent Arizona has.

Led by Lauri Markkanen, who had 18 points and seven rebounds against UCLA, and Kobi Simmons, who had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists against UCLA, Arizona has one of the most talented rosters in the nation. They had just been missing one of the best players in the nation in Trier.

Despite that, Arizona still is a top 20 scoring defense and second in the Pac-12, while also being fourth in the conference in points per game. The Wildcats have struggled scoring at times this year, however, they showed their unique inside-and-out game against UCLA, as they scored a season-high 96 points.

Trier will only get better and so will their chemistry. Arizona is getting a full roster at the right time. Watch out for them in the Pac-12 and nationally.

Arizona hosts Washington State and Washington this week.

Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

7. Florida State Seminoles (18-2)

Florida State’s past couple of weeks have been terrible. They faced six straight ranked teams and somehow survived and finished 5-1 in that span. Their lone loss came on the road against North Carolina, 96-83, but Florida State responded this week with huge wins over Notre Dame and Louisville.

Any doubts about Florida State’s legitimacy as a top 10 team in the nation are gone. The Seminoles have only two ranked teams left in Notre Dame and Duke, both of which they already beat this season, and are tied for the ACC lead at 6-1. Florida State is the clear frontrunner for their first regular season ACC Championship since 1988-89.

Florida State’s most impressive victory of the season thus far is arguably their win over Louisville last week. After starting the game on a 14-0 run, the Seminoles allowed Louisville to get back into the game, but held the Cardinals without a point in the last 2:06 to seal the game.

Florida State’s play throughout the entire game — as they never let Louisville lead — highlights the balance they have.

The Seminoles will have a much easier week with away games at Georgia Tech and Syracuse this week.

Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

6. North Carolina Tar Heels (18-3)

North Carolina is now on a six-game winning streak since their surprising loss to Georgia Tech to start ACC play. The Tar Heels had another scare on the road last week at Boston College, but they survived and are still tied atop the ACC standings.

Their frontcourt of Justin Jackson, Isaiah Hicks and Kennedy Meeks combined for 56 of their 90 points, but it highlights the way Jackson has played recently.

Jackson now has five straight games of at least 19 points. In fact, in conference play, Jackson is averaging 19.6 points per game, which is 1.4 more points per game than his season average.

Joel Berry II isn’t putting up godly numbers every game now, therefore the Tar Heels have had to look to their frontcourt to pick up the slack. It has worked well, too, as North Carolina leads the ACC in scoring, rebounding and assists.

That being said, the Tar Heels have to tighten up their defense. They’ve allowed four of seven ACC opponents to score 80+ points against them this season, and that doesn’t include their loss to Georgia Tech.

North Carolina hosts Virginia Tech in a potential upset game and then travels to Miami later in the week.

Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

5. Baylor Bears (18-1)

Baylor hasn’t been blowing teams out of the water since losing their first game of the season. Last week, they won handily by 10 over Texas, in which Johnathan Motley put up a ridiculous 32 point, but had a close encounter on the road at TCU.

The Horned Frogs trailed 54-50 with 1:31 left before Baylor ended the game on an 8-3 run to win by nine. Baylor had just enough offensive firepower but won on their stellar defensive play down the stretch.

Despite Motley and Manu Lecomte having good offensive seasons this year, Baylor is still just seventh in the Big 12 in scoring and fifth in field goal percentage. Their ability to hold good offenses in check has been enough to counter their poor offense in all but one game this season, but it puts a cap on their potential this season.

It’s unlikely Baylor continues this unprecedented success by averaging 75.7 points per game, 132nd in the nation. The Bears haven’t topped 80 points since scoring 89 against Texas Southern in late December. Eventually the Bears will have to score, and it’s unknown how they’ll handle that task against a good team.

Baylor has a challenge at home against Texas Tech before traveling to Ole Miss.

Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

4. Kentucky Wildcats (17-2)

Kentucky improved to a perfect 7-0 in the SEC last week. The Wildcats nearly blew a 12-point lead to Mississippi State but recovered and won 88-81. Then later in the week, Kentucky, who lost De’Aaron Fox in the first half to a sprained ankle, took down ranked South Carolina 85-69.

Malik Monk and Edrice Adebayo combined for 45 points in the win, as Kentucky showed how much better they are to the rest of the SEC. Even though South Carolina was 24th in the AP Poll, Kentucky’s win is more of a statement about how bad the SEC is than how good Kentucky is.

Besides, Kentucky had to go down to the wire with 12-6 Mississippi State and 9-10 Vanderbilt in the past couple of weeks. That said, the only thing John Calipari should fear about conference play this year is that his team plays down to competition because that’s the only way they won’t run the table.

Kentucky travels to Tennessee to take on the Volunteers this week before hosting the Kansas Jayhawks in the most anticipated matchup of the week.

For a young team that hasn’t had a tough schedule over the past month, the nation will be waiting to see how they respond against arguably the best team in the nation. This weekend is a chance for Kentucky to make the nation believers or show that they’re a product of a weak conference.

Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

3. Gonzaga Bulldogs (20-0)

Gonzaga remained the only undefeated team in the nation. The Bulldogs are now 20-0 with two 19+ point wins over Portland in one week. It marks the fifth straight win of at least 19 points for Gonzaga.

With no real challenge ahead until mid-February when they travel to St. Mary’s, the Bulldogs slowly climb up the polls every week and earn more first place votes. Plus, with UCLA losing to Arizona on Saturday, it opens up the No. 1 seed in the West Region for Gonzaga.

Gonzaga isn’t 20-0 just because they play teams like San Francisco and Portland. They’re top 20 in the nation in points per game and points allowed per game, as well as top five in offensive and defensive efficiency.

Led by Nigel Williams-Goss, who made the Wooden Award watch list, Gonzaga likely won’t be less than a 10-point favorite the rest of the regular season and through the WCC conference tournament.

Their efficient scoring (fifth in the nation in field-goal percentage) and stifling defense (holding teams to 37.5 percent shooting) should conclude with Gonzaga entering the NCAA Tournament undefeated.

Gonzaga hosts San Diego and travels to Pepperdine this week.

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

2. Villanova Wildcats (19-1)

Helped by inconsistent play from Butler over recent weeks, Villanova is head and shoulders the best team in the Big East this year. Their loss to Butler looks like a silly blemish after Villanova rattled off five straight double-digit wins.

Last week, Villanova defeated Providence by 10 in a game Player of the Year frontrunner Josh Hart finally got back on track. After scoring 11 points in each of the previous two games, Hart went off for 25 points, six rebounds and four assists on 10-of-16 shooting.

Considering Villanova played St. John’s and Seton Hall in those games, Hart’s poor performances didn’t cause a major upset. That said, there’s no question that Villanova needs Hart to play his best against ranked teams.

After starting their week on the road against Marquette, which could be a trap game for Villanova, the Wildcats host one of the best defensive teams in the nation in Virginia.

Their efficient offense will be tested against the top scoring defense in the nation. This inter-conference game is the type of game that could solidify Villanova as the top team in the nation, especially if Kentucky beats Kansas.

Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

1. Kansas Jayhawks (18-1)

Kansas looks near unbeatable on their current 18-game winning streak. The Jayhawks took down Texas, 79-67, in a game they controlled the whole way and once again asserted their dominance over the Big 12 in.

Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham, one of the best backcourts in the nation, combined for 35 points on extremely efficient 13-of-25 shooting. The key to stopping Kansas, or at least slowing them down, is stopping this backcourt.

They combine to average 33.6 points, 10.2 assists, 7.4 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game. They even forced Monte Morris to turn the ball over three times and held Jawun Evans 6-of-22 shooting and four turnovers. They disrupt opposing teams’ best players while they can’t be stopped on the other end.

Kansas has a struggling West Virginia team on the road before traveling to Kentucky to take on the Wildcats and a backcourt that can test Mason and Graham.

Assuming De’Aaron Fox is healthy enough to play, this could put either Mason or Malik Monk in the running alongside Josh Hart for the Wooden Award. Both players have had great seasons but each need another big game late in the season against a marquee opponent.

Besides individual awards, this week is the test everyone has waited for in regards to Kansas. The Jayhawks haven’t faced a ranked team since the first week of the season but now have three in a row.

Kansas will either prove they benefitted from an easy non-conference schedule or show why many think they’re the top team in the nation.

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