For the first time this season, there’s a new team sitting atop my rankings.
Michigan held the No. 1 spot and, at times, looked downright unbeatable. But a shaky week opened the door. The Wolverines narrowly escaped at Penn State before stumbling at home against Wisconsin on Saturday. That was enough to usher in a new No. 1: Arizona. The Wildcats, who had already claimed the top spot in the AP Poll in recent weeks, backed it up with an impressive road win at TCU on Saturday. I’ll get a close look at them Wednesday night when they face Arizona State, where I’ll be on the sideline for FS1.
As we move deeper into the season, only five teams remain unbeaten at the Division I level: Arizona, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Nebraska, and Miami (OH). Which of those is the biggest surprise? It has to be Nebraska. Sitting at 16-0, the Cornhuskers have blown past expectations after losing their top two players from a team that didn’t even reach the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Remarkably, Nebraska remains the only power-conference program without an NCAA Tournament win. This feels like the year that narrative finally changes, doesn’t it?
With that, here’s the latest edition of my men's college basketball rankings, as of Jan. 11.
The Tigers have won seven games in a row and have one of the top defenses in the nation, holding opponents to less than 66 points per contest. They dismantled Notre Dame on the road, 76-61, led by Jestin Porter’s 26 points and five steals. Two of their losses have come against a pair of top-20 teams in my rankings: BYU (No. 9) and Alabama (No. 18).
The Billikens are 15-1 with their only loss coming on a miraculous shot by my alma mater, Stanford. This team probably should have been ranked two weeks ago. They don’t have a massive win, but they have beaten Grand Canyon, Santa Clara, and VCU on the road.
The Mountain West Conference now runs through Logan, Utah. The guard combo of Mason Falslev and MJ Collins looks unguardable. The Aggies absolutely demolished Boise State on the road by 25 points to boost their record to 14-1.
The Bulldogs did lose earlier in the week to a surging Florida team, but Mike White's group bounced back with a road win at South Carolina, even though they didn't shoot well. Georgia possesses a top-25 offense and is one of the fastest teams in America.
The Vols have started 1-2 in SEC play, but both losses are on the road, to Arkansas and Florida, respectively. I'm pretty consistent with not punishing teams much for losing to good teams. Florida is on the verge of hoping back into my top 25.
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Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz #14 goes to the basket against Western Michigan. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
Iowa point guard Bennett Stirtz had a wide-open 3 that could have sent the Hawkeyes' matchup against Minnesota into overtime. It didn't drop, as instead, Ben McCollum's team fell to 12-3. They followed that with a narrow 75-69 loss to Illinois on Sunday morning. I still love watching this group compete. Iowa ranks in the top 30 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Louisville freshman standout Mikel Brown Jr. has missed the last six games due to back issues, and the Cardinals are 3-3 in those games. So why are they still ranked so high? Losses to Arkansas, Tennessee, Duke and Stanford don’t bother me and their top-10 offense is so fun to watch. Their next game is Tuesday night against a ranked Virginia squad.
The Tide have had the steepest decline of any team in my rankings. They had a rough week, losing on the road to Vanderbilt and then dropping a home game to an average Texas squad. They still own the second-ranked offense in America, but their defense ranks 78th. Yikes.
The Hogs got smacked by Auburn and were never really competitive. Freshman point guard Darius Acuff had 19 points, but the team had only nine assists in 40 minutes. This group has too much talent for that to happen. Arkansas is 12-4 with losses to Michigan State, Duke, Houston, and Auburn. The Razorbacks will be just fine.
How about this for a stat? The Cavaliers beat the two Bay Area schools – Cal and Stanford – by a combined 39 points this past week. Freshman Thijs De Ridder is a joy to watch. The 6-foot-9 forward had 22 points against Stanford on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor.
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Jaydon Young #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts during the second half of the game against Wake Forest. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
The Tar Heels fought off Wake Forest at home on Saturday after falling to SMU earlier in the week. Hubert Davis' team now sits at 14-2 with wins over Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio State. Those are good wins on paper, but those teams have struggled this season. The Tar Heels need to start stringing together some wins, and I believe they will.
Texas Tech is a tricky bunch to figure out. The Red Raiders are 1-4 against ranked teams this season, but that one victory came against an undefeated Duke team on a neutral court. Their losses have come against Purdue, Illinois, Arkansas and Houston – four of the most talented teams in the sport. JT Toppin and Christian Anderson form one of the best 1–2 duos in the country, which is why I still believe this is one of the best teams in America.
Brad Underwood has a really good team this year that should be in the mix for a Big Ten title when it's all said and done. The Illini have run off five wins in a row, including an impressive road victory over Iowa on Sunday. This is also one of the most balanced teams in the nation, as the Illini have had six different players lead them in scoring in 16 games this year.
It's probably time we started talking about senior Jaxon Kohler as one of the top forwards not only in the Big Ten, but throughout all of college basketball. Kohler is a double-double machine, averaging a team-high 14.2 points and 10 rebounds per game. He is a force down low and has developed into the team's best outside shooter, sporting a 53.3% clip from beyond the arc. Tom Izzo's team hosts Indiana on Tuesday before a two-game West Coast trip to Washington and Oregon.
Gonzaga dipped in my rankings, which has far more to do with the impressive wins that teams surrounding them have put together. Mark Few's club has taken care of business since that early-season loss to Michigan, running off 10 straight wins. But it's hard for me to reward this team much following wins over the likes of Seattle, Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara.
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Kingston Flemings #4 of the Houston Cougars goes up for a dunk in the first half against Florida State. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Houston kicked off the week with an impressive 69-65 win over Texas Tech and then followed that up with a dominant 22-point victory over in-state foe Baylor. Freshman Kingston Flemings is playing like one of the top guards in the country, regardless of class, and Emanuel Sharp bounced back from a rough performance against Cincinnati the previous week with back-to-back solid showings this past week. This looks like a Final Four team.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again: BYU is one of the most enjoyable teams to watch in the country. The Cougars have won 12 in a row and have outscored their three Big 12 opponents by a combined margin of 14 points per game. I'm excited to see A.J. Dybantsa and Richie Saunders go up against JT Toppin, Christian Anderson and Texas Tech on Saturday in Lubbock. The Big 12 is so good at the top.
If there was any question about where I stood on the Nebraska hype train, let's clear that up right now … I'm all in. It looked like the Huskers' streak might be coming to an end against Indiana this past week, but Fred Hoiberg's team overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to defeat the Hoosiers and extend their winning streak to 20 games – the longest in college basketball. Nebraska now sits at 5-0 in conference play for the first time since 1965-66.
The Blue Devils are coming off back-to-back ranked wins over Louisville and SMU. Freshman sensation Cameron Boozer continues to look like the most dominant player in America, now averaging 22.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. He led the Blue Devils in points (27), rebounds (eight) and assists (five) in the team's 84-73 road win over the Cardinals.
Is there another school in America enjoying a better college football and basketball season than the Vanderbilt Commodores? Simple answer … No. Mark Byington's team matched the best start in program history Saturday after beating LSU, 84-73. Vanderbilt has five players averaging double-figures, led by sophomore guard Tyler Tanner, who has been on a tear as of late, putting up 22.8 points and 7.8 assists per contest over his last four games this season.
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Braden Smith #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers celebrates against the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The Boilermakers have won seven in a row and are perfect in Big Ten play (5-0). All-American guard Braden Smith, who leads the country in assists (9.8 per game), has been shooting lights out as of late, combining for 49 points on 64% shooting over the team's past two games.
The Wolverines' impressive unbeaten streak came to an end this past weekend as they ran into a hot-shooting Wisconsin team that hit 15 3-pointers and took down Michigan, 91-88. This loss doesn’t change my opinion about Michigan’s long-term potential as a title contender, but it does knock them back to Earth a bit.
The Cyclones' best start in program history continued as they improved to 16-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 following an impressive win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. This team is so complete, which is why I believe they have a chance to make a deep run in March. Junior forward Milan Momcilovic has over 1,000 career points, senior forward Josh Jefferson is a first-team All American, and senior guard Tamin Lipsey is the head of the snake.
The Huskies kicked off the week with a memorable 103-98 win over Providence in a game that was one of the most entertaining contests of the season thus far. Dan Hurley's team followed that thrilling win with a 72-60 victory over DePaul this past weekend. Freshman shooting guard Braylon Mullins has now led the Huskies in scoring the last two games. This team is so deep.
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Koa Peat #10 of the Arizona Wildcats reacts after a slam dunk against Kansas State. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
How good is this Arizona team? Well, for starters, the Wildcats have outscored their first three conference opponents by an average margin of victory of 19 points per game. Freshman forward Koa Peat finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in the Wildcats' road win over TCU, while veteran guard Jaden Bradley was also a steady presence with 17 points and four assists.
Casey Jacobsen is a national college basketball reporter and analyst for FOX Sports. He was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection at Stanford and a First-Team All-American as a sophomore. Follow him at @cjacobsen23.
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