College Basketball

College Basketball Power 10: Seven of Top 10 Went Down Last Week

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:05 a.m. ET

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Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

In one of the craziest weeks of college basketball in recent memory, only three of the top 10 teams in the nation didn’t lose.

Last week marked one of the craziest weeks in college basketball history. Seven of the top 10 teams in the nation lost and 14 ranked teams in total lost.

The mayhem started on Tuesday when Villanova, Kansas and Kentucky became the first trio of top four teams in the nation to lose on the same day since 2012.

All three teams were on the road, but Villanova and Kentucky played unranked Marquette and Tennessee, respectively, compared to Kansas losing to 18th-ranked West Virginia.

Every day last week, except Friday when no ranked teams played, a ranked team lost. It now leaves Gonzaga as the only undefeated team in the nation and Baylor as the only team with one loss.

Along with the uncanny amount of upsets, the Big 12 and SEC gave us rare non-conference games this weekend. The SEC, despite being widely considered the weakest major conference in college basketball, held their own against the Big 12.

They split the competition, but Kansas beating Kentucky gave Big 12 the biggest win of the weekend.

After an eventful week of college basketball, here’s a look at the top 10 teams in the nation.

Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

10. Kentucky (17-4)

Kentucky could not afford a loss in a weak SEC to get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They lost to Tennessee 82-80 last week.

The Wildcats could have bounced back at home against Kansas to give them a fighting chance if teams in front of them lost a couple of more games. Kansas came into Rupp Arena and dominated the second half, winning 79-73.

As exciting as Kentucky is, as strong as Kentucky’s brand is, as many good NBA prospects as Kentucky has, it’s time to admit that this Kentucky team is a borderline top 10 team and nothing more.

They haven’t dominated the SEC. Along with losing to Tennessee, Kentucky also only beat Mississippi by seven and Vanderbilt by six. Those teams are a combined 23-18 and 7-9 in conference play.

Now before the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky’s only meaningful opponent is 24th ranked Florida, twice. While it comes at the cost of upsets and a couple of more losses, other schools benefit from playing in tougher conferences because they gain valuable late game experience and how to win against great competition in hostile environments.

Kentucky doesn’t have that luxury and it showed against Kansas, even though they were at home.

The Wildcats host Georgia and travel to Florida this week. Another loss would be detrimental to them.

Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

9. West Virginia (17-4)

After a two-loss week, West Virginia handed second-ranked Kansas its first loss since the start of the season. The Mountaineers survived a scare against Texas A&M to improve to 17-4 on the year and make a significant leap in the polls.

Despite four games to unranked teams this season, West Virginia’s resume is still very strong. They have now beaten the sixth ranked team in Virginia and the top two ranked teams in the nation in Baylor and Kansas.

The Mountaineers could easily be 21-0 right now and the top-ranked team in the country.

West Virginia’s famous full-court press was in full swing against Kansas. It held one of the best backcourts in the nation in check. Kansas only shot 42.4 percent from the field and turned the ball over 13 times, while also losing the rebounding battle by seven.

At just 5-3 in conference play, West Virginia’s hopes on winning the Big 12 are slim. That said, they are a legitimate Final Four contender if they get hot at the right time. This season, we’ve seen the good and bad from the Mountaineers.

When they’re on they can compete with any team, but that’s evidently not always been the case.

With four losses, West Virginia is on thin ice when it comes to its NCAA Tournament seed. They travel to Iowa State and host Oklahoma State this week.

Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

8. Wisconsin (18-3)

Wisconsin has quietly been waiting to crack the top 10 for several weeks now. Their three losses of the season have come against ranked teams in Creighton, North Carolina and Purdue, and the Badgers lead the Big Ten with a 7-1 conference record.

Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig are huge contributors to Wisconsin’s success this season, but Ethan Happ is the star player in their Big Three. In their brutal 61-54 overtime win over Rutgers last week, Happ scored 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting.

It’s the second time in the past three games Happ has scored at least 28 points and led to him being named the Big Ten’s Player of the Week for a second straight week.

He’s one of the best post players in the nation, which complements the perimeter games of Hayes, Koenig and Vitto Brown. Also, Happ leads the Big Ten’s best defensive team with two steals and one block per game.

In Big Ten play, Wisconsin leads the conference in almost every defensive statistic. Wisconsin only allows 62.6 points per game in conference play and holds teams to 42.2 percent shooting, both lead the Big Ten.

Wisconsin still has a lot of their Final Four team from a couple of years ago, and that makes them a potential threat to get back there this year.

Wisconsin travels to Illinois and hosts Indiana this week.

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

7. Virginia (16-4)

It doesn’t matter in the end that Virginia held multiple double-digit leads over Villanova and led by nine at the half. The Cavaliers couldn’t hold on, despite smothering Villanova’s offense in the first half with their on-ball defense.

Virginia could have had one of the best weeks in college basketball if they held on against Villanova. They already beat 14th-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend by 17 points earlier in the week. Instead, Virginia is left imagining what could have been.

Virginia is still in line for a No. 2 or No. 3 seed with a 16-4 record. Plus, they turned a lot of doubters into believers because of how they played for 35 minutes against Villanova.

Their top-ranked scoring defense looked good enough to possibly be enough to overcome their still dreadful offense that scores just the 13th-most points per game in the ACC.

In fact, Virginia has only topped 80 points once in conference play and has scored fewer than 75 points in each of their past four games.

It’s always a question of where Virginia will get their offense from every game, and that’s not a safe bet come tournament time. Against Villanova, freshman Ty Jerome, who averages three points per game, scored 15 points off the bench.

Having a freshman with a minimal role lead them in scoring is telling of how little consistency they have on offense.

Virginia plays Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Louisville this week.

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

6. Louisville (18-4)

Louisville’s biggest problem this season has been its offense. They hold teams to just 62.1 points per game but only score 78 per game themselves, which ranks 78th in the nation.

Led by Donovan Mitchell‘s 29 points against Pittsburgh and 28 points against North Carolina State, the nation saw how good Louisville can be if they have a consistent offense. The Cardinals scored a season-high 106 points against Pittsburgh and 85 against NC State.

The Cardinals scored at least points twice last week after only doing so six times in their first 20 games of the season. No, Pittsburgh and NC State aren’t elite defenses, but it’s not like Louisville usually beats up on mediocre defenses.

They managed to score fewer than 80 points against Grand Canyon and Southern Illinois this year.

Now, Louisville has to show they can consistently score. They don’t need to average 95.5 points per game, but need to score more than the 73 points per game they averaged in their first seven ACC games.

Plus, it’s unknown if Mitchell can continue to be a reliable scorer, as he only averages 14.8 points per game on 40.3 percent shooting.

Louisville is hanging around the two seed line with away games at Boston College and Virginia this week.

Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

5. Arizona (20-2)

Arizona picked up its 13th and 14th straight wins of the season last week. The return of Allonzo Trier put Arizona back on the national map, but the Wildcats have been one of the most dangerous teams in the nation for a couple of months now.

They’ve beaten six of their 12 Pac-12 opponents by double-digits, including third ranked UCLA, and is the only undefeated Pac-12 team left after Oregon lost to Colorado last week.

Therefore, the Wildcats, who many people counted out after their 6-2 start to the season, control their own destiny and look like the clear-cut favorite in the Pac-12.

Arizona’s 113th-ranked scoring offense should improve with Trier back, but the Wildcats make their living on defense. Arizona allows the 21st-fewest points per game in the nation and hold teams to the 31st-worst field goal percentage and 13th-worst three-point percentage.

It showed last week when Arizona held Washington State and Washington to 62 and 66 points, respectively. It’s the sixth time in Pac-12 play that Arizona has held their opponent to under 70 points, and UCLA is the only Pac-12 team to score more than 80 points against them.

Arizona is rolling and everything is clicking for them right now. They travel to Oregon State and Oregon later in the week. A win over the Ducks will make it very hard to catch Arizona this season and could push them into the no. 1 seed conversation.

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

4. Villanova (20-2)

Villanova has looked unbeatable for most of the season, but last week Villanova was almost beaten twice. Marquette stunned the Wildcats at home with a 74-72 win on Tuesday. Then, Virginia almost beat Villanova in Philadelphia but blew it at the end.

While Josh Hart mightily struggled for Villanova against Virginia, Kris Jenkins had the roughest week. In two games, Jenkins had 10 points on 2-of-17 shooting and 2-of-14 shooting from three. In fact, Jenkins didn’t make his first field goal until the second half against Virginia.

Jenkins is Villanova’s three-point specialist, therefore his poor shooting led to Villanova shooting just 26 percent from three last week. While it’s not all on Jenkins, the Wildcats struggled to find a consistent outside shooter in either game.

That said, Villanova did see the emergence of sophomore point guard Jalen Brunson, who averaged 17 points and four assists in two games last week. Brunson has emerged throughout the year but is waiting for his chance to lead Villanova next year when Hart leaves.

That said, Villanova, who lost point guard Ryan Arcidiacono from last year’s team, would benefit from productive point guard play in the NCAA Tournament. While Brunson hasn’t been bad this year, last week showed why many believe he’s their future star.

It’s a week that Villanova will want to forget, but beating Virginia after beating outplayed for 35 minutes says a lot about how hard it is to beat this team. Ugly but impressive win at the same time.

Villanova travels to Providence and hosts St. John’s this week.

Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

3. Kansas (19-2)

Kansas had its18-game winning streak snapped by West Virginia last Tuesday. The Jayhawks lost 85-69 in Morgantown. They were able to get their season back on track, though, with an impressive win over Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Saturday.

Kansas looked bad and overwhelmed against West Virginia. The Mountaineers’ defensive pressure and press got to Kansas and never allowed them to get any rhythm on offense.

Being able to bounce back from their first loss since their season opener and beat Kentucky on the road shows the veteran leadership, especially in their backcourt.

Kentucky controlled the first half, leading by double-digits multiple times, but Kansas dominated the second half. The Jayhawks outscored Kentucky 52-41 in the second half and led by as many as 10 with 4:41 left.

Kentucky brought the lead down to four with 22 seconds left, but Kansas held on in a hostile environment.

For as good of NBA prospects as Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox are, there is no better backcourt in the nation than Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham. Against Kansas, they combined for 33 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three rebounds on 13-of-29 shooting.

Kansas lacks depth, but Mason and Graham are good enough to lead the Jayhawks to a national title when they’re able to get significant rest in between games.

Kansas hosts Baylor, Iowa State and travels to Kansas State this week.

Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

2. Baylor (20-1)

Baylor did not have an easy week. They barely beat Texas Tech by four at home before needing a second half comeback to beat Ole Miss on the road by three. Nonetheless, led by a 43-33 second half advantage over Ole Miss, Baylor survived and did not become the eighth top 10 team to fall.

Since suffering their only loss of the season, Baylor hasn’t had the same dominating wins. They’ve still won, but their 10-point win over Texas is their only double-digit win in their last five games.

Baylor is only winning by an average of seven points per game, which is likely a product of conference play and teams figuring out how to at least slow down Baylor.

Alongside Johnathan Motley, senior point guard Manu Lecomte has turned into one of the most underrated players in the nation.

He has scored double-digit points in four of the last five games and is averaging 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game, while shooting 41.2 percent from three. He also plays a team-high 29.6 minutes per game.

Baylor will need Lecomte to have a great game against Kansas on Wednesday. The Bears also host Kansas State, who they only beat by nine earlier in the year, but a win over Kansas would solidify them as a top team in the nation.

Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

1. Gonzaga (22-0)

Gonzaga beat San Diego by 36 and Pepperdine by 47 to improve to 22-0 this year. Until the NCAA Tournament, traveling to Saint Mary’s in the middle of February is Gonzaga’s only test left in the regular season.

In 10 conference games this season, Gonzaga has only failed to win by fewer than 20 points twice — 15 points at San Francisco and 19 points at Portland. Their ability to demolish bad teams every game without losing focus is impressive.

If last week taught us anything, it’s that even great teams have a tendency to overlook opponents and have it cost them.

A bad game by Gonzaga still might not be enough for a team like San Diego or Pepperdine to beat them, but the Bulldogs have shown their focus by not even letting a team in their conference hang around.

Gonzaga is as well-rounded as any team in the nation, too. They can score inside or on the perimeter, and they have three of the best post defenders in the nation in Zach Collins, Przemek Karnowski and Killian Tillie.

Gonzaga’s historic start has led to them being ranked no. 1 by the Associated Press for just the second time in school history and first time in the regular season.

Gonzaga’s quest for regular season perfection continues this week at BYU and at home against Santa Clara.

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