RADIO
10: St. John's (21-3, 12-1) (NR)
The gaudy win total was bolstered by a weak non-conference schedule, but St. John’s needed that to make this team into the finely-tuned machine that you see today. Wins over New Mexico, Virginia, and Kansas State are solid. A one-point loss to Baylor and a three-point loss to Georgia are understandable. So is the one-point loss at the Birdcage. That’s right…the Red Storm have three losses by a combined five points, all to likely NCAA Tournament teams.
The Johnnies have rattled off 10 straight Big East wins since the loss to Creighton, beating Marquette and UConn in Hartford during that span. The Big East is a bit down this year, but it is still a multi-bid league. St John’s has proven they are the best team in it.
9: Texas A&M (18-5, 7-3) (NR)
Kentucky has dropped four of the last six and Michigan State lost two of three on their West Coast swing. This allows the Aggies to jump into the power rankings. This team beat Creighton, Purdue, and Texas Tech out of conference this year. That makes up for the opening loss to Central Florida.
The Aggies have won three straight and five of the last six in the best conference in college basketball. They own Quad 1 wins over Mississippi in Oxford and Missouri in Columbia (not to mention taking out Oklahoma twice). We’ll forgive the one-point loss to rival Texas in Austin.
8: Purdue (19-5, 11-2) (7)
Purdue drops a slot this week, but it’s not their fault. The Boilermakers took care of business and won both games this week. The bad news is that the team behind them had a much better week. Wins over Iowa and USC are solid. Both are potential tournament teams.
Purdue gets a chance to move back up the rankings this week with a game in Ann Arbor and a game against Wisconsin in West Lafayette. Both teams are currently ranked. In fact, Purdue’s next three opponents are currently ranked. We’re about to find out if their power ranking is warranted.
7: Iowa State (18-5, 8-4) (5)
The loss to Kansas in Lawrence is still a Quad 1 loss, but other teams in front of the Cyclones won. The good news is that the out-of-conference win over Marquette is still a good one and the three-game losing streak is over. The bad news is that they ended the streak against a TCU team that is barely above .500.
A road game against a suddenly tough Central Florida team and a tough home game against a mirror image of themselves against Cincinnati will tell us a lot about how the Cyclones will finish the season. At least the Cyclones got Milan Momcilovic back against TCU. They really missed his shooting.
6: Houston (19-4, 11-1) (6)
Beating up on Oklahoma State and Colorado — two of the bottom three teams in the Big 12 (16) — didn’t tell us anything about Houston this week. Games against Baylor and Arizona are going to test the Cougars but Emanuel Sharp may be available for one or both of those games.
5: Florida (20-3, 7-3) (8)
Much like St. John’s, Florida didn’t break a sweat before conference season. Unlike St. John’s, they didn’t lose in that span. All three losses are to ranked SEC teams. Florida also owns home wins against Tennessee and just knocked off top-ranked Auburn on Saturday on the road. The Gators are reaching heights not seen since Billy Donovan left.
4: Tennessee (20-4, 7-4) (4)
If you want to put Florida above Tennessee since they split the season series and Tennessee lost to Auburn, I won’t argue much. However, I will point to Tennessee beating Baylor and Illinois during their non-conference schedule. We could see a little separation this week if Tennessee gets revenge against Kentucky for the loss in Lexington last month.
3: Duke (20-3, 12-1) (2)
The loss to Clemson knocks Duke back one slot. It’s not a bad loss, but the strength of the SEC is feeding the power rankings. That said, the top three teams are really close. Duke’s win over Auburn would have landed them in the top slot if they could have taken care of the Tigers.
2: Alabama (20-3, 9-1) (3)
The Tide move up thanks to a six-game conference winning streak. Five of those six teams are likely NCAA Tournament bound. A trip to Austin tomorrow won’t be easy. Then comes a showdown in the Iron Bowl (hardwood style) in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
Alabama is the one team that could move a lot over the last few weeks. Every one of their last eight opponents is currently ranked except for Texas. They close the season with three games against top-five teams in this very ranking. Two of those are on the road.
1: Auburn (21-2, 9-1) (1)
As previously mentioned, Auburn would have lost this slot if Duke had won. That’s how close the top three are. Florida laying a nine-point loss on the Tigers in the Jungle isn’t an embarrassing loss. The Tigers have two road games this week. One in Nashville and one in Tuscaloosa. They don’t run the same gauntlet as Alabama, but Auburn faces five ranked teams — four are in the last four games — down the stretch.
