College basketball hasn’t even been back for a full two weeks and we’ve already witnessed a plethora of upsets. From Virginia losing to George Washington to top ranked North Carolina falling to Northern Iowa.
With all of the early madness going on, it’s time to see who are the top 10 teams in America right now.
1. Kentucky Wildcats – This is the only program capable of losing seven players to the NBA and still be considered as the best team the following season.
The Wildcats showed flashes of how great they can be after dominating Duke in the Champions Classic, 74-63. Scary thing is, this unit led by top freshman, Skal Labissiere, Tyler Ulis, Alex Poythress and Jamal Murray will only get better with time.
2. Duke Blue Devils – Similar to Kentucky, Duke is experiencing tons of turnover with Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones all bolting to the NBA after their National Championship run.
While the Blue Devils looked outmatched against Kentucky, they’ve recovered rather nicely after downing VCU and Georgetown in back-to-back games.
Tournament hero, Grayson Allen, has looked like the best player in the country, scoring 26 or more points in four of five games.
3. Michigan State Spartans – Heading into every season, no matter who’s on Tom Izzo’s team, you must include them in the discussion.
In recent years, the Spartans have become known for starting off slow and getting better as the season progresses.
However, this year has been a different story thus far, as Sparty stunned the Kansas Jayhawks, 79-73 in the Champions Classic.
This team will go as far as senior Denzel Valentine takes them, who’s currently averaging 16.3 points, 9 rebounds and 10.7 dimes per game.
4. Maryland Terrapins – There isn’t another program who’s entered the season with more hype.
With key players like Melo Trimble and Jake Layman returning, this squad was destined to at least be competitive, but when you add Duke transfer, Rasheed Sulaimon and five-star freshman center, Diamond Stone, into the mix, the Terps look to be legit title contenders.
Although Georgetown has three losses (Radford, Maryland and Duke), the Terps 75-71 victory over the Hoyas displayed a lot of mental toughness folks want to see from this talented group.
5. Miami Hurricanes – Where did they come from?
It feels like a distant memory when the Hurricanes won the ACC regular season championship and ACC tournament championship back in 2013.
Maybe it feels that way because Miami has missed the big dance the previous two seasons, but it appears they may be back. No other team has defeated two ranked opponents like Miami. They took out no.16 Utah and no.22 Butler.
Also, the Canes ethered Mississippi State to the tune of 105-79.
We’ll find out more about Miami when ACC play kicks in.
6. Oklahoma Sooners – They’ve only played two games, but on paper, the Oklahoma Sooners are the Kansas Jayhawks toughest competition in the Big 12.
Why you ask?
Well, it all starts and ends with Buddy Hield.
Hield is the best player in the conference and he’s arguably the best scorer in the entire country. He currently sits 4th in scoring with 27 points per game.
7. Iowa State Cyclones – In recent years, the Cyclones have gradually shot up the charts as being a national contender.
Unfortunately, they haven’t lived up to expectations in March, but there’s no denying their offensive talent. Even with Fred Hoiberg out of the picture, this team has final four aspirations, as they’re led by upperclassmen Georges Niang and Monte Morris.
8. Villanova Wildcats – The jury is out on how good Villanova can truly be this season. It’ll be hard to repeat a campaign like a year ago, where they finished 33-3, after getting upset by N.C. State in the third round of the dance.
With that being said, Nova has multiple guys capable of putting the ball in the basket, which is always a plus when things get tight.
We’ll find out a lot more about Nova in December, as they play Oklahoma and Virginia.
9. Arizona Wildcats – They don’t rebuild in Tuscon, they reload.
After losing Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to the NBA, Zona will be looking at their big three of Gabe York, Kaleb Tarczewski and transfer Ryan Anderson to take them to their first final four in 15 years.
The x-factor will be highly coveted freshman Allonzo Trier, who is currently their third scorer with 13.3 points per game.
Arizona’s first real test will come against Gonzaga on December 5.
10. Indiana Hoosiers – Although they haven’t played anyone worth mentioning, it’s easy to tell they possess one of the best backcourts in America, if not the best.
Of course I’m referring to the tandem of Yogi Ferrell and James Blackmon Jr. This duo is averaging 35.4 points, 12.6 rebounds and 10 dimes per game.
We’ll be finding out a lot more about the Hoosiers this week in Hawaii, as they could potentially face Vanderbilt and Kansas in the Maui Invitational.
Teams on the outside looking in: North Carolina, Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon, California, Virginia, Wichita State, Notre Dame, LSU and Baylor.