With Christmas being last week, there wasn’t too many games played at all. However, there was still some movement nonetheless, even if it was minimal at most.
Despite playing without early season National Player of the Year candidate, Denzel Valentine, Sparty was able to hold off Oakland in overtime.
Meanwhile, the Cyclones made a huge statement with their gutsy win at Cincinnati, but in the game of the week, John Calipari continued his dominance over Rick Pitino and Louisville.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the rankings.
1. Michigan State Spartans – Denzel Valentine is clearly the heart and soul of this team, which became very clear as they struggled to beat Oakland last week.
With Valentine set to miss the first few games of conference play, it’ll be vital for Sparty to play together as an unit because they’re very limited offensively.
Sure, they have shooters for days, but without Valentine, it’ll be difficult to find a true play maker capable of getting the ball in their sweet spots.
Opponents this week: @ Iowa and @ Minnesota.
2. Oklahoma Sooners – Unlike majority of schools, the highly sought after Sooners played three games last week, as part of the Diamonds Head Classic.
As usual, Buddy Hield led the way by averaging 28.6 points per game during last week’s grueling stretch.
Critics of Oklahoma’s rather light schedule will finally get their wish as the Sooners begin conference play against Iowa State and Kansas.
Opponents this week: vs. Iowa State.
3. Kansas Jayhawks – It doesn’t seem to matter who Bill Self rolls out there, but that’s the luxury you have when your team is arguably the deepest in the country.
The Jayhawks had their first road test of the season at San Diego State last week, which proved to not be much of a challenge.
Kansas went on to win 70-57.
Opponents this week: vs. UC Irvine and vs. Baylor.
4. Maryland Terrapins – With Big Ten play on the horizon, the Terps had their last tune up contest against Marshall, which resulted in a rather easy 20-point victory.
As this team moves forward, they’ll still need to improve defensively, but there’s no denying the shear talent they possess.
Opponents this week: vs. Penn State and @ Northwestern.
5. Xavier Muskateers – The Muskateers undefeated record was in major jeopardy as they trailed by as many as 18 at Wake Forest. Edmond Sumner led the way with 21 points and 9 rebounds.
This is the first team in the programs history to finish non-conference play unbeaten.
Opponents this week: @ Villanova and vs. Butler.
6. Virginia Cavaliers – After their early season loss to George Washington, the Cavaliers have looked like the final four contender that we all anticipated.
With that being said, the Cavs witnessed a huge scare against a very talented California squad. It took overtime to hold off the Golden Bears, but this was a true testament to what Virginia stands for.
Opponents this week: vs. Oakland and vs. Notre Dame.
7. Iowa State Cyclones – Winning on the road against a ranked team will always give you major points, which is exactly what the Cyclones did at Cincinnati last week.
Things looked bleak for a while, but they made the key plays down the stretch to come out victorious.
Opponents this week: vs. Coppin State and at Oklahoma
8. North Carolina Tar Heels – The Tar Heels only played one game last week and it was against Appalachian State, so there isn’t too much to say on that front.
One thing I can say is the Heels look to be a team coming together and with Kennedy Meeks being out recently, it’s allowed Brice Johnson to come into his own offensively.
Opponents this week: vs. UNCG, vs. Clemson and vs. Georgia Tech.
9. Butler Bulldogs – For some odd reason, the country is still sleep on the Bulldogs, even though they have wins over the likes of Miami, Purdue and Cincinnati.
With programs such as Providence, Villanova and Xavier coming up, this is a prime time for Butler to prove how good they really are.
Opponents this week: vs. Providence and @ Xavier.
10. Arizona Wildcats – To be quite frank, a lot of casual fans won’t respect Arizona like they should because of their very light schedule.
The only teams worth mentioning on their non-conference schedule were Providence and Gonzaga. It’s fair to question their competition, however, there’s no denying the amount of talent Sean Miller’s team has.
Opponents this week: @ Arizona State.
Teams on the outside looking in: 11. Purdue 12. Miami 13. Kentucky 14. Duke 15. Villanova 16. Texas A&M 17. Providence 18. SMU 19. West Virginia 20. Louisville
