6. Michigan State Spartans – It was a bittersweet week for Sparty.
On the downside, they suffered their first loss of the season at Iowa. I mean, they were due to drop a game without star player Denzel Valentine sooner or later, right?
Instead of hanging their heads, Michigan State responded a few days later with a big time road win versus Minnesota.
“Some guys are great scorers, some guys are great rebounders, some guys are great defenders, and then some guys do it all,” Izzo said. “And the ones that do it all, it’s hard to make up for. And right now (Valentine is) the nuts and bolts of our team in a lot of ways. But we found a way to win.”
There’s no true time table for Valentine’s return at the moment, but he’s hopeful to return Thursday against Illinois.
Opponents this week: vs. Illinois and @ Penn State.
7. Arizona Wildcats – The public seems to forget Zona’s lone loss came against a really good Providence team and they only lost by four points.
Grant it, that was the best team on the Wildcats schedule up unto this point, however, they do have wins over the likes of Gonzaga, UNLV, Boise State and Arizona State.
Even though California looks strong, the Wildcats are still the favorite to win the Pac-12 for the third straight season.
Opponents this week: @ UCLA and @ USC.
8. Iowa State Cyclones – Remember when the Cyclones started off 9-0?
Yeah, me neither.
Iowa State has lost two of their last four games, with the most recent loss coming against top ranked Oklahoma, which is nothing to be ashamed of.
Before facing the Sooners again in a couple weeks, they’ll have winnable games against Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas and Kansas State.
Opponents this week: vs. Texas Tech and vs. Baylor.
9. Villanova Wildcats – The biggest jump of the week award goes to Jay Wright’s boys.
After losing both of their high profile matchups (Oklahoma and Villanova), the Wildcats made a loud statement by handing Xavier their first loss.
It wasn’t just any ordinary win either.
Nova won 95-64. Yes, a 31-point pounding.
Opponents this week: vs. Seton Hall and @ Butler.
10. Xavier Muskateers – After losing to Nova 95-64, it would’ve been easy for the Muskateers to let that snowfall against Butler.
Instead, they responded strongly by taking down Butler 88-69.
Opponents this week: @ St. John’s.
Teams on the outside looking in: (11) Miami Hurricanes, (12) Providence Friars, (13) Kentucky Wildcats, (14) Duke Blue Devils, (15) Iowa Hawkeyes, (16) Texas A&M Aggies, (17) SMU Mustangs, (18) West Virginia Mountaineers, (19) Purdue Boilermakers, (20) California Bears.