Disclaimer: these should come out either on Mondays or Tuesdays every week, and are based off of the prior week. If one week the post comes out on Tuesday, the Monday games won’t be a factor. This is also only Men’s basketball.
Week of 11/13/23
The first week of college basketball is upon us, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Two top 4 teams in the AP Poll lost, another AP Poll team lost, but key wins have already been made and freshmen have shined.
At the number one spot, Kansas retains their position. They got upset in the second round of march madness last year, but started the year off at number one. That backed that up with their play, scoring 99 in both of their games so far this season. Transfer Hunter Dickinson played great in his first two games with the team, scoring 21 in the first game and 18 in the second. Players like Kevin McCullar Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. returned have also played great. Other role players will give Kansas depth and clutch moments for the season. They take on Kentucky this Tuesday, and that is their first real test. Following up Kansas are Purdue, Arizona, Marquette, and UConn. Purdue is looking to bounce back after an upset in last year’s tournament. Zach Edey has been doing Zach Edey things, averaging 17 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game. He should be in consideration for the national player of the year again. Transfer Lance Jones will also give some meaningful minutes, along with freshman Camden Heide. Purdue’s first real test comes on November 20th when they take on Gonzaga. UConn is looking to defend last year’s national championship, and they’ve done that so far. They’ve held their first two opponents to 52 points and 67 points, while putting up 95 and 107 on offense. The duo of Alex Karaban and Tristen Newton will be one of the best in the country. They average the same number of rebounds, which is 7, while Newton had 5 steals against Stonehill. The season is still early, but UConn has a good shot to repeat. Marquette, coming in at number 4, also lost in the second round last year. Kam Jones is out to a fast start, averaging 21.5 points per game and shooting 50% from three. Although they’ve only played two games, these averages are still important. Arizona moves up to 3 after a big win over Duke last Friday. They won 78-73, in Caleb Love’s return to Cameron Indoor. Love didn’t do to hot, shooting 3-10 from the field and 1-5 from 3. He also had 6 turnovers in the win over Duke. If Arizona can carry the momentum from this big win into their toughest test coming up, which is Michigan State, Arizona could be undefeated with two top 25 wins come December. December is going to be a big month for them, as they play Purdue, Alabama, and FAU. For now though, they stay at 3.
Following those 5 are Houston, Creighton, Tennessee, Duke, and Gonzaga. I’ll start with Duke, who I just partially wrote about. We will have to see if this loss at home will affect the rest of their season, and if they can put that loss behind them. They have Michigan State on Tuesday and Arkansas later in November. If this loss affects them too much, they can lose this games. Kyle Filipowski will make sure they don’t though. He dropped 25 in both games, and currently averaging 57.1% from 3. The only other player averaging double digits in Duke is Jeremy Roach, who’s averaging 15.5. He played 39 minutes against Arizona, and only had 1 turnover that whole time. If Roach can protect the basketball in the same number of minutes, Duke can be scary. But for right now, Duke is only 1 of 2 teams with 1 loss in both the AP poll and mine, so they’re slotted at 9. Houston comes in at 6, with wins over ULM and Texas A&M-CC. They won those handily, and allow only 40.5 points per game. Houston doesn’t play a currently ranked team until December 16th, when they take on Texas A&M. They almost go the whole month of January without playing one either, but take on Texas in their last game in the month. Things get harder for them in February and March, as they play Kansas once in each month. Barring something crazy, Houston is going to come into the tourney very unbattle tested. Following Houston is Creighton, led by Trey Alexander. He’s averaging 20.5 points and 4.5 assists, both leading the team. He also leads the team in steals, with 5 of his 6 coming against NDSU. Things tighten up for Creighton come the end of December, when they play Alabama, Villanova, and Marquette back to back to back. I have Creighton over Tennessee, and that’s because the Vols struggled against Wisconsin. They won by 10, and although Wisconsin was never up, it was close throughout. Dalton Knecht played 36 minutes in the win, and scored 24, including a big one late to seal the game. I doubt Tennessee are going to get into more game like this until their SEC games start, but they take on some good teams before that happens like North Carolina and Illinois. Another tweak that I had compared to the AP Poll was that Gonzaga jumps FAU. I’ll get to FAU later. Gonzaga has played in only 1 game this season so far, and that was a 86-71 win over Yale. In his college debut, Braden Huff led Gonzaga in scoring with 19 points. Ryan Nembhard, the Creighton transfer, scored 16, and also had 7 assists. With only one game under their belt, we haven’t seen much from this new Gonzaga team other than 40 minutes. They play Purdue in their third game of the season on the 20th of this month, and all of this time off is going to have an affect on their play. They take on USC and UConn next month, and those will really show what kind of team Gonzaga is.
Following the top 10 are FAU, Miami, Arkansas, Texas A&M, and USC. In the AP poll, both USC and Baylor move up 5. However, USC jumps Baylor due to big play from freshman Isaiah Collier. In his first college game, he shined. He played 25 minutes and put up 18 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds. He did have 5 personal fouls, which led to his shorter minutes compared to his other starters, but he is only a freshman. Boogie Ellis led the team with 24 points in 36 minutes. Collier backed up his play against Kansas State in USC’s second game, scoring 19 and leading USC. He also led the team with 5 assists. USC blew out Kansas State in their first game, winning 82-69. If Bronny James does play this season, USC will be even better. USC takes on Gonzaga to start their games in December, and that’s will be their first test of the season. USC finished the top 15, but right in front of them are two rivals, Texas A&M and Arkansas. I have them swapped compared to the AP Poll. Starting with Arkansas, they lost their top 3 players last year to the NBA. Khalif Battle has stepped up, averaging 21 points per game. he also shoots 60% from 3. Trevon Brazile has been a great rim protector, averaging 2.5 blocks. Arkansas plays Duke November 29th, there hardest game before SEC play starts. Once they start their SEC games, however, they play three teams that currently have one loss before taking on Texas A&M. The reason I have Arkansas in front of Texas A&M is because of their close win against Ohio State. Ohio State barely beat Oakland in their first game, and Texas A&M struggled against them. A&M ended up winning, 73-66, and only started to pull ahead late. Tyrece Radford did play well, dropping 21 points. Henry Coleman III had 20 points, and also had 11 rebounds. Wade Taylor IV also had 21 points, but shot 8-21. No other player on A&M had 5 or more points. A&M has to have more depth, because that’s going to lose them games, like against Penn State or Virginia this month, or Memphis and Houston next month. At 11 is Miami, and they took care of business against UCF, 88-72, and have Kentucky to end the month. Wooga Poplar dropped 23 in that game, and is averaging 22 points per game. He also leads Miami in 3 point percentage, shooting 71.4%. If Miami can keep things going like they did last week, they could end up as a top team in the tourney. At 11 is FAU, looking is looking, just like Miami, to get back to the final four. Just like Gonzaga, FAU has only played 1 game. FAU beat Loyola Chicago 75-62, with Vladislav Goldin scoring 19. He also had 10 rebounds. If FAU can keep up this level of play, they’re going to be sitting pretty come selection Sunday. They play both Arizona and Illinois next month, and if they can beat at least one of those teams, it’s going to be good on their resume.
Coming in at 16 is Baylor, followed by Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina, and Michigan State. Starting with Baylor, they survived a close game to start the season against Auburn, and that’s the reason why USC is ranked over Baylor. Ja’Kobe Walter scored 28, but his numbers have slipped since then. He is a freshman, so he has time to improve. He’s averaging 16.3 points per game and 5 rebounds. Baylor won their second game, 96-70, and that’s where Walter really struggled. He scored only 7 points, and went from shooting 53.8% to 33.3% from the field. Hopefully he can get back on track, as Baylor plays Michigan State and Duke in December in back to back games. Kentucky is coming in at 17, but are much better than that. They beat NMSU 86-46 in their first game, and 81-61 in their second. Antonio Reaves is averaging 16 points per game, and had 21 in Kentucky’s last game. Kentucky has had two dominant wins, but have Kansas on Tuesday. That’s going to be Kentucky’s hardest game this season, and show us the real Kentucky. After Kentucky is Texas and another blue blood, North Carolina. Starting with Texas, they also had two dominant wins. They beat Incarate Ward 88-56 and Delaware State 86-59. Ithiel Horton has played great in both games, averaging 17.5 points. He also is averaging 3 points and 3 rebounds. Texas doesn’t have a tough opponent until they face Marquette on December 6th, but only play Kansas once this season. North Carolina is the opposite, with Tennessee, UConn, and Kentucky all before they start ACC play. The ACC is pretty weak this year, so North Carolina has a pretty good chance at losing only 5 or 6 games this year. Armando Bacot has playing his best basketball in his college career, averaging 23.5 points per game and 16.5 rebounds. The rebounds are first in the country. If Bacot can keep up his dominance, North Carolina is going to do the same. Rounding out the top 20 is Michigan State. I felt like they were ranked too high to start the season, and we saw that happen in their first game. They got upset at home by James Madison, 79-76. Michigan State was 16.5 point favorites. MSU needed Tyson Walker to play 39 minutes and score 35 points for them to have a chance at winning. MSU shot 5% from 3 point land, going 1-20. That has to change, or Michigan State will lose more games and fall out of the rankings entirely. There’s a very good chance at that happening, with Duke, Arizona, and Baylor still on their schedule. AJ Hoggard was averaging 13 points per game last year, but is averaging only 6.5 so far this year. He’s also shooting only 22% from the field. His numbers have to improve, because otherwise, Michigan State will lose those games.
Ending the top 25 are Alabama, Villanova, Illinois, James Madison, and Memphis. I’ll start with Alabama, who lost most of their players from last year to the portal and the NBA. Mark Sears is one of the few that has stayed, and he’s averaging 18.5 points per game. He dropped 24 last game, but Aaron Estrada had a big game. He had 27 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds. Alabama has dominated their first two opponents, scoring 105 and 102. Bama has Purdue, Creighton, and Arizona back to back to back games, and those will be Alabama’s hardest games the whole season. Following Alabama are Villanova and Illinois. Villanova handled their first two games easily, beating American 90-63 and Le Moyne 83-57. Illinois beat Eastern Illinois 80-52, and Oakland 64-53. They take on Marquette on Tuesday, while Villanova takes on UCLA and Creighton next month. All three games are crucial to how both teams start of the seasons. Following those two is James Madison. They had a close upset win over MSU to start the season, but I already wrote about that. Three days later, JMU played Kent State, and eeked out a win in double overtime, 113-108. They then bashed Howard, 107-86. If James Madison’s basketball team is anything like their football team, the Dukes are in for a magical season. Rounding out the top 25 is Memphis. In the AP poll, Colorado is in this spot. However, Memphis is receiving the most votes out of teams not in the top 25, and I thought they were more deserving than Colorado. They beat Jackson State, 94-77, and Missouri 70-55. As of right now, they only play two ranked teams. They play FAU twice and play Texas A&M. Memphis isn’t going to have the best resume, but could be entertaining selection Sunday with 3 losses.