B´s Top Twelve (Week 2)

I figured this week I would do my rankings one through eight instead of sorting out the rankings by tiers. On top of that I decided to extend the rankings to twelve. We will still have our outsiders but I feel this gives you all a better perspective or a better update for college basketball. The article part will still be written in tiers, with four tiers this time, a first four, next four, last four and three outsiders. The last change I have made is that the parentheses are my rankings instead of the Associated Press' rankings (AP) although I do use the AP rankings to help guide me. Just so you know, the outsiders are going to be considered 13-15 in the article. This will hopefully be the last change I will make to this section but we will see as the year progresses.

We saw this past week cancellations, early upsets and impressive performances. For all of these, I am really surprised by what we saw and excited for what is to come. Three players that caught my eye this week were Cade Cunningham who has helped win every single game Oklahoma State has played thus far. Next, an Ohio player Jason Preston, who has a remarkable story but also played phenomenally against Illinois and contributed to their near upset of an amazing Illinois team. Last but most certainly not least, is Gonzaga's own freshman Jalen Suggs. He has averaged eighteen points a game (same as Cade Cunningham) after scoring almost three thousand points for his high school team in his career. Last week he helped the Bulldogs beat a solid Kansas team and begin their quest at a first ever national championship.

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (1)

2. Baylor Bears (2)

3. Michigan State Spartans (NR)

4. Iowa Hawkeyes (3)

5. Wisconsin Badgers(7)

6. Illinois Fighting Illini(12)

7. Kansas Jayhawks (4)

8. Houston Cougars (NR)

9. Creighton Bluejays (9)

10. West Virginia Mountaineers (NR)

11. Duke Blue Devils (10)

12. Virginia Tech Hokies (NR)

Tier 1

(1) Gonzaga beat (7) Kansas pretty handily on Thanksgiving and for that reason they remain my number one team in the country. They have a pretty tough schedule coming up, going to (2) Baylor on Saturday and playing (15) West Virginia tonight in the Jimmy V Classic. Should be two interesting games that will determine if they can stay at that number one spot and handle the pressure that comes with it. Baylor hosts (1) Gonzaga this week and that will be a strong testimate of their team to see if they can stay with the top teams in the country or "hang with the big boys". They beat Washington and Louisiana Lafayette both pretty handily last week so the Bears have done well to start off but will face their fist test of the season tonight in the one of the Big Ten's finest (6) Illinois.

(3) Michigan State looked decent on Saturday against a solid Notre Dame team but certainly not as good as they looked last night against (6) Duke. They have an even balanced team with one of my favorite players in the country who is a Junior now, starting at forward in Aaron Henry. Five players had at least ten points without scoring more than twenty and everybody did their part in the win. Their schedule gets a little bit easier from here on out playing a couple mid-majors (smaller schools) before Big Ten play starts. (4) Iowa has played really well to start the season with standout senior Luka Garza making his case for the Wooden award in both of the two games they have played thus far having scored an average of 33.5 points. They play () North Carolina next week which should tell us how strong they are and how they can match up against the better teams in the Big Ten.

Tier 2

The battle between (6) Illinois, (5) Wisconsin, (4) Iowa and (3) Michigan State will be very fun to watch. I have been a denier of this for years but the Big Ten is the best conference in the country in basketball this year by far. In addition, Wisconsin will be a team to watch in this pack because they always seem to be able to show up in big games especially on the road and they will need to when they go on the road and visit in-state rival Marquette Friday. (6) Illinois is a team that has definitely shown some resilience already this year. During their third day in a row with a game came back from down by five against a solid Ohio team. A game does not always have to be pretty if you are a ranked team, just as long as you get the win. This is the difference between a team that can survive in March and a team that can.

(7) Kansas has a little bit easier schedule this week before playing (9) Creighton next week. They lost last week to (1) Gonzaga by double digits but despite that they redeemed their selves last night against Kentucky. An impressive win by far and a win that shows they can bounce back from a loss which really makes the difference between a good team and a contender for a Final Four. (8) Houston definitely shocked some people Sunday night with a huge win against a reigning Final Four team in Texas Tech. They jumped ahead of a lot of teams in my rankings simply because they have a big win compared to other teams that don't or haven't played yet. They are a team that will be very interesting to watch since they don't play as hard a schedule as a Big Ten or ACC team and this means a win against a power six school means a lot more to a non power six school than one for a power six team.

Tier 3

(9) Creighton has a chance to prove that the big transfer moves they made over the off-season are going to pay off next week against (7) Kansas. They have beaten up on two smaller schools thus far and not teams anything near as good a team as (7) Kansas. This being said their first true test will come knocking very soon. (10) West Virginia looked very good last week in a tournament they replaced Tennessee in do to a Covid-19 outbreak. They will play the best team in the country (1) Gonzaga tonight in game one of two in the Jimmy V Classic and they will be looking for something to prove. I have always admired their coach Bob Huggins willingness to go anywhere and play anybody on any given day, that is why I am excited to watch this game at 6:30 Tonight on ESPN. Should be a great game to watch so set your DVRs or tune in live.

(11) Duke fell to Michigan State last night. They barely survived last week against Coppin State which is definitely worry some for this team that was supposed to be a contender for a title coming into the year. They have a chance at redemption next week against Illinois and play some small schools this week. Their schedule does not get any easier after this week so whatever issues they have going on need to be fixed as soon as possible or they will be quick to not only fall out of my rankings but also fall out of the AP's Top 25 and find themselves in a whole in the ACC. (12) Virginia Tech put on a show last week against Villanova pushing the game to overtime to win by ten points. They are by any way you put it a team that can disrupt anybody's season and make a postseason run. I am excited to watch this team as the season goes on and I am curious as to how they finish in the ACC because I think they have a more than good chance to win it. They don't play any ranked teams for a little bit but start ACC play next week.

1. Villanova (5)

2. North Carolina (NR)

3. Virginia (6)

(13)Villanova is on the verge of falling out of my rankings but I expect them to redeem themselves with a trip to Texas this coming week. (14) North Carolina played very well last night against a solid Stanford team coming back from down ten with less than ten minutes to go in the game. They have some hard and very good teams to play coming up in (3) Iowa and Texas. Should be telling how they do against these teams. (15)Virginia is another team that is on the verge of falling out and I expect them to very soon after a loss to a mid-major San Francisco. They play (3) Michigan State next week so they will have a shot at redemption but I wouldn't expect much from this team.

Teams that fell out: (none)

NR - not ranked