Rant Sports Week 9 Official College Basketball Top 25 Rankings
College Basketball Top 25 Rankings
Conference play has started and the season is about to get even more exciting. Two top 10 teams going at it in November is quite the site to see, but there is nothing like teams battling it out for a conference title. Before the weekend starts, take a look at the latest college basketball top 25 rankings.
Conference play has already started with a bang. Colorado edged out a pesky Oregon State team, Oregon just barely beat Utah State in overtime and Gonzaga showed its dominance of the WCC by beating Saint Mary’s with ease.
I can assure you one thing and that is the fact that it is only going to get better. Okay, so maybe that is not an actual fact, but I am sure many people would agree with me.
Like usual, there will be great matchups all weekend long. However, these three contests should have people really excited for the weekend: Iowa vs. Wisconsin, Oregon vs. Colorado and San Diego State vs. Kansas.
As you can see from that last matchup, conference play has not started for every single team in college basketball, just the majority of them.
This is the time of the year when the discussion of bubble teams start to arise. With that said, many teams who have some serious catching up to do still have some time to get on the right side of the bubble.
Non-conference play allows teams to show their worth, but conference play makes or breaks a team’s season.
Well, Week 9 is among us, so read on to see the college basketball top 25 rankings.
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25. Missouri Tigers
Missouri passed its first and only road test of the season against North Carolina State. That was surprisingly their only road game so far.
24. Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa is 1-0 in the conference, but it will have its toughest challenge of the season yet when it takes on Wisconsin next.
23. Texas Longhorns
Texas has the opportunity to make some noise early in Big 12 play, as it will take on Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in back-to-back games.
22. Massachusetts Minutemen
Massachusetts beat another quality opponent in the Providence Friars. It will play one more game before conference play, but it should have all of the momentum in the world right now
21. Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado won its first Pac-12 game of the season and that is really all that matters. The unranked Oregon Ducks are up next.
20. Connecticut Huskies
I understood the loss to Stanford, but the loss to Houston should have Connecticut fans a little worried.
Houston definitely has some talent, but the Huskies were too good in their non-conference schedule to start losing to opponents they should have no problem beating now.
19. Memphis Tigers
Memphis has a tough stretch ahead, as it will play Cincinnati, Louisville, Temple and Connecticut next. Three out of four of those teams are talented enough to make the NCAA tournament.
18. San Diego State Aztecs
San Diego State has been amazing so far. Just imagine what a win against the Kansas Jayhawks would do to this team’s confidence.
17. North Carolina Tar Heels
North Carolina will take on Wake Forest and Miami next. It should win both of those games before it has to take on Syracuse. Knowing this Tar Heels team, they will lose against the Demon Deacons and Hurricanes and then beat the Orange.
16. Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas will have a shot to beat its second ranked opponent of the year when it takes on San Diego State. That victory would also move it up the rankings.
15. Kentucky Wildcats
This young Kentucky team finally beat a ranked opponent. Not to mention, it was against a top 10 team in the Louisville Cardinals.
Not a bad victory considering Louisville won a championship last year.
14. Villanova Wildcats
Villanova has looked shaky in its last two games. It lost to Syracuse by 16 points and then just barely beat Butler by three in overtime.
13. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville is a tournament team at this point, but that is about it. The Cardinals have lost two games this season and both came against ranked opponents.
12. Florida Gators
If you are like me, you cannot wait to see how Chris Walker does in his first game as a Florida Gator. The Gators are clicking at the right time and it will be interesting to see if they can carry their momentum into conference play.
11. Baylor Bears
There is not much to say about Baylor other than it is a very good basketball team. The Bears have had a very easy schedule ever since the showdown against Kentucky.
10. Oregon Ducks
Good thing Oregon was able to escape Utah with a win because it will play Colorado next.
9. Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State cannot overlook the contest against Texas Tech, but the showdown with Baylor is very hard to not get excited about.
8. Wichita State Shockers
Wichita State is the best team in the MVC. By far. Period.
7. Duke Blue Devils
Duke will take on Notre Dame next. You would think that the Blue Devils would have a rather tough road test, but the Fighting Irish are nowhere near as talented without Jerian Grant.
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oklahoma State will be tested right off of the bat against Kansas State. The game will be played on the road. The Cowboys have only played once on the road this season, so it will be interesting to see how they do against a Wildcats team who has won eight games in a row.
5. Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State had no problem against Penn State in its first Big Ten game. Well, that is not exactly true since the Spartans were down at halftime. They ran away with it in the second half, though. They will play a tougher Indiana team next and then an even more talented Ohio State team on Jan. 7.
4. Wisconsin Badgers
I am not sure if anyone expected the Wisconsin Badgers to be this good, but guess what? They are. 14-0 and they will play Iowa next.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State has been one of the best teams in college hoops so far, but I want to see how the Buckeyes do against the Michigan State Spartans and the rest of the Big Ten.
2. Syracuse Orange
Syracuse passed its toughest test of the season by knocking off the Villanova Wildcats. It is breathing right down the No. 1 team's neck and could be the top team in the nation very, very soon. The only problem is...
1. Arizona Wildcats
Arizona looks unbeatable. It only allowed 25 points against Wichita State. There are plenty of teams who are good enough to knock off the Wildcats, but that is not going to happen if this team keeps playing at such a high level.
