Some elite fields at preseason tournaments made for early season classics in college basketball. From Honolulu to Madison Square Garden, marquee matchups could be found in a multitude of time zones throughout the third week of the college basketball season. With a better understanding on the nation’s best teams, we have a lot of movement to track in our power rankings below!
1. Purdue (6-0)
Three top-11 wins at the Maui Invitational made it clear who the best team in college basketball is through three weeks. It’s still early but a drastic improvement from beyond the arc (from 291st in 3-point percentage to 12th) should do wonders for Zach Edey and the Boilermakers who had a dream week in Honolulu.
2. Arizona (6-0)
The battle between Caleb Love’s highly discussed inefficiency at North Carolina and Tommy Lloyd’s offensive system that oozes with efficiency was always going to be the most fascinating part of Arizona’s season. So far, so good. The Wildcats are 6-0 while scoring 95 points per game with wins at No. 2 Duke and against No. 21 Michigan State.
3. Marquette (5-1)
Although they come up short in the championship against Purdue, Shaka Smart could not have asked for much better of a week at the Maui Invitational. His group showed tremendous resolve in a 12-point second half comeback win over UCLA and knocked off the top team in the country (Kansas) in convincing fashion on Tuesday. What Tyler Kolek (pictured) lacks in size and athleticism, he makes up for in basketball wizardry.
4. UConn (6-0)
All eyes were on Maui this week, but the Huskies quietly won a tournament of their own at Madison Square Garden with a pair of double-digit victories over Indiana and No. 15 Texas. Just for good measure, they’ll travel to Allen Fieldhouse to take on Kansas in a potential game of the year on the first day of December.
5. Kansas (5-1)
Speaking of the Jayhawks, they flew home from Hawaii with a disappointing, yet impressive, third-place finish at the Maui Invitational. They need some bench pieces to step up because an already thin rotation is getting little to no production from everyone outside of their top four players.
6. Houston (7-0)
The Cougars are allowing just 49 points per game and rank 2nd at KenPom in adjusted defensive efficiency. With teams shooting just 35% from the field against them through seven games, Kelvin Sampson looks to have another group who can win games with ugly offensive performances. That will go a long way in a brutal Big 12 schedule that will challenge you every night.
7. Kentucky (5-1)
I thought it was a typo when I saw Kentucky scored 69 points at the half against Marshall and 118 for the game. DJ Wagner’s breakout performance of 28 points led the Wildcats to a win in one of the most impressive offensive displays we’ll see in college basketball this season.
8. Tennessee (4-2)
A week where your team goes 1-2 is almost always viewed as a failure, but the Vols hung in with the top-two ranked teams on back-to-back days. Despite one of the toughest schedules in the country so far, Tennessee ranks first in defensive efficiency and can be proud of a competitive week in Maui.
9. Duke (5-1)
After a short rest against the likes of La Salle and Southern Indiana, life will get difficult again for the Blue Devils when they head to Bud Walton Arena to face a reeling Razorbacks squad that is desperate for a win. It’s never fun to play in Fayetteville and it will be even less so with Arkansas needing a big time win to turn their season around.
10. Miami (5-0)
Miami has a difficult test of their own in the newly introduced SEC-ACC challenge. The ‘Canes will need to lean on Norchad Omier in a big way against an undersized Kentucky team missing all of their centers. Rupp Arena will be the place to be on Tuesday as it might take 100 points to win in this battle of top-20 teams.
11. Gonzaga (4-1)
The Zags were dealt a bad hand having to face Purdue to kick off the Maui Invitational, but they made the most of the opportunity with a hard-fought loss followed by wins over Syracuse and UCLA to cap off the trip. Anton Watson was terrific in the win over the Bruins with a career-high 32 points on 14-15 shooting.
12. Baylor (6-0)
The Bears continue to rise up the rankings with a 6-0 start and a championship at the Preseason NIT Tournament this week. They have three guards who can go off for 30 on any given night and who play with the same ferocity that the 2020-21 national championship team played with. Nobody will want to play them this March.
13. FAU (5-1)
With all the talk that the Owls were overrated coming into the year after a “fluke” run to the Final Four, a loss to Bryant last week proved their doubters correct for a brief amount of time. There’s no doubting the caliber of this team now. The ESPN Events Invitational champions dropped 96 points on a relentless Texas A&M defense and boat raced Virginia Tech 84-50 in the title game.
14. Villanova (6-1)
An early season loss to Penn had a similar effect on Villanova as it did on FAU. Behind wins over Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis, the Wildcats responded at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the best way possible. Kyle Neptune’s group is deep, talented and disciplined in a way that would make the legendary Jay Wright proud. The Cats are back.
15. Colorado State (6-0)
Welcome to the show, Colorado State. The Rams burst onto the scene this week with a dominant upset win over No. 8 Creighton at the Hall of Fame Classic. They did it by holding the Blue Jays to just 48 points and All-American candidate Trey Alexander to 1-16 shooting.
16. Texas A&M (5-1)
The Aggies captured a third-place finish at their tournament this week without three starters in a win over Iowa State Sunday night. This experience will serve them for the better as they grow their depth around a pair of stars in the backcourt. Buzz Williams could have true contenders in the SEC with this group in 2023-24.
Next 5: Texas, Ohio State, Memphis, James Madison, North Carolina
Players of the Week:
Zach Edey, Purdue Boilermakers
Edey rose to the occasion this week, asserting himself and his team as the best player in college basketball. The 7’4 junior posted three double-doubles and averaged over 25 points in games against some of the best competition the sport has to offer.
Kevin McCullar, Kansas Jayhawks
McCullar’s offensive development this season has kept the Jayhawks afloat when they otherwise would be lost trying to score points. He’s known for his elite defense but has added tremendous playmaking and shot-creation ability early in his fifth collegiate season. If he continues at this pace, expect him to be a late-first or early second round pick this Summer.
Eric Dixon, Villanova Wildcats
The Wildcats don’t go on a run to win the Battle 4 Atlantis without Dixon’s heroics against North Carolina. The senior big man didn’t just handle All-American center Armando Bacot, he dominated him. His 34 points against the Tar Heels set a career-high and warned the country that he is back and better than ever.
David Jones, Memphis Tigers
This is the least hype Memphis has had under Penny Hardaway, yet the Tigers are off to their best start under their sixth-year head coach. David Jones is the biggest reason why. The two-time transfer leads the team with 17.8 points per game thanks in part to a 36-point effort against Arkansas this week. Jones is an under the radar name to track as the season goes on for the Tigers.
Sebastian Mack, UCLA Bruins
The guards who led UCLA’s resurgence under Mick Cronin are gone, but Sebastian Mack is here to carry on their legacy. The true freshman combo guard shined against Marquette early in the week and leads the team in scoring with 16 points per game. He needs to work on his 3-point jumper, but Mack is aggressive and electric attacking the basket, which he showed on a national stage for the first, but not last, time in his young career.
Play of the Week:
Some of you may remember the name Bobby Pettiford from his time at Kansas, but what you might not know is that he is a half-court heave maestro. Now at East Carolina, Pettiford buried a game-winning shot that he will never forget. Check it out below!
https://x.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1727142279956283701?s=20
