16. Vanderbilt
The Commodores have settled back in after their 3-game slide in the middle of January. It was no Duke Miles, no problem against both Kentucky and Ole Miss this week. The Miles injury has meant more minutes for one of the best names in college basketball – Chandler Bing. Could the SEC BE any tougher?
17. Kentucky
The Wildcats notched one of the biggest wins of the Mark Pope era this past Saturday, going into Bud Walton Arena and beating the Razorbacks in a game that had seemingly had a technical foul awarded every 2 minutes. It has to feel good for Pope to beat the man he replaced in Lexington.
18. Saint Louis
There is a very clear pantheon of the best Atlantic 10 teams of all-time – there’s 2004 St Joseph’s, and 2020 Dayton. They may have to make room for one more. The Saint Louis Billikens look like a complete buzzsaw in the 2026 A10. Enjoy Josh Schertz while you have him, because he won’t be here for very long.
19. BYU
AJ Dybantsa is obviously great. But why doesn’t he play great against top competition? It’s going to become a bit of a problem in the NCAA tournament, when the only teams left to play are top competition.
20. St. John’s
Rick Pitino’s Red Storm is just very quietly getting things done in a below-average Big East. This team definitely has more offense than last season, and flamethrower Ian Jackson could be a huge difference-maker down the stretch of the season.
