After opining for weeks about the dominance of the top teams in college basketball, we FINALLY have some shake-ups this week! Well, when you have two matchups between top-5 teams on the same day, one of them has to lose. Let’s see how far they fell!
Top 25 College Basketball Rankings
1. Duke
It would be malpractice to have any team other than Duke as the number one team this week after their neutral-site victory over Michigan. Cameron Boozer may have locked up all of the National Player of the Year awards in the process, putting up an efficient 18, 11, and 7 against a brutally tough Michigan frontcourt.
2. Michigan
Does losing to Duke make me doubt Michigan’s ability to win a National Championship? No, not really. It just showed that they are a little more vulnerable than we previously thought, but they still may very well be the best team in the country. On a night where Aday Mara and Morez Johnson got in foul trouble, Elliott Cadeau was a complete non-factor, and the team shot less than 25% from 3, they still almost won. That’s scary.
3. Arizona
No Koa Peat, no problem this week for the Arizona Wildcats. They beat BYU and Houston in back-to-back games without their star freshman thanks to two breakout performances from Anthony Dell’Orso. I do worry that the math of the 3-point shot will catch up to this inside-oriented team, but it hasn’t yet.
4. Florida
No team in the country is as hot as the Florida Gators, who have won 7 straight in the brutally tough SEC. They finally seem to have figured out their best lineups and have gotten more from guards Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee. The Gators are the #1 team on Torvik from January 25th til today.
5. Illinois
It’s now all systems go for the Illini now that they have Kylan Boswell back. This should improve the defense that ranks 30th nationally in defensive efficiency. If not for an incredible play from Donovan Dent, Illinois would have escaped from the West Coast unharmed.
