Tennessee went on the road and beat Illinois at the buzzer on Saturday, then turned around three days later and demolished Western Carolina at home by 48 points. ... and yet the Vols have still been supplanted by Auburn at No. 1 in this week's men's college basketball power rankings.
That says more about Auburn than it does about Tennessee -- Auburn currently ranks No. 1 at both KenPom.com and BartTorvik.com after dominant wins over Ohio State (91-53) and Georgia State (100-59) in the past week. The Tigers also won three games in three days against a strong Maui Invitational field in November and are 3-0 in the last 11 days with a 41-point average margin of victory.
Auburn has earned its place atop the rankings. Tennessee has been excellent, no doubt -- credit where it's due -- but Auburn has been operating in its own elite tier so far.
This week's Power Rankings reflect that -- with Tennessee dropping one spot to No. 2 as part of a shakeup in the top five. UConn climbed another notch, while the Florida Gators made their highest appearance of the season.
There's much to unpack here, so let's dive in with the rankings guidelines as we always do and make clear how we operate in this space. I promise to abide by these as closely as I can throughout the season.
Power Rankings definition: Ranking teams with an emphasis on recent performance based on their level of competition. These are heavily unscientific in nature and can be distilled down to a "vibes" ranking -- with things like margin of victory, injuries, performance vs. top competition, momentum and other sometimes subjective factors weighing into the equation. The power rankings can be thought of in a weekly setting as a reaction -- or sometimes even an overreaction -- to the small sample of the week that was.
Let's get to it.
| 1 |  |
| No team has looked as formidable or fearsome as Bruce Pearl's Tigers this season. Entering Saturday's game against Purdue, they hold a 10-1 record and boast the No. 1 offense in adjusted efficiency metrics at KenPom led by Player of the Year frontrunner Johni Broome. While Broome's shoulder injury from Tuesday is a concern, it's not expected to be a long-term issue. | |
| 2 |  |
| Tennessee ranks No. 1 this season in adjusted defensive efficiency, 3-point defense, and effective field goal percentage allowed. In a year dominated by the SEC, the Vols are 11-0 -- crushing opponents by an average margin of 25.2 points per game. | |
| 3 |  |
| UConn hasn't lost this season in the continental United States and is now riding a five-game winning streak that includes victories over Baylor, Texas, Gonzaga and -- most recently -- Xavier. An overtime win over the Musketeers Wednesday kept the Huskies' hot streak rolling. | |
| 4 |  |
| Mick Cronin's Bruins have won nine straight dating back to early November and now rank No. 1 in turnovers forced and No. 4 in defensive efficiency after wins this week over Arizona and Prairie View A&M. They can win shootouts and slugfests alike -- and might be the favorite to win the Big Ten in their first season. | |
| 5 |  |
| It's time to recalibrate expectations for Florida. After starting the year No. 21 and working through a soft nonconference schedule, it's been a slow burn, but the Gators continue to look great. They won twice this week -- over Arizona State and North Carolina -- to improve to 11-0. That's the team's best start since Billy Donovan's 2005-06 club, which went on to win the national title. | |
| 6 |  |
| Kentucky basketball is fun again under Mark Pope, and the results have been better than expected in his first season. The Wildcats (10-1) have won three straight heading into the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday, including victories over Gonzaga and Louisville. | |
| 7 |  |
| Iowa State dug out of an early deficit Thursday and showed resilience to beat rival Iowa on the road, even with an off night from Keshon Gilbert. The Cyclones are the only team in college basketball with top-10 marks in both offense and defense in adjusted efficiency metrics this season. | |
| 8 |  |
| In a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately system like these Power Rankings, Duke is treading water only because it has played four games this month -- two of which in the last 10 days were to Incarnate Word and George Mason. The Blue Devils are still firmly in the top 10, though, because remember: we're only two weeks removed from an 84-78 Duke win over Auburn in Durham. | |
| 9 |  |
| Four of A&M's last five games have been decided by five or fewer points -- all of which the Aggies won. They have a knack for playing close games -- and most recently, winning them, with Texas Tech and Purdue as the latest victims in their five-game (and counting) win streak. | |
| 10 |  |
| Jeremiah Fears: Certified dawg. OU has a stud in the true freshman who dropped 30 points Wednesday -- including a converted four-point play in the final 12 seconds -- in an 87-86 win over Michigan. The Sooners are 11-0 and buzz is building in Norman like it hasn't since the Buddy Hield days. | |
| 11 |  |
| Playing with a top-10 tempo and ranking No. 6 in average possession length on offense, Alabama's top-10 offense has powered it to three straight wins over UNC, Creighton, and North Dakota. The Tide's 89.4 points per game ranks fourth most in all of college basketball. | |
| 12 |  |
| Houston went 1-0 this week with its lone outing ending in a 78-49 demolition of Toledo. Its last nonconference game is up Saturday before Big 12 play starts Dec. 30. | |
| 13 |  |
| Welcome to the Power Rankings, Dayton! Some deserved shine for Anthony Grant's Flyers, who were 2-0 this week at home beating both Marquette and UNLV. | |
| 14 |  |
| Drake got its third win over a power conference team this week in a 73-70 overtime victory over Kansas State to improve to 10-0 on the season. Bulldogs have a chance to be not just an NCAA Tournament team, but one that makes real noise in March. | |
| 15 |  |
| The team with the best scoring margin in college hoops isn't Auburn or Tennessee -- it's the Terps of Maryland. That's in part because of a cake nonconference schedule, but nevertheless, this team is playing at a high level. They demolished Saint Francis this week, 111-57, despite trailing early and allowing a combined 15 points in the final 10 minutes of both halves. Yowza. | |
| 16 |  |
| Rick Pitino and his St. John's team are back in the power rankings after four consecutive wins by double digits dating back to November. The Red Storm beat DePaul by 28 to open Big East play Tuesday. | |
