There's a new No. 1 in our latest college basketball Power Rankings. It's not Kansas -- the preseason and current No. 1 in the AP Top 25 that has looked fallible at times. And it isn't Auburn, the No. 1 team in these Power Rankings last week that is dominating both sides of the floor. Nor is it, as you might've guessed as a well-versed hoops fan, the Houston Cougars, the No. 1 team on BartTorvik's analytics-driven site despite losing to the aforementioned Auburn Tigers.
It's the Gonzaga Bulldogs. And it's a deserved recognition for a team that has looked like the best team in college basketball this season.
Gonzaga opened the season with a shocking result in Spokane: a 101-63 blitzing of then-No. 8 Baylor. But the shock wore off a bit after a close tilt at home vs. Arizona State, followed by a drubbing of UMass Lowell that didn't air on linear cable.
But the Bulldogs reminded the college hoops ecosystem this week why they should be considered the best in basketball right now by taking it to San Diego State on the road in an 80-67 win on Monday and then doubling up Long Beach State, 84-41, on Wednesday night. Their résumé is now as follows:
- Wins by 38 and 13 over Baylor and San Diego State, respectively
- No. 1 offense in adjusted efficiency margin at KenPom
- No. 18 defense in adjusted efficiency margin at KenPom
- No. 3 in fewest turnovers per game, committing 8.0 per game
- No. 7 in 3-point percentage allowed; opponents shooting 22.5% from 3-point range vs. Gonzaga
If you want to rank Kansas at No. 1 after it opened the season at No. 1 and has yet to lose, fine. If you want to rank Auburn or Houston or UConn at No. 1 because the eye test or analytics or some combination of both, I wouldn't put up a huge fight. But the Zags are No. 1 given their performances in a handful of quality nonconference games and their electric offense, which looks like it'll be among the toughest to slow in the sport.
Your thoughts, Mr. Few?
The Week 2 Power Rankings -- of which there are 16 teams -- are listed below. As I intend to do each way to make it crystal clear, my own personal operating guidelines for how I rank the teams are also listed below. 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 | |
| Is Mark Few going to win his first national championship at 62 years old this April? We'll see. But two weeks into the season, he has the best team in college basketball, and maybe -- MAYBE! -- the most complete team of his tenure. | |
| 2 | |
| Auburn has a big one upcoming Monday vs. an Iowa State team that is a booger to contend with defensively. The Tigers are 4-0 on the season so far with the best win of any team in the sport after taking down Houston on Nov. 9. | |
| 3 | |
| Kentucky fans aren't going to love the recognition again this wee,k but I will not apologize for being a truth teller. And the truth is this: Kentucky -- with a neutral-site win over Duke and double-digit wins vs. Wright State, Bucknell and Lipscomb -- has been a top-three team this season. | |
| 4 | |
| Dan Hurley wasn't too pleased after *only* beating East Texas A&M on Tuesday by 35 points, but I'm not Dan Hurley. And I'm pleased by the blowout, and from what I've seen from the Huskies in their 4-0 start to defending their title. | |
| 5 | |
| There's still a lot to like about this Kansas team even if they haven't blown my socks off. It's won every game and i 5-0 entering a Tuesday tilt vs. Duke, with wins over North Carolina and Michigan State on the résumé. | |
| 6 | |
| A road win for Marquette over Maryland on Friday caught my eye, but an 18-point home blowout of a top-10 Purdue team Tuesday has my undivided attention. Golden Eagles have an All-American candidate in Kam Jones and a defense behind him led by David Joplin that's looking something fierce. | |
| 7 | |
| Rick Barnes' Vols have yet to break a sweat on the season in what has been a relatively soft nonconference schedule. They've got a bigger test coming Thursday vs. Virginia, where I expect their defense wins a knockdown, drag-out fight. | |
| 8 | |
| Texas Tech remains the biggest disparity in the Power Rankings vs. the real life rankings, but I'm skeptical it lasts long. The Red Raiders are still unranked in the AP poll but the computers -- along with myself -- are convinced they are top-10 quality. It's only a matter of time before they get their due. Keep those tortillas holstered, Tech fans. It's coming. | |
| 9 | |
| As expected, Iowa State is winning by suffocating teams on defense, and in the process leading the sport in forcing turnovers with a 28% turnover rate. Monday's game vs. Auburn on Monday will serve as a good measuring stick for how real this team can be. | |
| 10 | |
| Creighton beat a Kansas City team -- which won by 100 points over a former bible college school this last week -- by 23 points two days prior to that. It is now 4-0 with Nebraska, San Diego State and Texas A&M on deck in the next week. | |
| 11 | |
| One of only two teams -- along with Auburn -- to have a top-five offense and a top-five defense two weeks into the season. The Cougars get an obvious ding for their loss to Auburn and for their soft schedule elsewhere so far, but they're 2-1 with wins vs. Jackson State and Louisiana coming by a combined 103 points. | |
| 12 | |
| Duke has its true road test of the season coming Friday at Arizona, which could push it into the top 10 or out of the Power Rankings entirely, depending upon outcome. No. 12 feels right for now as we account for the loss to Kentucky and convincing wins vs. Maine, Army and Wofford. | |
| 13 | |
| My goodness did Alabama's offense put on a show Wednesday. Against a quality Illinois team, Nate Oats' club scored 100 points -- doing so despite All-American Mark Sears finishing with zero points on the night. The depth of this team is unreal, and the emerging star power of freshman Labaron Philon is at this point irrefutable. | |
| 14 | |
| Welcome to the Power Rankings, Pitt! The Panthers are 5-0 with wins over Murray State and West Virginia at the top of the résumé. They've got size down low and really talented guards that'll win them a whole bunch of games this season. Not-so-darkhorse ACC contender? | |
| 15 | |
| I'm anxious to learn more about this Cincinnati team, but I'm still hesitantly ranking it at the back end of the Power Rankings for now until we see it against real competition. For now, No. 15 seems fair given the soft schedule while also serving as an acknowledgment that the Bearcats have fared well and looked good so far. | |
| 16 | |
| Four of the Gators' five wins this season have come against teams from Florida (South Florida, Jacksonville, Florida State and Florida A&M) -- and all five of their wins have come by double digits. The 13-point road win vs. the Seminoles on Friday helped the Gators' offense climb into the top-10 in efficiency and highlights the star power they have on offense led by Walter Clayton, Will Richard and Alijah Martin. | |