There weren’t any changes to the top three spots in Andy Katz’s Power 37 rankings from last week, but Gonzaga moved up five spots while UConn jumped duke and Louisville dropped outside the top 20 following its 21-point loss to Tennessee.
Here are the latest rankings:
1. Arizona (1): The Wildcats dispatched San Diego State to remain undefeated. 2. Michigan (2): The Wolverines enter the Holidays as the most intimidating team. 3. Iowa State (3): The Cyclones continue to be the surprise of the top 10. 4. UConn (5): The Huskies are the clear favorite in the Big East. 5. Gonzaga (10): Saw up close the depth of the Zags and their scoring prowess. 6. Purdue (6): The Boilermakers crushed Auburn in Indy to complete the state of Alabama sweep. 7. Duke (4): The Blue Devils were cruising to a win before 17-point Texas Tech comeback stunned them in the Garden. 8. Michigan State (7): The Spartans pulled away from Oakland in Detroit in the annual Tom Izzo-Greg Kampe Christmas sweater game. 9. Kansas (8): The Jayhawks continue to survive without a healthy Darryn Peterson. 10. Houston (11): The Cougars pulled off a much-needed elite win by beating Arkansas in Newark. 11. Alabama (12): The Tide can score. Will they be able to defend at an elite level?
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12. BYU (13): AJ Dybantsa had a highlight-reel game against Abilene Christian and the Cougars continue to roll. 13. Vanderbilt (14): The Commodores blasted Wake Forest to remain undefeated. 14. Nebraska (15): The Huskers are off to a record start and are a real contender in the Big Ten. 15. North Carolina (16): Caleb Wilson blocks the Buckeyes in Atlanta and the Tar Heels continue to gain confidence. 16. Illinois (18): The Illini can make a major statement yet again against Missouri Monday night. 17. Seton Hall (19): Shaheen Holloway got a road win at Providence to set up a major showdown with Villanova for a possible 2-0 Big East start. 18. Arkansas (17): The Hogs have two of the top freshmen but overall looked a bit green in the loss to Houston in Newark. 19. Texas Tech (24): Christian Anderson. He was sensational in the second half to lead the upset over Duke. 20. Kentucky (26): Welcome back Jayden Quaintance and Jaland Lowe. The Wildcats are returning to full strength and that could cause trouble in the SEC. 21. Tennessee (25): The Vols clocked the Mikel Brown-less Louisville Cardinals in a much-needed boost of a win. 22. Southern California (22): The Trojans officially are going to be without Rodney Rice but now may get Alijah Arenas back quicker than thought in mid-January. 23. Virginia (32): Ryan Odom has the Cavaliers back to being a likely top five ACC squad. 24. Louisville (9): The Cardinals dropped but didn’t have Brown in the loss to Tennessee. But it shows just how much of a must he is to their success. 25. Miami (Fla.) (27): The ‘Canes have a rising star in Shelton Henderson. Remember that name. 26. St. John’s (20): The Red Storm suffered through a scoring drought against Kentucky. Unfortunately that may be a trend. 27. Villanova (NR): The Wildcats got out to a strong start against Wisconsin and then pulled away in overtime in a monster win in Milwaukee. 28. Georgia (31): Mike White has the Bulldogs quietly moving up in the SEC. 29. Iowa (29): The Hawkeyes are becoming one of the Big Ten sleepers.
MORE RANKINGS: Arizona, Michigan lead latest AP Top 25
30. Cal (28): The Bears are atop the ACC overall standings. Mark Madsen’s crew has a chance to stay in the upper half throughout the season. 31. TCU (33): The Horned Frogs will grind out wins throughout the season but they aren’t going anywhere. 32. Florida (NR): The Gators finally found their footing and appear to be ready to resume being one of the better SEC teams this season. 33. UCLA (NR): The Bruins are healthy and finding a variety of scorers, a necessity if they are going to be an NCAA tournament team. 34. New Mexico (NR): Eric Olen can flat-out coach. He’s got the Lobos as one of the top teams in the Mountain West heading into conference play. 35. Tulsa (NR): The Golden Hurricane have one loss and enter conference play as the team to beat in the American. 36. Miami (Ohio) (NR): The Redhawks are undefeated. Having a ridiculously gaudy record could still happen and give the MAC a chance for two bids for the first time in 20-plus years. 37. Utah State (NR): The Aggies are poised to challenge for another Mountain West title run.
Dropped out: Notre Dame (21), Arizona State (23), Auburn (30), Ohio State (34), Wisconsin (35), Washington (36), Boise State (37).
On the verge: Clemson, Baylor, Oklahoma, Saint Mary’s.
Andy Katz is an NCAA.com correspondent. Katz worked at ESPN for 18 years as a college basketball reporter, host and anchor. He’s covered every Final Four since 1992, and the sport since 1986 as a freshman at Wisconsin. He is a former president of the United States Basketball Writers Association. Katz can also be seen covering college basketball on Big Ten Network during the regular season. Follow him on Twitter at @theandykatz.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
