Louisville rises to No. 9 after beating rival Kentucky at home while Illinois makes a massive jump to No. 9 after a taking down Texas Tech.
Here is my Power 37 after the second week of college basketball.
1. Purdue (Prev. 1): The Boilermakers had an impressive road win at Alabama to send a clear message that they should be No. 1 and then blew past Akron Sunday night.2. Arizona (Prev. 3): The Wildcats leapfrog Houston with the win over UCLA in LA.3. Houston (Prev. 2): The Cougars survive in the final seconds against a gritty Auburn in Birmingham.4. UConn (Prev. 5): The Huskies held on to beat BYU in Boston and get Arizona next at home.5. Duke (Prev. 6): The Blue Devils will get their second Power Five test this week when they play Kansas.6. Alabama (Prev. 4): The Tide couldn’t defend Braden Smith and the Boilers late. No shame, but also no rest for them with Illinois up next.7. Michigan (Prev. 7): The Wolverines escaped with wins over Wake Forest and at TCU. They are getting tested but finding a way to win. 8. Louisville (Prev. 13): The Cardinals beat rival Kentucky at home and are off to a fantastic start.
📖 HOW IT HAPPENED: Louisville takes down rival Kentucky
9. Illinois (Prev. 20): A massive jump for the Illini and that’s because they beat Texas Tech and are looking scary good offensively.10. Texas Tech (Prev. 9): Credit Grant McCasland for taking his Red Raiders into Champaign. This team will be in the Big 12 hunt.11. St. John’s (Prev. 10): The Red Storm are still figuring out how to play together, and they seemed to have clicked defensively and on the boards in the second half against William & Mary.12. Florida (Prev. 12): The Gators got the sweep of the power programs in the state by beating Miami after taking down Florida State.13. Kentucky (Prev. 8): The Wildcats lost at rival Louisville but get another big-time opponent this week when they play Michigan State at MSG.14. North Carolina (Prev. 14): The Tar Heels got the Kansas W and have a number of ranked games coming in the weeks ahead.15. BYU (Prev. 11): Give the Cougars credit for challenging themselves early and often in the non-conference. They nearly pulled off the upset against UConn in Boston.
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16. Michigan State (Prev. 16): The Spartans are getting quality play out of their collective bigs and will need them all against Kentucky this week.17. Indiana (Prev. 17): The Hoosiers’ offense won’t be an issue. Like most teams, they need to continue to tighten up defensively. But this team clearly looks like it will exceed expectations.18. UCLA (Prev. 15): The Bruins lost to Arizona in LA and will need to continue to improve defensively, especially late in games.19. Tennessee (Prev. 19): The schedule has been light, thus far, so it’s still hard to know the ceiling on this crew.20. Wisconsin (Prev. 21): Nolan Winter has been an underappreciated big man nationally, let alone in the Big Ten. He’ll be tested against BYU this week.21. Iowa State (Prev. 22): Tamin Lipsey went off for 25 in a win over Mississippi State.22. Gonzaga (Prev. 23): Graham Ike and the Zags crushed Creighton at home and took care of Arizona State on the road.
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23. Arkansas (Prev. 18): It should come as no surprise that John Calipari has a few sensational freshmen leading his team.24. Georgetown (Prev. 25): The Hoyas beat Clemson and are looking the part of being the third-best team in the Big East.25. Ohio State (Prev. 28): Bruce Thornton is having an all-American type season, thus far, and the Buckeyes beat back Notre Dame. 26. Auburn (Prev. 24): The Tigers nearly took down Houston in Birmingham but late-game execution will need to improve.27. NC State (Prev. 29): Darrion Williams has been everything he was projected to be when he transferred from Texas Tech.28. Kansas (Prev. 26): The Jayhawks will find out where they potentially stand without star freshman Darryn Peterson this week and next against elite competition.29. Missouri (Prev. 30): The Tigers drilled Minnesota and need to be on the SEC radar as a potential top five finisher.
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30. Kansas State (Prev. 31): The Wildcats and P.J. Haggerty are looking the part of being a contender for a bid out of the Big 12.31. Baylor (Prev. 34): The Bears are a young crew that will be trouble as the season progresses.32. Nebraska (Prev. 37): The Huskers are climbing and are going to be a tough out at home and on the road. For example, beating Oklahoma in South Dakota last week.33. Oregon (Prev. 33): Jackson Shelstad is back! And that means the Ducks will start to rise.34. Iowa (Prev. 32): Had Nebraska take a jump over the Hawkeyes for now. Iowa will get a chance to prove itself against Ole Miss coming up.35. Ole Miss (Prev. 35): The Rebels defense is clicking, which will give them a chance in every game.36. Utah State (Prev. 36): The Aggies have great balance and are already defending at a high clip.37. West Virginia (NR): Ross Hodge has the Mountaineers rolling early, as the beatdown of rival Pitt showed last week.
Dropped out: Creighton (Prev. 27)
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.
