Fourth Quarter Sports’ College Basketball power rankings: Week seven

It’s that time of the week where we at Fourth Quarter Sports give you our edition of the College Basketball Power Rankings. 

Before we get into this week’s rankings, let’s take a look at last week’s here. 

One thing you’ll notice is how different the rankings look this week.  It is also different from what we get from the committees rankings. 

We have a new team in the top five, and another in the top 10. There are also a few new teams in the top 25. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered again this week. So let’s take a look at the new rankings.  

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1. Kansas (9-0)
2. Virginia (9-0)
3. Nevada (11-0)
4. Tennessee (8-1)
5. Michigan (11-0)
6. Duke (9-1)
7. Auburn (9-1)
8. North Carolina (8-2)
9. Michigan State (9-2)
10. Florida State (8-1)
11. Texas Tech (10-0)
12. Virginia Tech (9-1)
13. Gonzaga (9-2)
14. Buffalo (10-0)
15. Marquette (8-2)
16. Kentucky (8-2)
17. Wisconsin (9-2)
18. Iowa (8-2)
19. Ohio State (9-1)
20. Arizona State (8-1)
21. Mississippi State (9-1)
22. Furman (12-0)
23. Houston (10-0)
24. Indiana (9-2)
25. North Carolina State (9-1)

 

On the Bubble

St. John’s, Temple, Davidson, UCLA, UConn, Cincinnati, Butler and Minnesota

Dropped from the Rankings

Villanova, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Maryland

 

Top 25 Breakdown

Numbers One through Five

There’s not much change at the top this week. Kansas took care of business as the No. 1 team, as they continued to be perfect by knocking off Villanova in their revenge game from the Final Four last year. That win against Villanova has changed the top 25 as well.

But the only major change in our version of the the top five, is having Michigan back in after another Gonzaga loss knocks them down.

I do think Tennessee, Nevada and Virginia are deserving of being in the top five because of who their wins have come against. That’s also why I have Michigan over Duke at the moment.

Numbers Six through 10

But Duke is right behind Michigan. If you look at the committees rankings, you may see Duke higher, but they just haven’t had any big games yet. That’s aside from the blowout against Kentucky in their first game of the season. Then they lost to Gonzaga. All other opponents have been weaker. Hopefully that can change soon.

Auburn, Michigan State and Florida State all added more wins to their total, keeping them in the top 10 for now.

For North Carolina, it’s about them proving they’ve still got it after being embarrassed by Michigan and Texas earlier this season. Proving is what they did with their win over Gonzaga. Can they continue to prove us wrong? We’ll find out in this weekend’s games how they fair.

Numbers 11 through 15

Despite still being undefeated, Texas Tech was jumped by North Carolina to get into the top 10. That’s okay for now, until their next game against one of North Carolina’s biggest rivals, Duke. If they can win that, they will make a huge case to be one of the top 10 teams.

Virginia Tech and Buffalo have managed to stay right where they want to be. Virginia Tech held off Washington and Buffalo prepares themselves for one of the toughest games of the season so far.

Gonzaga are losers of their last two games against Tennessee and North Carolina. That is why we’ve seen them drop all the way to 13th. They will probably continue to be one of the best teams in the nation, but can they continue to win and prove us wrong by winning a National Championship?

Marquette should have been up here last week, but I missed on them. I gave Maryland and Nebraska another chance to prove they belong, which they did, but the strength of schedule on wins over top 25 teams for Marquette has bumped them into the top 15. They could likely move up even higher in next week’s rankings with another win over a top 15 team.

Numbers 16 through 20

Kentucky managed to rebound from their upset loss to Seton Hall, which has kept them in the top 25 for now. They have another big game coming this week. I would say that game is a must win, as they are set out to prove they can beat a top team.

All three of these Big Ten teams are still managing to stay ranked while they take care of the lighter part of their schedule. That’s good, because it will help each of them at the end when it comes to who’s in and who’s out of the tournament.

Arizona State seems to be the only real PAC-12 team who has a chance of making any noise this season. This week we could either see them fall down from rankings, or take a huge jump up as they face another undefeated team. Don’t be surprised when they move to a different spot next week.

Numbers 21 through 25

Mississippi State has continuously looked great this season, with their only loss coming from Arizona State. Hence the reason they are ahead of Mississippi State. I do expect to see Mississippi State stay ranked, as they just beat Cincinnati.

Furman and Houston are still undefeated and have put together some impressive wins against top opponents. That explains why they are in the top 25 for the moment. They might actually be able to stay here for a while, but they will need to continue winning.

Houston is another team I left out last week, but Maryland and Nebraska helped make room for them. I do expect to see those two teams on the bubble and have a chance to stay in the running, but Houston is just on a roll right now.

Indiana has continued to win the big games after losses to Duke and Arkansas earlier in the season. Indiana is hoping to prove they are for real in the Big Ten. Wins over Louisville, Butler and Marquette are what has helped them get into the top 25. We could expect to see them stay there for a little longer.

North Carolina State has also been proving they can be one of the elite teams. Their only loss so far as been against Wisconsin. Based on their schedule alone they should be ranked. Although, it feels right to wait one more week to see if they can beat a top 10 team and earn a spot. Nonetheless, North Carolina State should be in the top 25. If not, then on the bubble heading into their next game.

The teams who are out of the rankings are not only Nebraska and Maryland, but also Villanova and Oklahoma. The only team who has lost recently has been Villanova. It’s fine to lose to Kansas as the top team in the nation, but before that they lost to an ivy league school. That’s not something we loom for out of the reigning National champions. Hopefully they can start to right the ship, because they aren’t looking that great this season.

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Will we see the same teams in the top 25 next week? Who will rise? Who will fall? Can one of the bubble teams make their case for a top 25 spot? Stay tuned next week and see who’s in and out of the top 25. Also, share who you believe should be in the top 25 based on what you’ve seen this season!