College Basketball Couch Power 10 (Mar. 3rd)
Wake Forest played their part in being one of three unranked teams to beat Duke in the last two weeks
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to March! This is the last Power 10 of the regular season; some conferences have already begun their postseason tournaments, and nearly all the major conferences will have their tourneys beginning this time next week.
We're in our last week of college basketball's regular season, so we should be getting a clearer picture of who the cream of the crop is, right? Upsets, by and large, have stalled, and the best of the bunch are rising to the top? Incorrect. Just in the 7 days since you've heard from me, ranked teams lost 19 times. NINETEEN TIMES. And in twelve of those nineteen games (TWELVE), the winning team was an unranked side. Some big dogs had brutal weeks: to follow up their historically embarrassing loss to NC State last week, Duke lost two more games this past week, both to unranked sides, including Wake Forest, a team with no postseason future on the horizon. Colorado's slim Pac-12 hopes and Texas Tech's slim Big XII hopes went out the window with two losses to unranked teams each. Creighton had been quietly climbing the ranks of the Couch Power 10, but lost to a mediocre St John's team by 20 points in their only game last week. Maryland seemingly had the Big Ten in hand, but needed a miracle buzzer-beater against Minnesota just to avoid an 0-3 week. And some gauntlets were thrown down in the Big East and SEC races.
You've heard me say it for over a month now, and you'll keep hearing me say it: there are no truly great teams this season, and the title is anyone's and everyone’s to win. Despite this, I’ll do my best to rank the top teams based on what they’ve done to date:
1. Kansas (26-3)
Shortly after climbing to a near-undisputed #1 ranking, Kansas played just one game last week, a closer-than-expected matchup vs. rivals Kansas State. Hey, nobody picked up a chair to throw it at the other team this time, so that spells progress.
2. Gonzaga (29-2)
In the wake of just their 2nd loss all season, the Zags responded well to adversity, demolishing a bad San Diego team, then beating a good Saint Mary's team. They've clinched yet another West Coast Conference title, in a tougher league than most years, and still look legitimate in every facet of the game.
3. Dayton (27-2)
Sorry, Dayton; just one week atop the mid-major throne for you. The Flyers' winning streak (up to 18 now) gets more and more impressive, but their wins don't, necessarily, as they swept a couple mediocre opponents last week in George Mason and Davidson. If they can win on the road at likely tournament team Rhode Island next week, it may get some eyeballs on them once again. I think this team is for real, but it's hard to know for sure when your best win is a close loss to Kansas.
4. San Diego State (28-1)
It briefly looked like San Diego State's first loss of the season might have a snowball effect; they trailed heavy underdogs Colorado State at halftime, and Nevada by 13 points midway through the second half. But in both cases, the Aztecs were able to turn it around and regain the form they'd shown through the first 26 games of the season right in time. It's been a remarkable season for them, no matter what fate the selection committee bestows on them.
5. Baylor (26-3)
All is not lost for Baylor, as ESPN's Basketball Power Index still has them as the 2nd best team in America. But boy, it is not a fun time right now to be a Bears fan, nor coach Scott Drew. After weeks as the unanimous #1 team in America, with one hand seemingly on the Big XII trophy, Baylor followed up their home loss to Kansas with a road capitulation at TCU. Then, needing a win last night just to stay in contention for the conference crown, they got one....but not before Texas Tech took them to the last second of overtime on their home court. Their season finale against West Virginia and then the conference tournament might provide a little more insight as to this team's trajectory entering March Madness.
6. Kentucky (24-5)
A sentence I thought I'd never say or type is, "everyone is sleeping on John Calipari and Kentucky." But it's true. With the current enamor of Kansas, fascination with the high-quality mid-majors, and delight in the many upsets, nobody seems to be talking about Kentucky's 8-game winning streak. They clinched yet another SEC title with a clutch win over Top 15 Auburn on Saturday, and seem to be putting all the wildly talented pieces together. It may feel like an eternity since the days the Wildcats were Final Four mainstays, but in reality they've reached the 2nd weekend of the tournament the last 3 seasons, and are safe bets to get that far, if no further, this time.
7. Florida State (24-5)
Does anyone want to win the ACC? Anyone? Bueller? All Florida State had to do was win out against a reasonably easy schedule to clinch their first regular-season title ever, but apparently, even that is hard to do in the 2020 version of the ACC, as the Seminoles dropped their only game last week to unranked Clemson. The reason it isn't punishing them more in our rankings is because Clemson is also a team that has inexplicably beaten Louisville and Duke, as well as ended their futility in Chapel Hill. Besides, the Noles still control their own destiny.
8. Seton Hall (21-7)
The legions of Seton Hall fans that read The Couch are probably wondering what took me so long to get the memo on their team? Yes, the Pirates are a very good team, and now thanks to a solid road win at Marquette and Creighton's inexplicable destruction at the hands of St. John's, the Big East is theirs to lose. A season-ending stretch of home vs. Villanova, then away vs. Creighton will put this team's quality to the test.
9. Louisville (24-6)
Louisville played just one game last week, after their 2nd loss to Florida State this season, and it was a routine win over spiraling Virginia Tech. But hey, in the kind of week we had last week, that's good enough to jump you back up into the Top 10 and a shared lead in the ACC.
10. Auburn (24-5)
Here's just how insane this season is: Auburn was not ranked in our Power 10 last week, played just one game, lost that game, and now is back in the Power 10. Why? Because in the grand scheme of things, 5 losses on the season and a competitive game against Kentucky is still a more impressive resumé than most other contenders at this point. I expect the Tigers to be a dangerous March team yet again.
Just missed: Creighton, Maryland, Duke, Villanova, Oregon, 2020 Christian Keeling
Bonus: Daniel's #1 Seeds as it stands today!
MIDWEST (Indianapolis): Kansas
WEST (Los Angeles): Gonzaga
EAST (New York): Dayton
SOUTH (Houston): Baylor