College Basketball Couch Power 10 (Jan. 25th)
Houston was headed for the inaugural #1 ranking in the 2023 Couch Power 10, but middling Temple had other ideas
Are you down right now? Stuck in the cold grey of January? Have the post-Christmas, approaching-Valentine's blues? Maybe you're still hurt by the Packers once again finding a way to miss out on the Super Bowl? Perhaps you're reeling from the fact that we're approaching the three year anniversary of the Covid lockdowns? Well, whatever your reason may be, if you're like me, you may need a pick-me-up, and you might find it in the form of the realization that we are exactly 6 WEEKS AWAY from March Madness. That's right, less than two months until the various conference tournaments give way to the best postseason in American sports.
Finally recovering from the exciting finish to the college football season, some Packers-and-Rafael Nadal-induced heartbreak, and the wild ride that was the winter World Cup, I've allowed myself to really hone in on the college basketball season in the last week or so. That means that preseason #1 North Carolina's season really has just begun, and anything that might have happened before the month of January doesn't count! From what I have picked up, we're in the midst of another exciting, eventful season without a clear singular great team, which hopefully means we're bound for yet another incredible postseason. Only two of the preseason Top 10 teams are still in the Top 10, and in fact, FIVE of them aren't even ranked, including the preseason #1 (which, again, doesn't mean anything because I wasn't watching or invested yet!!!). 4 different teams have spent time atop the rankings, and too many upsets to even count have taken place. Kansas and Duke, owners of arguably the two strongest home-court advantages in the land, have both suffered their worst home loss in decades this season. And where just a couple years ago, we had more than one team approaching March without a single loss on their record, this year, the single last unbeaten team in college basketball fell two days into the year 2023.
So, true to form for the last few years in the world at large, it's been a wild and unpredictable season. Despite this, I’ll try my hand at ranking the top teams based on what they’ve done to date:
1. Alabama
Between missing this past season's College Football Playoff, and their basketball team claiming #1 in the first Couch Power 10 of 2023, there can no longer be any doubt: Alabama is a basketball school now! The Crimson Tide check in at #2 in the AP and Coaches Polls, but their strength of record according to ESPN clocks in at the best of the land. Owning the #8 most difficult schedule in the country, Bama's only two losses came in neutral site showdowns against good Connecticut and Gonzaga teams. Those blemishes are more than offset by 9 'quality wins,' including victories over two then-#1 teams (North Carolina and Houston), as well as Michigan State, Arkansas, and Kentucky.
2. Purdue
Thanks to Houston's loss last week, Purdue has returned to #1 in both polls this week. And I can't have too many qualms about a side whose sole loss is a one-point decision on the road to a solid Rutgers team. The reason they come in behind Alabama on my Power 10 boils down to schedule strength. The Big Ten as a whole has disappointed, rendering the Boilermakers' resumé devoid of any quality in-conference wins, and their two signature non-conference wins haven't aged very well, as Gonzaga has slipped out of the Top 10, and Duke out of the rankings altogether.
3. Arizona
Seemingly every year, there's a high-seeded team in the tournament that I think isn't getting enough attention as a championship contender, and I'm convinced they'll sneak up and win the thing (or at least get close), only for them to lose early and justify the lack of hype. Last year, Arizona was that team for me. But, despite the Wildcats' roller-coaster season thus far, they may fool me into believing yet again. Their three losses, all in-conference, have been absolutely inexplicable: Utah and Oregon aren't bad teams, but they had no business shellacking Arizona the way they did, and Washington State is a bad team. However, Zona also owns a plethora of quality wins, including over Tennessee, Creighton, San Diego State, Indiana and UCLA. Considering the latter was the most recent result, I feel like we might be witnessing Arizona in their ascendancy.
4. UCLA
UCLA actually has played a tougher schedule to date than Arizona, and sits two games ahead of them in the Pac-12 standings. But I can't in good conscience rank them ahead of a team with an identical record who just beat them head-to-head. Still, it's been a great season thus far for the Bruins, who are trying to bounce back from a fairly disappointing one in 2022. All 3 of their losses (Arizona, Baylor, Illinois) came to good teams, and until that close loss to the Wildcats, they had been on an 18-game win streak, a stretch that included ranked Maryland, Kentucky and Utah sides.
5. Houston
Short of Purdue, Houston has spent more time than anyone as the #1 team in the country. They would have stayed #1 in the polls, and were headed for the top spot in my Couch Power 10, but for a stunning home loss to a mediocre Temple side on Sunday. No team is going to be perfect, and even great teams can have one or two brain farts, but that loss did have an outsized impact on the Cougars' resumé. Possessing only one real quality win (at Virginia) on your record is fine when you're a 1-loss team and your sole loss was to the Couch Power 10 #1. When you're a 2-loss team, and one of those losses was a 'Quad 3' loss, that lack of quality wins suddenly seems much more glaring.
6. Kansas State
Kansas State have lost 2 of their last 4, including just last night, and their first loss of the year was a bad one, to a subpar Butler side. And yet, they still clock in as the highest-rated Big XII (the conference, might I remind you, that's produced the last two and nearly the last three national champions) team in our Couch Power 10. The reason? Immediately before their highly competitive road loss to Iowa State last night, they beat archrivals Kansas to ascend to the conference lead and earn their 5th quality win of the year. 'Good losses' to good Iowa State and TCU team do little to detract from a body of work that's seen the Wildcats beat Texas, Kansas, Baylor, LSU and West Virginia and has them still in a three-way tie for first place in the conference.
7. Kansas
A 3-game slide, one that included the aforementioned worst home loss since the 80s, has fans of the reigning champions understandably concerned. However, now is not yet the time to hit the panic button. Not when all four of the Jayhawks' losses on the season have come to teams currently in the Top 15, and they still sit just one game back in the conference race. Their wins are not without quality, either: the champs have vanquished Iowa State, Duke, North Carolina State, Indiana and Wisconsin this season. Still, the upcoming 4-game stretch (at Kentucky, Kansas State, at Iowa State, Texas) has the potential to make or break this season.
8. Virginia
After a few disappointing years-- at least by the lofty standards Tony Bennett has introduced to the program -- the 2019 National Champions were a trendy preseason pick to climb back to the top of the ACC. To date, it's hard to argue that the Cavs have disappointed. A bumpy start to conference play saw them drop decisions to solid Miami and Pitt teams, but they have steadied the ship, and their only other blemish was that close loss to then-#1 Houston. They own their fair share of significant, if not dominant, wins from their 20th-ranked schedule strength as well: Baylor, North Carolina, Illinois and Michigan are all among their victims this season.
9. College of Charleston
10. Florida Atlantic
If you read my College Football Power 10s, you know I like to reserve a space for the overlooked, under-appreciated mid-major teams unless or until it isn't relevant. Well, the same logic translates to our College Basketball Power 10, only as of this writing, two different teams can stake a claim! The new kings of the south, the "Tulanes of college basketball," the College of Charleston and Florida Atlantic have come out of nowhere to #shocktheworld with a stunning start to this season, combining for a sterling 40-2 record. Both are well-rounded and well-coached, the exact kind of scrappy mid-major you would love to avoid in the postseason. Both teams lost their second game of the season. but have been unstoppable from that point forward. FAU's schedule strength is actually slightly superior to Charleston's, but I give the Cougars the slight edge here, because the Owls' sole loss (at Ole Miss) was legitimately a pretty bad one, whereas CofC's (at North Carolina) was anything but.
Just missed: Iowa State, Texas, Tennessee, Xavier, TCU, ACC Player of the Year Armando Bacot
Comments