The Big Ten received plenty of attention early in the season, and rightfully so. The league looked for a stretch like it could have 12 or 13 teams in the NCAA tournament hunt. That's cooled down some with the struggles of Michigan State and Northwestern and the inconsistencies of Rutgers and Indiana. Meanwhile, the Big 12 has put itself right next to the Big Ten in the "best conference in the country" discussion.
The league has a legitimate national championship favorite -- and in my opinion, there are really only two teams in that category -- in Baylor Bears, along with three other teams in this week's Power Rankings. A fifth team, Texas Tech, is the first team left out of the Rankings this week. And that group doesn't include blueblood Kansas and the program with the likely No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, Oklahoma State.
I tweeted it on Saturday night, and I think it's true: There's a strong case that Kansas is the seventh-best team in the Big 12. Considering the Jayhawks have beaten Creighton, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Oklahoma already this season, that's a pretty good sign for the strength of the league.
As is this week's spotlight team ...
Team of the Week: Oklahoma Sooners
Not too many teams this season will have as impressive a week as the Sooners just did, beating Texas on the road before coming home and taking down a red-hot Alabama team, and they could have swept all four of these awards if we allowed it.
Tuesday's game in Austin was against a shorthanded Longhorns group, but Oklahoma still picked up one of the better road wins in college hoops this season. Austin Reaves was terrific with 23 points, but Lon Kruger turning to a four-guard lineup with Reaves, De'Vion Harmon, Elijah Harkless and Umoja Gibson created issues for Texas.
On Saturday, it was Oklahoma's turn to be shorthanded. Shortly before the game, the school announced it would be without Reaves and fellow starter Alondes Williams due to COVID-19 protocols. On paper, that seemed like a bad sign against an Alabama team that had won 10 straight entering the weekend.
But the Crimson Tide had a brutal time getting anything going offensively against the Sooners' defense, turning it over six times and missing three layups in the first five minutes, setting the tone for the game. Alabama threw its usual punches, but Oklahoma responded with runs of its own and also held the Crimson Tide to their worst offensive outing since mid-December. The Sooners are now on a five-game winning streak and became the first time since 1974 to beat four AP top-10 teams in a single month.
Player of the Week: Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech Hokies
Aluma wasn't expected to be one of the best transfers in the country this season, but he has been one of the ACC's best players this season -- and he might have played himself into the ACC Player of the Year discussion with his performance this past week. The former Wofford big man who followed Mike Young when he left for Blacksburg was the catalyst for Virginia Tech's headline win over Virginia on Saturday, finishing with 29 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
He was dominant on the interior, going toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers' frontcourt of Jay Huff and Sam Hauser -- and outscoring and outrebounding the two players combined. That showing followed up a double-double effort against Notre Dame on Wednesday, when Aluma finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
Aluma had a couple down games earlier this month, but for the most part, the 6-foot-9 forward has been the best player on one of the nation's most surprising teams. Honorable mention goes to Missouri's Jeremiah Tilmon, who totaled 54 points, 21 rebounds and nine blocks in two games, but the Tigers lost to Auburn and needed overtime to beat TCU.
Win of the Week: Illinois Fighting Illini 80, Iowa Hawkeyes 75
Several strong candidates emerged for this category over the weekend, but something about Illinois' win over Iowa stood out. The standalone window on a Friday night, Ayo Dosunmu and Luka Garza trading buckets in the first half, the clutch shooting late from the Fighting Illini -- even the bizarre goaltending/non-goaltending call that took two points away from the Hawkeyes. It was one of the best games of the Big Ten season.
More importantly for this honor, it was a heck of a win for Illinois. The Fighting Illini have had some issues with consistency this season, and despite their talent and slew of decent wins, they lacked a marquee win. Beating Iowa ticks that box. It's also a win that showed why people are so high on Illinois moving forward. Dosunmu was terrific and Kofi Cockburn was great in the second half, but Brad Underwood also got tremendous production from the supporting cast.
Trent Frazier had 24 points, including several timely 3s; Jacob Grandison had 11 points and 10 rebounds in only his second start of the season; and Andre Curbelo, despite some late turnovers, finished with eight points and eight assists, providing a great spark in the first half.
Coach of the Week: Darian DeVries, Drake Bulldogs
Of the five unbeaten teams remaining in college basketball entering last week, only three remain after Winthrop and Alabama A&M suffered their first defeats of the season.
Given the number of teams struggling after going on a COVID-19 pause, it would have been fairly understandable had DeVries and Drake joined that group. The Bulldogs went on pause earlier this month when they were 13-0, potentially ending whatever momentum and rhythm they had for the first six or seven weeks of the season. And their 22-day break ended with a road trip to Missouri State -- which was 9-1 on the season and hadn't lost at home since Feb. 1 of last season -- for back-to-back games. Perhaps not surprisingly, Missouri State jumped out to a 17-point first-half lead on Wednesday and looked likely to end Drake's unbeaten run. DeVries and the Bulldogs responded by holding the Bears to 20 second-half points and notching a comeback win.
They followed that up with a second win over Missouri State on Thursday, but had to erase another double-digit deficit against Illinois State on Sunday, before pulling out a win in overtime. That's the Bulldogs' third double-digit comeback in their past five games. Drake's regular season profile still rests on two games at home against Loyola Chicago on Feb. 13-14, but the Bulldogs staying undefeated by winning two tough road games and coming back from two double-digit deficits after a three-week pause gives DeVries the honor this week.
Three teams with questions
Saint Louis Billikens: It's not so much a question about the Billikens' personnel or potential or anything like that, but I have questions on how they'll be judged come Selection Sunday. They've only played nine games this season, just lost at home to Dayton after more than a month on pause, and the two quality nonconference wins -- LSU and NC State -- have lost some luster.
Colorado Buffaloes: Their metrics still look great -- No. 12 in the BPI, No. 17 at KenPom -- but Saturday's home loss to Utah, a game in which they blew a 19-point lead in the final nine minutes, was their second Quadrant 3 loss in the past couple of weeks. The first came at Washington on Jan. 20; at the time, the Huskies had lost eight in a row and were 1-11 on the season.
Michigan State Spartans: We've done this dance with Kentucky and Duke already this season, and now it's Michigan State's turn to join the "they really might miss the NCAA tournament" discussion. The Spartans' loss to Ohio State on Sunday was their third in a row and sixth in their past eight games, dropping them to 2-6 in the Big Ten -- with a road trip to Iowa coming on Tuesday. They also don't have their usual collection of quality nonleague wins, either.
Power Rankings
1. Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-0)
Previous ranking: 1
This week: TBD
We put TBD on Gonzaga's schedule for the upcoming week because the Bulldogs' scheduled opponent for Thursday, Loyola Marymount, postponed its game on Saturday due to a positive test among its Tier 1 personnel. Meanwhile, Saturday's game against Santa Clara has already been postponed. That has led some to believe Gonzaga could end up scheduling a nonconference game for the upcoming week, regardless of whether the Loyola Marymount game gets played. Before we get ahead of ourselves, it's highly unlikely it would be Baylor. The Bears head to Texas on Tuesday before going back to Waco to face TCU on Saturday -- would they sneak in a game against Gonzaga? It feels doubtful. If the Zags want to line up a top-tier opponent, Houston and Ohio State are both off next weekend.
2. Baylor Bears (16-0)
Previous ranking: 2
This week: at Texas (Tuesday), vs. TCU (Saturday)
Entering Saturday's game against Auburn, there was much buzz about whether Auburn's Sharife Cooper could continue his ridiculous start to his college career. Baylor's guards -- the best backcourt in the country -- must have seen the storylines and wanted to take the headlines back. Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague were their usual selves, but Adam Flagler led the way for the Bears with 19 points. Flagler, the former Presbyterian transfer, has been up and down since he started the season on a tear, essentially alternating double-figure scoring games with nights when he doesn't make a huge impact. But he has the ability to be one of the best sixth men in the country.
3. Villanova Wildcats (11-1)
Previous ranking: 3
This week: at St. John's (Wednesday), vs. Xavier (Sunday)
Villanova still seems to be working out the kinks after the monthlong COVID-19 pause, but the Wildcats are still clearly the class of the Big East and are still winning games while rounding back into form. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl broke out of his two-game slump with 23 points and five boards against Seton Hall, providing some balance for Jay Wright, while Justin Moore buried four 3-pointers after going 1-for-9 from 3 in the first two games post-pause. The Wildcats' seniors were already rolling, with Collin Gillespie dishing out 17 assists and turning it over just twice in his past two games and Jermaine Samuels averaging 15.7 points and 7.3 rebounds since the return.
4. Michigan Wolverines (13-1)
Previous ranking: 5
This week: TBD
The Wolverines are still on pause, with their next game scheduled for Feb. 11 at home against Illinois -- which has played itself into second-place in the Big Ten standings. I wrote a little bit about Mike Smith in my transfer scorecard last week, but I think his transformation from having to carry Columbia's offense on his back to pass-first distributor who doesn't need to score at Michigan has been impressive. Most high-volume, high-usage mid-major scorers don't deal with that transition well, but Smith has answered any doubts. His shooting percentages are up, turnovers are down and he ranks in the top five in the Big Ten in assist rate and leads the league in 3-point shooting.
5. Houston Cougars (15-1)
Previous ranking: 6
This week: at East Carolina (Wednesday)
After a couple of dicey moments shortly after Christmas, Houston has been steamrolling its way through the AAC. The Cougars have won eight games in a row, the past six coming by at least 17 points. They're up to No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency rankings at KenPom, still yet to allow a single opponent to score one point per possession this season. And Kelvin Sampson might have found a secret weapon in former Idaho transfer Cameron Tyson. Tyson had 31 points and nine 3-pointers against Tulane on Thursday, then went back to playing single-digit minutes on Sunday against SMU. He has now played 91 minutes this season and scored 57 points. That's a cool 25 points per 40 minutes. If Quentin Grimes gets banged up again, that's a nice ace in the hole for Sampson.
6. Texas Longhorns (11-3)
Previous ranking: 4
This week: vs. Baylor (Tuesday), at Oklahoma State (Saturday)
For a team that isn't in a COVID-19 pause, Texas is struggling to rebuild any sort of momentum. The Longhorns have seen three of their past four games postponed or canceled due to their opponents having COVID-19 issues, the latest being Kentucky on Saturday. So Texas has only played three games since Jan. 9, and lost two of them. That's not the ideal way to prepare for a showdown against No. 2 Baylor on Tuesday. It's also unclear who will be available for the Longhorns, as their loss to Oklahoma last Tuesday came without head coach Shaka Smart, as well as starters Courtney Ramey and Jericho Sims, and rotation player Brock Cunningham.
7. Alabama Crimson Tide (14-4)
Previous ranking: 8
This week: vs. LSU (Wednesday), at Missouri (Saturday)
After looking like an offensive juggernaut for the past few weeks, Alabama took a significant step back in the past two games. The Crimson Tide scored less than one point per possession against both Kentucky and Oklahoma, the first time they've been held under that threshold in back-to-back games this season. Alabama didn't make much of an impact on the offensive glass in either game, and they shot below 40% from 3 for the first time since Jan. 9. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide struggled to get in any sort of rhythm and had huge turnover issues, especially early in the game. Will LSU help them get back on the right track? The Tide scored 105 points and made 23 3s the last time the two teams met.
8. Iowa Hawkeyes (12-4)
Previous ranking: 7
This week: vs. Michigan State (Tuesday), vs. Ohio State (Thursday), at Indiana (Sunday)
Iowa has now lost two in a row and head into a three-game week that includes games against two desperate teams in need of a marquee win sandwiched around a home game against Ohio State. What must Fran McCaffery fix to bounce back? The Hawkeyes have been OK offensively, but they've really struggled to make shots in the second half. Against Indiana, they went 1-for-10 from 3 in the second half; they went 4-for-12 after halftime against Illinois. Garza struggled with turnovers late against the Hoosiers while being held to just six second-half points amid foul trouble against the Illini. But the defensive issues are starting to bubble to the surface yet again. Iowa has allowed 161 points in its past two games.
9. Ohio State Buckeyes (14-4)
Previous ranking: 10
This week: at Iowa (Thursday)
While the rest of the ranked teams around them lose games, the Buckeyes keep stacking wins and charging into the top 10. They knocked off Penn State and Michigan State this past week, and now have won six of their past seven games to move into third place in the Big Ten. Ohio State has a huge opportunity to enter the national conversation this week, as it heads to Iowa City on Thursday to face Garza and the Hawkeyes. It's a big chance for E.J. Liddell to become a household name; the sophomore forward has scored at least 20 points in each of his past three games, emerging as a legitimate go-to guy for Chris Holtmann.
10. Illinois Fighting Illini (11-5)
Previous ranking: In the waiting room
This week: at Indiana (Tuesday), vs. WIsconsin (Saturday)
I'm fully back on the Fighting Illini bandwagon. I guess I never really hopped off since picking them to make the Final Four back in the preseason, but they roped me back in after the win over Iowa. The Fighting Illini have one of the best go-to guys in the game in Dosunmu, who was terrific against the Hawkeyes, especially in the first half. Cockburn went toe-to-toe with Garza in the second half, and Underwood also has a slew of veterans who have been in some battles. One of those players, Frazier, stepped up against Iowa with 24 points and four 3-pointers. Then there are two dynamic playmaking freshman guards in Adam Miller and Curbelo. I'm back in!
11. Tennessee Volunteers (12-3)
Previous ranking: 16
This week: at Ole Miss (Tuesday), at Kentucky (Saturday)
That was a key bounce-back week for the Volunteers, beating Mississippi State and then pummeling Kansas following two straight losses. The one trend developing for Tennessee is the presence of Jaden Springer and the impact he has on the team. The Volunteers are unbeaten with a healthy Springer, as he left the loss to Alabama after just five minutes and missed the defeats to Missouri and Florida. Springer has started only three games this season, but he contributes in a number of ways. This past week, he came off the bench to finish with nine points, four rebounds and five assists, then Rick Barnes moved him into the starting lineup and he went for 13 points, four boards and three assists.
12. Oklahoma Sooners (11-4)
Previous ranking: Unranked
This week: at Texas Tech (Monday), vs. Iowa State (Saturday)
We spent a lot of time discussing the Sooners above, so let's focus on the emerging Elijah Harkless. Harkless, who transferred to Oklahoma from Cal State Northridge last spring, has added versatility and physicality to Kruger's rotation. He was inserted into the starting lineup six games ago, and the Sooners are 5-1 since then, their lone loss coming by four points at Kansas. Harkless has filled the role of glue guy admirably, while also showing he can score if needed. Against Alabama and Texas last week, Harkless totaled 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists and six steals. Against Kansas State earlier this month, he finished with eight points, 13 boards and six assists.
13. Virginia Cavaliers (11-3)
Previous ranking: 11
This week: at NC State (Wednesday), vs. Louisville (Saturday)
Virginia had a stunning end to its ACC winning streak, with Virginia Tech dominating the Cavaliers in the second half and winning by 14. The Hokies went on a 19-0 run, and Virginia made just one field goal in the final eight-plus minutes. It was the Cavaliers' first ACC loss since Feb. 8 of last season, when they lost to Louisville. I'm not overly concerned it's a growing trend, considering they beat Syracuse by 23 five days earlier. One growing trend is Tony Bennett's reliance on his starting lineup. Against the Orange, only five players played double-figure minutes, and only Casey Morsell saw extended minutes off the bench against Virginia Tech. It's not necessarily a negative. Bennett used only six guys for more than four minutes in the national title game in 2019.
14. Missouri Tigers (11-3)
Previous ranking: 9
This week: vs. Kentucky (Tuesday), vs. Alabama (Saturday)
Missouri would have fallen well outside the rankings had it lost to TCU on Saturday, as the Tigers' struggles against the Horned Frogs followed up a loss to Cooper and Auburn earlier in the week. But they erased a 12-point deficit in the final five minutes against TCU to force overtime and then hung on to win the extra session. Cuonzo Martin's team was led by two of the best individual performances we've seen by anyone this season. Xavier Pinson had 36 points, four assists and eight 3-pointers -- including the game-tying 3 with 3.9 seconds left in regulation. And the aforementioned Tilmon went for 33 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
15. Wisconsin Badgers (13-5)
Previous ranking: 12
This week: vs. Penn State (Tuesday), at Illinois (Saturday)
Wisconsin is in a bit of a tailspin right now. The Badgers lost to Penn State for the first time in a decade on Saturday, their third loss in six games and fourth defeat since Christmas. One of the most experienced teams in the country, Wisconsin had an edge on the competition during the first few weeks of the season when everyone else was catching up on chemistry and practice time. But the Badgers have struggled in Big Ten play, especially on the offensive end. They rank in the bottom half of the league in adjusted offensive efficiency, shooting just 33.2% from 3-point range in conference games. For a team that annually doesn't get to the free throw line very often or gets frequent second-chance opportunities, missing shots at a high clip is a bad recipe for offensive success.
16. West Virginia Mountaineers (11-5)
Previous ranking: 15
This week: at Iowa State (Tuesday), vs. Kansas (Saturday)
Things have completely flipped for the Mountaineers this season. After Bob Huggins had the nation's third-ranked defense last season and a struggling offense, he now has a top-15 offense -- and an inconsistent defense. West Virginia has allowed at least one point per possession in six of its past eight games, and Texas Tech and Florida scored a combined 172 points in two games last week. On the plus side, the Mountaineers aren't having too many offensive issues. They've now made at least eight 3-pointers in six straight games and are still capable of dominating the offensive glass, as evidenced by the 16 they grabbed against Florida.
Dropped out: Florida State (No. 13), Texas Tech (No. 14)
In the waiting room
Texas Tech Red Raiders: I had questions on how Mac McClung would acclimate to Chris Beard's system and fit it at Tech, but he has brought an edge the Red Raiders were lacking last season. He has also been a killer late in games, unafraid to take and make -- or even miss, occasionally -- big shots. McClung is averaging 24.5 points over his past four games.
Creighton Bluejays: I wouldn't say the Bluejays are hitting on all cylinders, but they're finding ways to win games, beating UConn, Seton Hall and DePaul despite struggling for long stretches. They came back from 16 down with 11 minutes left to beat the Pirates, and perhaps Marcus Zegarowski is returning to form; he totaled 37 points and shot 8-for-15 from 3 in two wins last week.
Florida State Seminoles: The Seminoles edge out Virginia Tech and Florida for the last spot in this section, despite their loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday. The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak and left them in third in the ACC standings. One thing to watch: Florida State has just one road win this season, and its next three games come away from home.