A week that saw the three final undefeated teams lose -- two by a lot (OU to Alabama and Tennessee to Florida) and one by a little (Florida to Kentucky) -- prompts major changes in this week's college basketball power rankings. While Auburn is holding firm at its No. 1 spot once again, the order of the refreshed top 10 is almost entirely brand new.
SEC losses, however, turned out to be SEC wins in this week's rankings. In place of falling Tennessee and Florida this week is Mississippi State and Texas A&M, up to Nos. 3 and No. 4 behind Auburn and Iowa State, after a week in which each proved themselves both at home on the road.
The Bulldogs were the biggest riser this week from unranked to No. 3 as a course correction after narrowly missing the power rankings in recent weeks. Their 35-point win over South Carolina on Saturday and 12-point road win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday was proof positive of their credentials as a team worthy of overdue shine.
Texas A&M also had to earn its highest ranking of the season the hard way with a win at home and another on the road. The former came relatively easy vs. Texas to open SEC play over the weekend, but the latter was far from it. The Aggies had to overcome an 18-point deficit on Wednesday in Norman with a furious rally that ended in an 80-78 win. They've now won nine-straight dating back to November.
There's much to unpack in the latest power rankings, so let's dive in with the rankings guidelines as we always do and make clear how we operate in this space. I promise to abide by these as closely as I can throughout the season.
Power Rankings definition: Ranking teams with an emphasis on recent performance based on their level of competition. These are heavily unscientific in nature and can be distilled down to a "vibes" ranking -- with things like margin of victory, injuries, performance vs. top competition, momentum and other sometimes subjective factors weighing into the equation. The power rankings can be thought of in a weekly setting as a reaction -- or sometimes even an overreaction -- to the small sample of the week that was.
Let's get to it.
| 1 |  |
| The Tigers are the kings of college basketball until proven otherwise at this point. They defeated Missouri and Texas this week to open SEC play 2-0 and are 14-1 on the season. Last week: No. 1 | |
| 2 |  |
| A Tennessee loss and two convincing home wins for Iowa State over Baylor and Utah gives the Cyclones the firm standing at No. 2 this week. Beating any Big 12 team by double figures is impressive, but the Cyclones beat the Bears and Utes by 19 and 23, respectively. Their only loss on the season is to No. 1 Auburn in Maui in November by two points. Last week: No. 3 | |
| 3 |  |
| Riding an eight-game winning streak that includes double-digit victories over Memphis, Pitt, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs have put themselves in position in a deep SEC as a legitimate contender. They are 15 games into the season and have suffered just one loss -- the best start for the program since 2003-04. Last week: NR | |
| 4 |  |
| Zhuric Phelps scored 28 of his career-high 34 points -- including the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final 20 seconds -- help A&M dig out of an 18-point deficit to beat OU 80-78 on Wednesday. Texas A&M has not lost in more than a month and gets red-hot Alabama in College Station on Saturday. Last week: No. 10 | |
| 5 |  |
| Alabama's big week began by handing OU its first loss of the season, 107-79, and ended with a 20-point win at South Carolina. Its offense is up to No. 3 in adjusted efficiency and only getting better behind Mark Sears. Last week: No. 8 | |
| 6 |  |
| Armed with the No. 1 defense in college basketball, Duke dismantled two quality ACC teams this week -- SMU and Pitt -- by a combined 56 points. It is likely to be heavy favorites in its next 11 games and now has a Net Ranking at KenPom of 36.68 -- tied for the best with mighty Auburn. Last week: No. 5 | |
| 7 |  |
| Houston is off to a 3-0 start in Big 12 play and in the early driver's seat to defend its conference championship. It beat BYU and TCU this week by 31 and 19 to improve to 11-3 overall on the season. Last week: No. 7 | |
| 8 |  |
| What Illinois did in the Big Ten this week may soon be illegal in all 50 states. It went on the road and whacked Oregon 109-77 and finished the week with a 91-52 win over Penn State. In between, it held off Washington in Washington. The Illini are 4-1 in the Big Ten. Last week: NR | |
| 9 |  |
| A west coast swing for Michigan ended with two wins over two NCAA Tournament-caliber teams in USC and UCLA this week. Wolverines big man Danny Wolf had 21 points, 13 boards and six blocks (!) vs. USC, and fellow big man Vlad Goldin had 36 points vs. the Bruins. Last week: NR | |
| 10 |  |
| Utah State has won five-straight to improve to 15-1 on the season with four of those five coming on the road at Saint Mary's, San Diego State, Nevada and San Jose State. Jerrod Calhoun has the Aggies primed to win the MWC in his first season at the helm. Last week: No. 9 | |
| 11 |  |
| Despite a 1-1 week, I moved Kentucky from unranked to No. 11 this week with props for handing Florida its first loss of the season on Saturday. The Wildcats scored 106 points in the win, and Florida, as we've seen both all season and of late, is the real deal. Last week: NR | |
| 12 |  |
| Falling eight spots feel too penal for Florida after a close loss at Kentucky and a beatdown of previously-unbeaten Tennessee. But I couldn't rank Kentucky in the top 10, and I couldn't have Florida above Kentucky after losing to the Wildcats. So consider this the most respect I've ever given to the No. 12 team in the power rankings. The Vols rebounded from their UK loss by beating Tennessee 73-43 (!!!!!!) on Tuesday. Yowza. Last week: No. 4 | |
| 13 |  |
| Sometimes a bad day turns catastrophic and that was the case Tuesday for Tennessee in a 73-43 loss at the O'Dome. But yikes, Vols. There's plenty of ways to lose an undefeated season with dignity intact, but that's not one of them! Last week: No. 2 | |
| 14 |  |
| The only team still unbeaten in Big East play is the Marquette Golden Eagles, who are 5-0 in league play after wins over Creighton and Georgetown this week. Kam Jones continues to look incredible and is top-five among all Big East players in scoring and assists. Last week: No. 14 | |
| 15 |  |
| Kansas gets back into the power rankings after a multi-week absence thanks to blowout wins this week over UCF and Arizona State. This team is still finding its identity beyond Hunter Dickinson, but Zeke Mayo has emerged a consistent Robin to Dickinson's Batman. Last week: NR | |
| 16 |  |
| Gonzaga's won four games in a span of 10 days as part of a busy start to WCC play and in the process barely broken a sweat, with its closest final margin coming at Pepperdine by seven on Dec. 30. Last week: NR | |
