We are nearly three months (!) into the college basketball season, and as we inch closer and closer to the sweet rhythms of March Madness, some of the best teams in the sport are beginning to get into a groove. Tennessee and Auburn dismantled their respective opponents this week to stay atop the SEC standings. UNC handled business both inside the Dean Dome and away from it to move its ACC record a perfect 7-0. And No. 1 UConn made quick work of Creighton and outlasted Villanova in Philly to improve to 17-2, likely retaining its top ranking for another week in the process.
Grooves aren't all gravy though, baby. While some of the top teams are clearly separating themselves, some of the lesser teams are doing the same -- in the opposite direction. Oklahoma State, DePaul, Vandy and Missouri all remained winless in league play, the only Power Six programs yet to notch a victory in conference play. And the usual suspects of USC and Louisville continued to underwhelm.
Overall there was lots of good and plenty of bad in the last week, and this week's report card reflects as much -- with two rare A+ grades and multiple teams drawing an F for the first time all season.
Our weekly grades are below. As always, the grades are handed out based on the week that was, running from Monday-Sunday.
College basketball grades: This week's report card
| Team | Grade | Analysis | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Tennessee | A+ | I watched a lot of basketball this week and Tennessee looked like the best team of the bunch. Its defense is a juggernaut, Dalton Knecht is a star and the Vols have solved the problem of broken offense with their best guard play top to bottom in years. |
 | Auburn | A+ | Auburn has played like a top-five team the last month and change so it gets its due here with a rare A+. The Johni Broome/Jaylin Williams duo is smothering teams with efficiency, and the Tigers rank top-10 in both offense and defense efficiency -- an honor only one other team (Arizona) can claim. |
 | Purdue | A | Zach Edey continues to dominate and drag his Purdue team along with him, with a 2-0 week highlighted by double digit road wins over Indiana and Iowa. Twelve of its 17 wins this season have been by double figures. When this team is rolling, it is *rolling.* |
 | UConn | A | Defense has been one of the only question marks for UConn this season but two stellar showings this week -- vs. Creighton and vs. Nova -- showed the defending champs have virtually no holes. The Huskies can dominate but have the championship DNA to win close ones, too. |
 | North Carolina | A | UNC extended its winning streak to eight this week with a thumping of lowly Louisville and an impressive 10-point road win over Boston College in a spot that could have been tricky. Tar Heels have things rolling with RJ Davis in his zone. |
 | Illinois | B | Illinois scored a combined 174 points in wins this week over Michigan (at Michigan) and Rutgers (at home). Brad Underwood's offensive wizardry remains a lethal weapon. |
 | Michigan State | B+ | We gave Michigan State plenty of deserved grief in recent weeks so we'll give it its due here. It was a good week for Sparty. They went 2-0 with a home win over Minnesota and a nice road win Sunday in College Park over Maryland. The emergence and reliability of Tre Holloman has been crucial. |
 | Kentucky | C | "Big Z" Zvonimir Ivišić getting clearance from the NCAA this weekend may change the complexion and ceiling of this UK team -- but in the short-term his stellar showing Saturday merely helped hide some problems for the Wildcats. They've made a habit of not closing teams out late and making boneheaded decisions at key moments. |
 | Kansas | C- | Only in the bizarro world of the Big 12 can Kansas -- arguably the best team in the best league -- lose on the road to a West Virginia team that outside of Saturday has looked close to lifeless most of the season. No consistency right now with KU, and they seem to be good at finding new ways to blow games they should have won. |
 | Duke | D | Duke went 1-1 on the week but it nearly lost inside Cameron Indoor to a flailing Georgia Tech team, then *actually* went down to a fairly average Pitt team at home, 80-76, on Saturday. Getting Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell back could help, but they've got problems on defense and inexperience they need to work through. |
 | USC | D | Without Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier, USC lost twice this week -- both by a final score of 82-67 -- to teams from the state of Arizona. Howboutthat. Trojans are 2-6 now in Pac-12 play and flirting with a disaster-of-a-season that once looked filled with promise. |
 | Oklahoma State | F | In what feels like a make-or-break season for Oklahoma State and its current regime, the Cowboys fell face-first into an 0-5 start in Big 12 play for the second time in the last five years. Even a home game against Kansas, typically a rallying point for the loyal and true, finished in a low-energy beatdown at the hands of the Jayhawks. |
 | Louisville | F | It feels like a minor miracle this Louisville team hasn't staged a walk-out and quit. They lost big this week in two road games against UNC and Wake, but they haven't completely rolled over. That's about the only good news I have for the Cards (and it's a horrific consolation). End of the season can't come soon enough. |
 | Vanderbilt | F | Vandy is 0-5 to start SEC play for the third time under Jerry Stackhouse and likely to be an underdog in its next two games against Tennessee and Auburn. Its offense is dysfunctional as it is disgusting, rating as the worst in the SEC and one of the worst in the country shooting beyond the 3-point line. |
