Upsets, heartbreaks, and passionate court-rushing fans have all returned as College Basketball is finally back in action.
In the Men’s AP Rankings, four of the top five teams (No. 1 Kansas, No. 3 Gonzaga, No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Iowa State) have all remained undefeated through the first three weeks of the season.
Among the group, it was just No. 2 UConn who suffered three consecutive losses (including two controversial ones over Thanksgiving at the Maui Invitational).
Top flight programs such as Houston (preseason No. 4) and Duke (preseason No. 7) have dropped out of the top ten, while a surging program like Kentucky (preseason No. 23) has jumped all the way into the top ten.
Former top ten seeds, Purdue and Creighton, each dropped seven spots in the newest AP rankings after their blowout losses to (at the time) No. 15 Marquette and unranked Nebraska, respectively.
Despite Creighton’s loss, Big East programs are on the rise. Out of eleven teams in the conference, nine have just one or even no losses, four teams are ranked inside the top 25, and several others have gotten top 25 votes.
“Big East basketball is starting to really heat up. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch games over holiday break,” NHS senior Oliver Clancy said.
Marquette has started the year 8-0 while defeating (at the time) No. 6 Purdue, and has scored at least 70 points per game as a team. Xavier jumped into the top 25 following their 5-0 start to the year, dropping at least 75 points per game but have yet to face a major ranked challenge.
St. John’s has also seen its program skyrocket ahead of the competition in the AP rankings despite not even being ranked in the preseason. They have been dealt two heartbreaking losses, a one-point buzzer-beating defeat against No. 13 Baylor and a three-point loss in the Bahamas against 6-1 Georgia, but have demonstrated they are one of the best pressure defenses in Division-I basketball.
Standout senior guard Anthony Roy of Green Bay currently leads Men’s CBB with 28.3 points and 5.3 three-point makes per game.
French center Maxime Raynaud out of Stanford, standing 7’1, is projected to be a top NBA lottery pick as he has posted 22.8 points (9th in D-I) and 12.8 rebounds (1st) per game
As for the Women’s AP Rankings, four of the top five teams have gone undefeated as well. UConn leads the charge headlined by Geno Auriemma, NCAA's winningest head coach, and superstar presumptive number one overall pick Paige Bueckers.
UCLA, who is not far behind at No. 2, is led by center Lauren Betts who is top ten in both points and rebounds per game.
Former No. 1 South Carolina suffered a shocking loss… their first in forty-three games dating back to the 2023 March Madness tournament where they were eliminated in the Final Four.
Not including the top ten, thirteen of the next fifteen teams all moved up at least one spot following South Carolina’s defeat. Just eight teams inside the top 25 have even lost a game.
While Florida State is unranked, superstar Ta’Niya Latson is averaging 26.8 points per game, leading all of Women’s CBB.
Regardless of whether you follow Men’s, Women’s, or just college basketball in general, there is no doubt it will bring some holiday fun.
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