Rankings compiled by RYAN McDONOUGH with liner notes by JOSH KAY
1. Kentucky (6-0)
Points: 350 (14 first-place votes). Previous ranking: 1
Upcoming: Monday vs. Illinois State, Thursday at UCLA. Statistically, this ‘Cats squad matches up with last year’s team through six games, and they may be even deeper this year.
2. Michigan State (7-0)
Points: 323. Previous ranking: 2 Upcoming: Wednesday vs. Louisville, Saturday vs. Binghamton. Tom Izzo picked up his 500th win. Denzel Valentine became only the third player in Michigan State history to record multiple triple-doubles, and Sparty causally rolls into a matchup at home against an undefeated Louisville. What’s new in East Lansing?
3. Maryland (6-0)
Points: 322. Previous ranking: 2. Upcoming: Tuesday at North Carolina, Friday vs. St. Francis (Pa.). Mark the calendar for the Terps early season top ten matchup with North Carolina.
4. Duke (6-1)
Points: 296. Previous ranking: 4. Upcoming: Wednesday vs. Indiana, Friday vs. Buffalo. Sophomore Grayson Allen is averaging 22.5 ppg. What’s even more impressive is that the standout guard is shooting 50 percent from the field.
5. Villanova (6-0)
Points: 270. Previous ranking: 5. Upcoming: Tuesday at Saint Joseph’s. Junior Josh Hart netted 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Wildcats win over Georgia Tech.
6. Kansas (4-1)
Points: 269. Previous ranking: 6. Upcoming: Tuesday vs. Loyola (MD), Saturday vs. Harvard. Jayhawks return to the Phog after defeating Vanderbilt in the finals of the Maui Invitational.
7. Iowa State (5-0)
Points: 265 Previous ranking: 8. Upcoming: Tuesday vs. North Dakota State. Four seniors lead Steve Prohm’s Cyclones.
8. Oklahoma (4-0)
Points: 251. Previous ranking: 7. Upcoming: Thursday vs. Central Arkansas. It’s early, but Buddy Hield (25.3ppg) is not only making a case for Big 12 POY, but a first team All American as well.
9. North Carolina (5-1)
Points: 245. Previous ranking: 7. Upcoming: Tuesday vs. Maryland, Sunday vs. Davidson.
10. Virginia (5-1)
Points: 224. Previous ranking: 11. Upcoming: Tuesday at Ohio State, Saturday vs. William and Mary. Similar to last year, Virginia is only allowing 58.3 ppg. The difference this year? The Cavaliers score 81 ppg led by Malcolm Brogdon’s 16.7 ppg.
11. Gonzaga (4-1)
Points: 177. Previous ranking: 9. Upcoming: Wednesday at Washington, State, Saturday vs. Arizona. Kyle Wiltjer, Domantas Sabonis and Przemek Karnowski – like a Van Morrison song – cleaning windows.
12. Purdue (6-0)
Points: 169. Previous ranking: 21. Upcoming: Tuesday at Pitt, Thursday vs. New Mexico. The Boilermakers are ranked in the top 50 in PPG (84.5), APG (17.8), RPG (46.2) and opponent PPG (57.3).
13. Arizona (6-1)
Points: 148. Previous ranking: 12, Upcoming: Saturday at Gonzaga. Arizona coughed up the ball 21 times in a 69-65 loss to Providence.
14. Oregon (5-0)
Points: 130, Previous ranking: 23. Upcoming: Monday vs. Fresno State, Friday vs. UNLV. Chris Boucher leads the nation in blocks per game (4.2).
15. Vanderbilt (5-1)
Points: 128. Previous ranking: 18. Upcoming: Wednesday vs. Detroit. Damian Jones and Wade Baldwin IV hung with KU’s frontcourt in the Maui final.
16. Xavier (7-0)
Points: 124. Previous ranking: unranked. Upcoming: Saturday vs. Western Kentucky. You can sound smart at the water cooler when you mention the name Trevon Bluiett.
17. Cincinnati (7-0)
Points: 121. Previous ranking: unranked. Upcoming: No games this week. Cincinnati is 7-0 for the third time in the last four years.
18. Syracuse (6-0)
Points: 86. Previous ranking: unranked. Upcoming: Wednesday vs. Wisconsin. The Orange sank 34 3’s on their way to claiming the Battle 4 Atlantis title, which included wins over ranked opponents UConn and Texas A&M.
19. Miami (5-1)
Points: 79. Previous ranking: 20. Upcoming: Tuesday at Nebraska, Saturday vs. Charlotte. Tonye Jekiri averages nearly a double-double (9.8 ppg/10.3 rpg) for the Canes.
20. Baylor (4-1)
Points: 71. Previous ranking: 24. Upcoming: Wednesday vs. Prairie View. Bears hope to avoid looking ahead to their date with Vanderbilt next week.
21. West Virginia (6-0)
Points: 59. Previous ranking: unranked. Upcoming: Saturday vs. Kennesaw State. Devin Williams is a double-double machine.
22. Indiana (4-2)
Points: 54. Previous ranking: 13. Upcoming: Monday vs. Alcorn St. Wednesday at Duke, Saturday vs. Morehead State. Losers of two of three looking to get untracked with a trio of games this week including a date at Cameron.
23. Utah (5-1)
Points: 54. Previous ranking: 22. Upcoming: Wednesday vs. BYU, Saturday vs. IPFW. Jakob Poeltl (20.5 ppg/10 rpg) leads the Utes.
24. Texas A&M (6-1)
Points: 46. Previous ranking: unranked. Upcoming: Wednesday vs. FGCU, Saturday at Arizona State. Pair of wins at the Battle 4 Atlantis have the Aggies climbing into the chart.
25. Louisville (5-0)
Points: 43. Previous ranking: unranked. Upcoming: Wednesday at Michigan State, Saturday vs. Grand Canyon. The sledding gets a little tougher this week for the Cards.
Receiving votes:
Providence 42, SMU 40, Notre Dame 35, California 33, UConn 27, Butler 20, Wichita State 19, Dayton 16, George Washington 16, LSU 5, UTEP 4, USC 4, Saint Mary’s, Pittsburgh, Northern Iowa
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