As college basketball heats up, it’s time to take a closer look at the latest College Basketball Power Rankings, where the SEC has emerged as a dominant force this season, boasting three teams in the top five. Meanwhile, Duke represents the ACC, and Iowa State stands as the lone Big 12 contender in the elite ranks. Keep reading for an in-depth look at the top 25 teams, along with analysis of this week’s key matchups.

College Basketball Power Rankings Heading Into the Weekend
NCAAB Chaos: The Wildest Weekend in College Basketball

2024 College Basketball Season | 86th season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men’s college basketball national champion
Weekend Games: Friday, December 13th – Sunday, December 15th, 2024

Betting College Basketball Power Rankings

College basketball is in full swing. Surprisingly, the power in college football this season so far rests in the SEC where the conference boasts three of the top five teams.

The only ACC team in the top five is Duke while in my rankings, Iowa State is the lone top five Big 12 squad.

Check out my College Basketball Power Rankings Top 25 along with analysis.

College Basketball Power Rankings Heading Into the Weekend

• Tennessee 8-0
• Auburn 8-1
• Duke 7-2
• Iowa State 7-1
• Kentucky 8-1
• Alabama 7-2
• Gonzaga 7-2
• Marquette 9-1
• Florida 9-0
• Kansas 7-2
• Houston 5-3
• Texas Tech 7-2
• Purdue 8-2
• Michigan 8-1
• Oregon 9-1
• Maryland 8-2
• Illinois 6-2
• Clemson 9-1
• Cincinnati 7-1
• UConn 7-3
• UCLA 8-1
• St. John’s 7-2
• Ole Miss 8-1
• Michigan State 8-2
• Texas A&M 8-2

Writer’s Picks on the NCAAB Power Rankings

Oregon and UCLA Showing Up the Big Ten

I don’t rank UCLA or Oregon higher than traditional hardcourt Big Ten powers Purdue and Michigan but the former Pac-12 schools are close.

Oregon lost to UCLA after a less than second bank shot from Dylan Andrews.

Up until the loss, the Ducks had rolled, beating then 20 Texas A&M by 10 and upsetting then 8 Alabama 83-81.

UCLA is 2-0 in the conference and 8-0 overall.

The Bruins get an acid test on December 14 versus an already desperate 4-45 Arizona squad.

The game happens on UCLA’s court at Pauley Pavilion.

If the Bruins beat their former conference rival, then we can safely say UCLA has legs.

Big Ten Pick: UCLA

Cincinnati and Iowa State Challenging Kansas in the Big 12

New conference squad Arizona and Scott Drew coached Baylor were supposed to challenge Rock Chalk in the Big 12.

The Wildcats are 4-4 this season and Baylor is 6-3.

So instead of Zona and the Bears taking it to Kansas, it’s been Cincinnati and Iowa State that have come up big in the 12.

The Bearcats are 7-1 overall.

Cincy may be a paper tiger because they lost their one tough matchup, against unranked Villanova, and have so far beaten less than stellar squads.

The Cyclones are also 7-1.

Iowa State lost their lone matchup against a top five team but it was by 2 points, 83-81 against Auburn.

Iowa State is for real and should be considered a National Championship contender.

As far as Kansas is concerned, the Jayhawks were undefeated until losing back-to-back games to Creighton and Missouri.

Neither the Bluejays nor the Tigers should be good enough to beat Rock Chalk.

So we must wait and see with Kansas.

Big 12 Pick: Kansas

Duke is the Real Deal

One team that is real for sure are the Cooper Flagg led Duke Blue Devils.

Flagg is a legit NBA star in waiting.

He’s got everything required to hit the Association running and gunning his way to over 20 points and over 10 board per game.

The 8-1 Blue Devils beat then 17 Arizona 69-55, lost by 3 points to then 1 Kansas 75-72, and has a 6 point win over then 4 Auburn.

Duke is legit and should be considered a title contender for sure.

The Blue Devils are easily the class of the ACC this season.

ACC Pick: Duke

So far, Tennessee and Auburn have Staying Power and so does Kentucky

Tennessee is undefeated at 9-0.

It’s early, which is why the Vols have played a single ranked team, Baylor which was 13 when the Volunteers beat them 77-62, but that hasn’t deterred me from making the Vols the top ranked team on my power rankings.

Auburn also has a high ranking because the Tigers have been great when beating ranked Sam Houston, Iowa State, and North Carolina while losing to Duke.

Auburn has had a rough schedule and has come out of flying high.

Both the Tigers and Volunteers look like serious National Championship contenders.

Kentucky is also a contender.

The Wildcats lost John Calipari during the offseason.

Coach Cal’s Arkansas squad is playing well when going 8-2 but Kentucky is 8-1 and has wins over Duke and Gonzaga.

The Wildcats, Vols, and Tigers are the class of the SEC, which is emerging as this season’s top college hoops conference.

SEC Picsk: Kentucky / Tennessee / Auburn

UConn Ready to Climb the Rankings

It’s too early to discount 2-time defending titlists UConn.

Connecticut appeared to be going through a rebuilding season early when they lost three straight to Memphis, Northern Colorado, and Dayton.

Since the defeats, Dan Hurley’s bunch has won three straight.

Two of the wins impressed, beating Baylor and Texas in back-to-back games.

Once Big East play starts, will get a better idea of where Hurley’s squad is in terms of National Championship muster.

For now, keep the Huskies on your radar.

This is UConn and they’re coached by Dan Hurley.

There’s a chance that Hurley could have the Huskies in the Top 5 by the end of December because he’s that good of a coach.

ACC Pick: UConn

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