Jan 20, 20185 min read

CBB: Sweet Sixteen Rankings Vol. 3

The Villanova Wildcats aren't undefeated anymore, as they were in our last rankings, but they are back to the top spot. Just behind them? The Virginia Cavaliers. Virginia has been solid all year long and they're starting to rack up impressive wins, defeating Syracuse and North Carolina recently. The Purdue Boilermakers are looking good, too, sneaking by the Michigan Wolverines, 70-69, last week on the road. The Duke Blue Devils are right there, as they always are, even though they've slipped one spot in the last month. Rounding out the top five teams, the West Virginia Mountaineers are right there, despite a loss to Kansas earlier in the week.

READ: Sweet Sixteen Rankings Vol. 1.

READ: Sweet Sixteen Rankings Vol. 2.

1. Villanova (17-1, +0, 99 Pts): Villanova always seems to be at the top of the rankings, and why not? Jay Wright has his ball club playing outstanding basketball this season. Already beating top teams Xavier and Gonzaga by double digits, the Wildcats only have one loss to the season, which was to a solid Butler squad on the road. This high scoring Wildcat offense led by guards Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges have given Villanova scoring when it is needed. With Brunson averaging 18.8 points per game and Bridges averaging 17.4 points per game, the two juniors have contributed heavily to its seventh ranked offense in the nation. The Wildcats still have to play some competition for the rest of the season, including Seton Hall twice and Xavier again. In the past four seasons, Villanova has finished the season ranked in the top-10. The team looks to keep on proving people wrong and become a serious contender again for the national championship. Wright and his squad have always had a fast paced and high scoring offense that finds success. If the team stays hot and continues to play consistent, they can look for another deep tournament run.

2. Virginia (16-1, +16, 97 Pts): Virginia has rightfully earned their high ranking through their play so far this season. With their only loss against No. 5 West Virginia on the road, the Cavaliers are undefeated in conference play so far. One things that Virginia takes pride is in their defense. Having the No. 1 ranked scoring defense in the nation, coach Tony Bennett has been able to lockdown and hold opponents to low scoring games while being able to convert on the offensive end. The main offensive leader has been sophomore guard Kyle Guy, who is averaging 15.2 points per game and also providing a great three point threat, shooting 43.0 percent from the three-point line. Virginia still has to finish off the regular season with Duke, Miami, and Clemson, the Cavaliers have a great shot to win the ACC and advance far in the NCAA Tournament. If Bennett can continue to lock up defenders and cause chaos to opposing offenses, Virginia will be a potential favorite to win the title.

3. Purdue (18-2, +6, 91 Pts): Purdue lost a pair of games in the Battle 4 Atlantis to Tennessee and Western Kentucky, and then all of a sudden, they turned it around. Since then, the Boilermakers have won 14 consecutive games, which began with a big time victory over Arizona. In that span, they've also grabbed wins over Louisville, Maryland, Butler, Michigan, and Minnesota. Not bad. Purdue is 7-0 in Big Ten play and have a shot at putting even more room between them and the rest of the conference over the next two weeks. Their next five games are against Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Maryland, and Rutgers. It wouldn't shock anyone if they were to run the table in those games and go into Michigan State still undefeated in the conference. The team is led by the Edwards brothers (not really brothers), Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards. They are combining for 31.7 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Don't take this team lightly. They could be dangerous.

4. Duke (16-2, -1, 89 Pts): Coming off another top-25 win last Monday against Miami, the Blue Devils are 4-0 against ranked teams this year. Despite Duke already having two losses in conference play, both losses came on the road against Boston College and NC State, who are at the .500-mark in conference play. The Blue Devils contain a stacked lineup with the top scoring offense in the nation, led by freshman sensation Marvin Bagley III, who is averaging 22.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Mike Krzyzewski has done a superb job of pairing Bagley with skilled center Wendell Carter Jr., and surrounding him with great guard play from Grayson Allen, Gary Trent Jr., and Trevon Duval. Krzyzewski has done a great job of grooming and improving on this very young Blue Devil team which starts four freshman. The upcoming conference games do not get any easier for Duke. With potentially still five top-25 teams left in conference play, this young Duke team still has some tuning up and fixing to do heading into tournament play. The inexperience in this team could affect Duke in key games down the stretch of the season. As long as the team continues to score in all different ways and hold opponents on defense, look for Duke to make a deep run into the tournament this March.

5. West Virginia (15-3, +2, 79 Pts): The Kansas and West Virginia game looked like a blow out in the first half. West Virginia had control of the whole game. They were posting up, getting shots, hitting virtually all of their threes, and forcing turnovers. It seemed liked Kansas could doing nothing right. But in the second half, that changed. Kansas came out hitting on all cylinders and ended up scoring 43 points in the second half, to West Virginia’s 25 points. The Big 12 is tough this year and these two teams will be a couple of the few teams battling to win it the conference, but if West Virginia wants to remain this high in the rankings, they'll have to get back to playing complete games. They've now lost two games in a row, by a combined six points, and they held double digit leads in both matchups. The schedule isn't going to let up, as their next three opponents are Texas, TCU, and Kentucky. West Virginia has the talent, but they need to learn how to finish better.

Sweet Sixteen Rankings:

6. Oklahoma (14-3, +12) - 78 Pts.

7. Texas Tech (15-3, +12) - 72 Pts.

8. Kansas (15-3, +3) - 70 Pts.

9. Michigan State (16-3, -5) - 68 Pts.

10. Xavier (16-3, +10) - 66 Pts.

11. Cincinnati (16-2, +2) - 63 Pts.

12. Wichita State (15-3, -4) - 59 Pts.

13. North Carolina (15-4, -3) - 42 Pts.

14. Arizona State (14-4, -12) - 34 Pts.

15. Kentucky (14-4, -9) - 33 Pts.

16. Louisville (14-4, +6) - 20 Pts.