CBB Power Rankings

Three weeks into Campus Sports College Basketball Power Rankings and there already is a major controversy.

Numbers do not lie.

Yes, you can make the numbers say what you want them to say at times. But, in the end, once you dig in to the data points, the truth shines through.

So far every team and conference seems to be right where they need to be. The ole “They are who we thought they were…” statement.

Except for one…

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are totally messing with my mind. With only two losses and a huge win at home on Wednesday against Duke, the Irish proved that they are legit and deserve to be ranked in the top five next week.

But if you look at Notre Dame’s numbers, something doesn’t add up. With a Campus Sports Power Ranking Average of 38.25, the Irish are more in line with the Illinois Fighting Illini, Alabama Crimson Tide, Oregon Ducks and the UCLA Bruins.

But what is clear with its run so far in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Notre Dame is going to have a lot to say in who cuts down what net come March.

So with that all being said and nothing solved, let’s jump into the Campus Sports College Basketball Power Rankings for Week Three.

 

Power Team On The Rise

To keep things fair, we have added four teams that are ranked but do not play in one of the power conferences. It’s not really a fair assessment of the power teams in college hoops without these folks. And with that being said, everyone needs to take a few minutes to get to know the VCU Rams. With a power average of 5.75, the Rams are statistically poised to play with any team in the nation. Consider Shaka Smart’s squad no longer flying under the radar.

 

Others Losses SOS RPI Rank Average
Gonzaga 1 66 8 3 19.50
Wichita State 2 88 12 12 28.50
VCU 3 2 4 14 5.75
Northern Iowa 2 153 24 18 49.25

 

Most Overrated Teams

And this week’s winner is none other than the Miami Hurricanes. After cracking the AP Top 25 last week at No. 23, the Hurricanes found a way to lose to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 70-50. Great job in blowing a great stretch of solid wins and close losses to good teams. Here are the rest of this week’s over-hyped teams, except for the Irish of course. Or so we think.

 

CS Power Team Avg AP
NR Maryland 25.75 16
NR Wichita St 28.5 12
NR Indiana 28.75 22
NR Miami 32.25 23
NR Notre Dame 38.25 8
NR N. Iowa 49.25 18.00

 

Conference Power Rankings

Despite the beginning of some cannibalism within the conference, the Big East is still the beast. With a power average of 32.62, the Big East is still about six points better than the Big 12 who looks to be locked in at No. 2. But the rest of the conference rankings had a big time shake up from last week as the Pac 12 and SEC dropped like they had concrete shoes on in the New Jersey bay.

 

Big East Losses SOS RPI Rank Average
Butler 6 8 13 25 13.00
Creighton 12 43 125 60.00
DePaul 10 89 126 75.00
Georgetown 6 4 19 21 12.50
Marquette 10 51 124 61.67
Providence 5 15 17 12.33
St. John’s 7 31 51 29.67
Seton Hall 6 57 38 33.67
Villanova 2 37 6 7 13.00
Xavier 7 13 26 15.33
71.00 34.80 54.50 32.62

 

Big 12 Losses SOS RPI Rank Average
Baylor 5 27 21 20 18.25
Iowa State 4 39 14 15 18.00
Kansas 3 1 1 9 3.50
Kansas State 9 38 82 43.00
Oklahoma 7 10 31 24 18.00
Oklahoma State 6 33 33 24.00
Texas 6 11 29 19 16.25
TCU 6 218 148 124.00
Texas Tech 10 101 169 93.33
West Virginia 3 62 16 17 24.50
59.00 54.00 54.40 38.28

 

ACC Losses SOS RPI Rank Average
Boston College 10 28 118 52.00
Clemson 8 47 78 44.33
Duke 3 12 9 4 7.00
Florida State 10 90 135 78.33
Georgia Tech 10 14 75 33.00
Louisville 3 63 18 10 23.50
Miami 6 50 50 23 32.25
North Carolina 4 7 10 13 8.50
NC State 9 3 56 22.67
Notre Dame 2 116 27 8 38.25
Pitt 8 79 93 60.00
Syracuse 7 85 71 54.33
Virginia 0 17 3 2 5.50
Virginia Tech 11 92 192 98.33
Wake Forest 12 52 151 71.67
103.00 50.33 72.40 41.98

 

B1G Losses SOS RPI Rank Average
Illinois 8 49 60 39.00
Indiana 6 48 39 22 28.75
Iowa 7 29 45 27.00
Maryland 3 69 15 16 25.75
Michigan 8 19 63 30.00
Michigan State 7 20 41 22.67
Minnesota 9 68 106 61.00
Nebraska 8 80 94 60.67
Northwestern 10 74 130 71.33
Ohio State 5 87 43 45.00
Penn State 7 122 89 72.67
Purdue 8 59 81 49.33
Rutgers 11 23 101 45.00
Wisconsin 2 25 7 5 9.75
99.00 55.14 65.29 41.99

 

SEC Losses SOS RPI Rank Average
Alabama 7 42 62 37.00
Arkansas 4 54 20 26.00
Auburn 10 77 154 80.33
Florida 9 17 66 30.67
Georgia 5 24 23 17.33
Kentucky 0 6 2 1 2.25
LSU 4 93 36 44.33
Mississippi 7 35 48 30.00
Mississippi State 11 135 209 118.33
Missouri 12 5 157 58.00
South Carolina 9 40 116 55.00
Tennessee 7 34 52 31.00
Texas A&M 5 58 34 32.33
Vanderbilt 9 59 115 61.00
99.00 48.50 78.14 44.54

 

Pac 12 Losses SOS RPI Rank Average
Arizona 2 22 5 6 8.75
Arizona State 10 53 111 58.00
California 9 82 131 74.00
Colorado 9 32 90 43.67
Oregon 7 46 72 41.67
Oregon State 6 150 88 81.33
Stanford 5 45 25 25.00
UCLA 9 26 74 36.33
USC 10 81 137 76.00
Utah 3 30 11 11 13.75
Washington 6 86 57 49.67
Washington State 10 83 120 71.00
86.00 61.33 76.75 48.26

The CS Power Top 25

There is no surprise that the Kentucky Wildcats are still the top team in this week’s Campus Sports Power Top 25. But what is a surprise, besides VCU, is the Providence Friars. The Friars have lost five games on the season but have an RPI of 17 and a SOS of 15 which is good enough to get them in the Top 10 at No. 9. Nothing really stands out when you look at Providence’s stats. They look average. Even their losses look average beyond the beat down to Kentucky. But they are an intriguing team in what has become the most interesting story and conference in the Big East.

The other interesting team of note is the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Mark Few definitely has a team that can win the title. But how good are they really? Coming in at No. 20 in the power rankings leaves a lot of questions. Gonzaga has proven to be one of the best programs over the past 10 years. But with the WCC being down this year, how good are the Bulldogs really?

Here’s the full breakdown…

 

CS Power Team Avg AP
1 Kentucky 2.25 1
2 Kansas 3.5 9
3 Virginia 5.5 2
4 VCU 5.75 14
5 Duke 7 4
6 UNC 8.5 13
7 Arizona 8.75 6
8 Wisconsin 9.75 5
9 Providence 12.33 NR
10 Georgetown 12.5 21
11 Villanova 13 7
Butler 13 25
13 Utah 13.75 11
14 Xavier 15.33 NR
15 Texas 16.25 19
16 Georgia 17.33 NR
17 Iowa State 18.00 15.00
Oklahoma 18 24
19 Baylor 18.25 20
20 Gonzaga 19.5 3
21 Michigan St 22.67 NR
NC State 22.67 NR
23 Louisville 23.5 10
24 Oklahoma St 24 NR
25 W. Virginia 24.5 17

 

The Worst

Well, the TCU Horned Frogs came in as the worst team in all of the power conferences and team in last week’s edition.

And despite the play of the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the rest of the SEC, the Horned Frogs still take home the title as the best of the worst.

But TCU did play one hell of a game against the Kansas Jayhawks and one would think they would jump out of this.

Maybe…

A SOS of 218 might be too hard to overcome.

*Section Photo credit to Michael Hickey, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Robert Franklin, SBT Photo

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