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
