North Florida Stuns: Weekly Recap & Top 25 Mid-Major Rankings
North Florida stunned the world this week. See who tops our Week 2 mid-major basketball rankings. Grand Canyon, Saint Mary’s, and more continue to lead the way.
The first week of college basketball did not disappoint. North Florida had about as good of a week as any team could possibly ask for. Austin Peay stunned Butler at Hinkle Arena. Columbia has started off 3-0, including a win over Villanova. Teams like San Francisco that had the potential to be great proved that they are in fact solid teams. Let’s dive into our Week 2 Top 25 Mid-Major Rankings:
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There wasn’t much movement in the top ten spots as all teams remain from week one. Boise State was the most notable move, going from #3 down to #7. The Broncos’ 84-73 loss to the San Francisco Dons was not a bad loss at all, as the Dons have moved up from #18 to #12 in this week’s ranking, however, many of the other teams posted strong performances. For example, VCU proved why they were the preseason favorites in the A10 as they won by a combined 44 points in their first two games.
Teams ranked 10-20 saw some notable changes. As mentioned, San Francisco made the jump from #18 to #12 after their 84-73 win over the Mountain West preseason favorites, Boise State. The Dons have looked incredible to start the season with Malik Thomas averaging 22.5 points, Tyrone Riley averaging 18, and Marcus Williams averaging 17.
McNeese fell from #13 down to #19. The Cowboys started off with a disappointing performance against South Dakota State in a 80-73 loss. McNeese did not play as a team, so we’ll see if they can bounce back this week with a tough matchup against #2 Alabama tonight at 6pm CDT.
The largest move of the week was of course, North Florida. The Ospreys had one of the best weeks you could ask for in college basketball, defeating South Carolina 74-71 on opening night, Charleston Southern 90-66, and then Georgia Tech 105-93. Five players are averaging 13 or more points per game to start off the season and they have a chance to continue their hot streak against Georgia on Tuesday. If the Ospreys manage to pull off a win against Georgia, look for them to potentially reach the AP Poll in the following week.
UC Irvine, Columbia, and Charleston all entered the Top 25 this week, while Vermont, Towson, Saint Joseph’s, and Ohio fell out. Ranking teams this early in the season is difficult, so there will be frequent movement at the bottom of this list for the next several weeks. UC Irvine has started off 3-0 with wins over Chapman, Loyola Marymount, and Northern Iowa. Bent Leuchten is averaging 16 points, 8.7 rebounds, and two assists so far for the Anteaters. Columbia had an incredible week including a 90-80 win over Villanova. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa is averaging 21.7 points, five rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.7 steals so far for the Lions. If they can keep it up, their non-conference schedule is favorable, so there’s a real possibility they have 10 wins come conference play. Charleston has two solid wins under their belt, including a 90-80 win over Southern Illinois and an 86-71 win over South Florida. They have a challenging week against Florida Atlantic and Liberty, but look for Ante Brzovic to continue his hot hand as he is averaging 30.5 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
Just on the outside of the Top 25 sits North Texas & Lipscomb. North Texas looked dominate in the first half against Evansville, but fell back in the second. The Mean Green then drilled the non-DI Wayland 80-38. They have five incredible opportunities coming up against Minnesota, McNeese, Oregon State, Northern Iowa, and High Point, so look for North Texas to try and get the job done here and prove that they are as talented as they seem. Lipscomb looked solid against Duquesne and Wofford in their wins. Having Jacob Ognacevic return from injury has been a huge lift as he is averaging 22 points and 7.3 rebounds thus far. The Bisons also played strong against #16 Arkansas, but weren’t able to finish the job. They’ll look to keep it rolling against Belmont and Western Kentucky this week.
Weekly Recap:
What else happened around mid-major college basketball last week?
The Atlantic Sun is stunning the entire college basketball world. Outside of North Florida’s performance in the first week, Austin Peay knocked off Butler in a 68-66 win, Eastern Kentucky has started off 2-0 with a nice win against East Tennessee State, Queens and North Alabama have both started off 2-0 as well, while Lipscomb as previously mentioned has started off well.
The Atlantic 10 and American Athletic conferences both are as competitive as ever. Memphis has picked nice wins against Missouri and UNLV, Wichita State knocked off two solid teams in Western Kentucky and Montana State, while East Carolina, FAU, North Texas, Temple, Tulane, and Tulsa have all also started off 2-0 on their seasons.
In the Atlantic 10, Loyola Chicago, Davidson, Dayton, George Washington, La Salle, Rhode Island, Saint Bonaventure, and VCU have all started off undefeated. Fordham knocked off Seton Hall in a close 57-56 win, despite losing to St. John’s by 32 in their season opener. Duquesne lost two close games to Lipscomb and Princeton, Saint Louis lost a battle against Santa Clara, and more. Even the losses in the A-10 have been reasonable against the competition. Saint Joseph’s unfortunately lost to Central Connecticut State, but others like George Mason put up a valiant effort against #18 Marquette. Overall an excellent week for the conference.
In the Big West, you should learn TY Johnson’s name. The guard is averaging 32.5 points, 5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.5 steals for UC Davis through their first two games. They lost a close matchup against Washington 79-73, but rebounded with a solid 79-75 win over Idaho. Keep your eyes on the Aggies moving forward as the NC State transfer TY Johnson has some impressive skills and will surely lead them to some strong wins.
Winthrop out of the Big South is another underrated team to keep an eye on. The Eagles knocked off the Ohio Valley favorites, Little Rock in an 82-67 win. It was a dominate performance where they outrebounded Little Rock 52-32 and racked up 14 steals. KJ Doucet led the way with 17 points, seven rebounds, and two steals.
The Missouri Valley has disappointed so far. Preseason favorites Bradley were handled steadily by Washington State, Northern Iowa fell apart against UC Irvine, Illinois State was defeated by UT Martin in their home opener, Murray State played well in the first half against Pittsburgh, but couldn’t keep up, and Belmont lost on a game winning three against Furman. Drake and UIC are the only two undefeated teams in the conference after week one. UIC certainly did surprise me with a 91-79 win over Yale as Tyem Freeman had 19 points, 5 rebounds and Jordan Mason had 16 points, 4 assists and 2 steals off the bench. As we discussed all offseason, this conference was going to be very unpredictable.