Top 25 Mid-Majors: New Mexico Rises to No. 1
New Mexico claims the top spot! See how mid-majors like Drake, UC San Diego & VCU are shaking up the rankings this week.
This week was a blast across college basketball. We have our first shakeup in the top five in many weeks, we are seeing teams like Drake continue to make statements, while UC San Diego and UC Irvine are making cases for a two-bid Big West. Let’s dive into this week’s rankings and recap last week.
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We’ve got a new No. 1 team in New Mexico! The Lobos are 20-4 on the season and 12-1 within the Mountain West while riding a six-game winning streak. This week, they won with ease 87-65 over Colorado State and 88-53 over Air Force. Nelly Junior Joseph and Donovan Dent have been doing some significant work for the Lobos. They’ve lost just one game in the last two months, which was a one point loss to San Jose State. The Lobos haven’t made the Sweet 16 since 1972 and depending on their bracket, there is a chance that this team might snap the streak. They are up to 35th in KenPom with the 70th best offensive efficiency and 27th best defensive efficiency. In the NET, the Lobos are 37th.
Saint Mary’s took their first loss of the season in the WCC against San Francisco on the road. Their shooting from deep proved to be the difference maker as the Dons held the Gaels to just 3-23 from 3pt in their 65-64 game. Saint Mary’s rebounded with a 63-49 win over Oregon State on Saturday. The AP voters didn’t rank the Gaels last week and they probably won’t this week after a loss to San Francisco, but they should. The Gaels are 21st in KenPom and 21st in the NET. They’ll take on Santa Clara and Washington State this week.
The Memphis Tigers kept it rolling with wins over Tulsa and Temple this week. The Tigers are now 20-4 on the season and 10-1 in the AAC while riding a seven game winning streak. Memphis continues to climb across the board in computer metrics and the AP Poll. They are in the driver seat for a return to the NCAA Tournament after a heartbreaking season last year.
Utah State bounced back from their 19 point loss to New Mexico last week with a couple of wins over Wyoming and Fresno State. Ian Martinez was on a heater this week, dropping 19 on Tuesday and 30 on Friday. The Aggies are 52nd in KenPom and 38th in the NET. They’ll look to extend their winning streak in a tough schedule this week against Colorado State and New Mexico. Keep an eye on the Aggies this week as it could be a true test to see who will sit atop of the Mountain West in a couple of weeks.
VCU picked up a couple of wins this week against La Salle 96-66 and Dayton 73-68. The Dayton game wasn’t the best offensive production to watch, but VCU outhustled the Flyers on the boards. The Rams out-rebounded the Flyers 44-34, plus they forced 19 turnovers. VCU continues to build their at-large resume as they are up to 33rd in KenPom and 36th in the NET.
Drake just keeps winning as they took down Murray State and Indiana State this week. The Bulldogs extend their winning streak to ten games and brought their record to 22-2 and 12-2 in the Missouri Valley. The mind-blowing thing that we’ve talked about many times is, they lost their two games back-to-back. Their key wins in non-conference continue to age like fine wine in Vanderbilt and Kansas State. The Bulldogs will be going dancing in Ben McCollum’s first year on the job and it’s going to be a blast watching Bennett Stirtz on the big stage. The Bulldogs are up to 62nd in KenPom and 57th in the NET. They’ll take on Illinois State on the road and Bradley at home this week.
Boise State is in the midst of a four-game winning streak as they took down UNLV and San Jose State this week. The Broncos are up to 17-7 on the season and 9-4 in the Mountain West. After sliding a bit and going just 2-4 half way through January, the Broncos have answered well to regroup. Boise State is back up to 47th in KenPom and 48th in the NET. They have a tough ask this week against San Diego State and New Mexico.
San Diego State lost their only game this week against Colorado State 68-63. The Rams have played incredibly well in the Mountain West this season, so it doesn’t hurt the Aztecs too much. However, the Aztecs are really playing with fire with all of these close games. Their defense is incredibly stout, but the offense has some large question marks. Freshman Magoon Gwath has led the Aztecs in scoring four games in a row and he’s’ averaging 17 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. Others on the team have virtually disappeared on offense. The Aztecs are sitting at 49th in KenPom and 52nd in the NET. They’ll take on San Jose State and Boise State this week.
The UC San Diego Tritons are up to No. 9 in our rankings this week as they dominated their arch-rivals UC Irvine on the road 85-67. The Tritons were lights out, shooting 53.7% overall and 16-31 from deep. If you don’t know the name Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, you are missing out on one of the most underrated players outside of the non-power conference ranks. Against the Anteaters, he dropped 22 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and on block. On the season, he is averaging 20 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals. He’s already 24 years-old, but he certainly has to be catching NBA scouts’ eyes right now. UC San Diego is now up to 50th in KenPom and 49th in the NET. They’ll take on Cal State Bakersfield and UC Davis this week.
George Mason has entered the top ten for the first time this season as they are in the middle of a nine-game winning streak. This week, the Patriots took down George Washington 53-50 and Rhode Island 82-67. The Patriots are in first in the A-10 with VCU right on their tails. Pencil in Saturday, February 22nd as the two will battle it out for first place. This week, they’ll take on Saint Louis and Saint Joseph’s. George Mason is up to 69th in KenPom and 64th in the NET.
Outside of the top ten, UC Irvine moved down to No. 11 after their loss to UC San Diego. North Texas moved back up to No. 12 after defeating Tulane 76-66. The Mean Green did suffer a three point loss to UAB, who by the way is silently 15-8 and second in the AAC. Santa Clara is up to 13th after getting the job down 97-50 against Portland and San Diego 93-70. San Francisco moved up to 14th after their huge win over Saint Mary’s. The Dons also took down Loyola Marymount on Saturday to move to 20-6 and 10-3 in the WCC. Should the Dons be a NCAA Tournament team? Yes. Will they? Probably not, which is unfortunate. If they beat Gonzaga this week, that narrative may change. To wrap up 11-15, Dayton fell again this week to VCU so the Flyers are down to #15. The two-bid A-10 will have to be driven by VCU this season.
Looking at 16-20, Liberty moved up to No. 16 as the Flames picked up a monster 77-53 win over Louisiana Tech and a 64-61 victory over Sam Houston. The Flames are now 19-5 on the season and 7-4 in the Conference USA. High Point extended their winning streak to six games after beating Radford and UNC Asheville this week. The Panthers are 21-5 and 9-2 in the Big South. Akron moved up to No. 18 as the Zips are simply red hot. Their offense right now is rolling as they won 81-73 over Ball State and 80-65 over South Alabama in the Sun Belt - MAC challenge. Akron hasn’t scored less than 80 points in a game since January 3rd. They are on an eleven game winning streak. If you want a Bracket Buster to watch, I believe the Zips could be the team this year. Colorado State entered the rankings this week at No. 19 as they continue their hot streak in the Mountain West. The Rams are up to 9-3 in conference and are starting to look like they could be a potential bid stealer. Bradley fell down to No. 20 as they are in the middle of a 1-3 stretch. The Braves fell to Belmont 80-77, but snapped their three game skid with an 80-74 win over Evansville on the road. Bradley did all they could to lose the game in the second half as Evansville picked it up offensively. They’ll not have it easy this week against a red hot Southern Illinois team and Drake.
Rounding out the top 25, t No. 21, Arkansas State fell after losing both games this week to Marshall 77-72 and Kent State 76-75. Lipscomb moved up to No. 22 after extending their winning stream to three games over West Georgia and Queens. The Bisons are now in a four-way tie for first in the A-Sun in what is just a ridiculous battle this year. The A-Sun tournament is going to be must-watch TV. Yale slid their way into the Top 25 this week for the first time this season as they extended their winning streak to eight games and remain undefeated in the Ivy League. Yale drilled Penn 90-61 and Cornell 103-68. This team is rolling right now and they ‘ll take on Penn and Princeton this week. The Bulldogs are up to 61st in KenPom and 68th in the NET. Samford fell down to 24th as they lost to East Tennessee State. The Bulldogs are still 19-6 on the season and 9-3 in the SoCon. They’ll take on Chattanooga and Wofford this week. McNeese got shifted to 25th with the success of other teams, but the Cowboys bounced back from their first loss in the Southland with wins over Incarnate Word and Northwestern State. St.
Cleveland State & St. Thomas fell out of the Top 25 this week, but they are hovering around that last spot with Charleston, Utah Valley, Grand Canyon and UAB. The Vikings split their games this week against Northern Kentucky and Milwaukee. Cleveland State lost to NKU 85-75, while taking down Milwaukee 77-60. St. Thomas also split their games, dropping a 102-86 loss to South Dakota State and picking up a 79-76 victory over Denver. Truly, you could replace any of those teams I listed and make an argument for their positioning. Utah Valley and Grand Canyon are battling it out in conference, but had some questionable losses here and there. UAB was very rough in the non-conference but has found themselves like Colorado State in conference play. Charleston will look incredible and then lay an egg, so it’s hard to pinpoint them. In summary, there are some incredible non-power conference schools this year and with conferences like the ACC and Big East not dominating, we are surely going to have some fun schools in the tournament this season.
Notable Movement
Bradley - #15 → #20
Colorado State - NR → #19
Dropped Out
Cleveland State
St. Thomas
On the Bubble
UAB
Charleston
Utah Valley
Grand Canyon
Cleveland State