Coach K’s NCAA Men’s Top 10

By: Mr. Kessler

“The weather is getting colder, but the action inside is just heating up!”

-Every announcer on TV

-Mark Titus

Coach K’s preseason rankings have turned upside down. Michigan State, the choice for National Champs, is floundering. Marquette can’t decide if they want to be a good team or not. Let’s find out which team’s stock is rising and which team’s stock you should sell, along with the Top 10:

Stock Risers:

The Mountain West Conference: The Mountain West Conference may be the 4th best conference in the country with quality teams like Colorado St., Utah St., San Diego St., Boise St., and New Mexico. Colorado St. has Power 6 wins over Boston College, Colorado, and Washington to start the season. But the biggest feather in their cap is the blowout of #10 Creighton 69-48. Coach Richard Pitino has New Mexico playing great basketball sitting at 16-3 and a blowout win over Utah St. Utah St is sitting in 1st place in the conference at 5-1 in conference play, and 17-2 overall.

Dayton: The Flyers are the best team in Ohio. Wins over St. John’s, LSU, and Cincinnati are good resume builders. While the Atlantic 10 isn’t exactly a gauntlet, there are still tough arenas to play in.

Sell, Sell, Sell:

Arkansas: A loss to North Carolina is acceptable. Beating Duke is exciting. But additional losses to Georgia and UNC-Greensboro are where fans may be close to hitting the panic button. Then, conference play has really had fans freaking out in Fayetteville. Blowout losses to Florida, Auburn, and South Carolina.

Villanova- What is happening in Philadelphia? After the Wildcats won the Battle 4 Atlantis, they looked like they were on the uptick. Losses to Penn, St. Joe’s, and Drexel are real head scratchers.

Top 10:

1: Purdue- The Boilermakers are rolling and the Michigan Wolverines were their latest victims. Mackey Arena is one of the toughest places to play in America. The only thing slowing them down is their focus, with their 2 losses to Northwestern and Nebraska.

2: UCONN- Defending champs are playing great basketball at the moment. They may still drop 4-5 games and have a chance to win it all.

3: Houston- Lock down defense always travels… and Sampson’s teams always play defense. The Cougars have acclimated well to the Big XII so far. However, they could easily drop a few coming up with Texas and Kansas coming up.

4: North Carolina- A turnaround season for Hubie Brown’s team after last year’s disaster. RJ Davis is a leading candidate for ACC Player of the Year, averaging 21.0 points per game.

5: Kansas- Best team in the country at home. Puzzling losses on the road to UCF and West Virginia. Jayhawks better figure that out because March Madness is played at neutral sites.

6: Tennessee- Tennessee doesn’t have any bad losses on their schedule, which has been a gauntlet. Their best win of the season has to be Illinois. Dalton Knecht is the transfer of the year in the country and is hoping to help Rick Barnes lead his team to the 2nd weekend come March.

7: Arizona- Best team on the West Coast once again. Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats face a light Pac-12 schedule going forward. Caleb Love has been an impact transfer and they have good depth.

8: Auburn- Bruce Pearl has the Tigers faithful forgetting about football season. Their non-conference schedule was light, with their only real competition being a close loss to Baylor. The schedule beefs up soon in SEC play.

9: Kentucky- At time of publication, the Cats are coming off a blowout loss at South Carolina. However, their guard play is undeniable with DJ Wagner and Rob Dillingham. Big Blue has wins over Miami and North Carolina really bolster their resume.

10: Illinois- Underwood’s group will be tournament tested by the time March comes around. Terrence Shannon Jr.’s eligibility is the key for the Illini. A weaker than usual Big 10 should keep them near the Top 10 all year.