The college basketball season is just two weeks old. We have barely begun to play. Yet, two weeks provide a lot of results to keep track of and evaluate. With that body of work under the microscope, let\u2019s look at the top 10 teams in the country, conceding that these rankings are subject to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 \u2013 UCLA Bruins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bruins came back from 10 points down to beat Villanova in a top-five matchup earlier this season. Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez are the leaders of this team, but the Bruins have added some freshman recruits and created a roster which is deep and balanced. Head coach Mick Cronin finally reached the Final Four last season for the first time in his career. He has clearly built a good roster and taken advantage of the tidal wave of positive publicity generated by that Final Four run. The Bruins are the favorite in the Pac-12, and they have already served notice that they should be taken seriously. They play another elite team very soon. That\u2019s the next team on the list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 \u2013 Gonzaga Bulldogs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gonzaga Bulldogs were the second-best team in the country last season. Only Baylor was better. The Bears were the only team to beat Gonzaga last season. The Zags put together a memorable campaign but fell one win short of forging a perfect season. They barely missed doing what no college basketball team has done since Indiana in 1976. Now Gonzaga is reloading with new super-recruit Chet Holmgren surrounding a bunch of veteran players who know their roles well. Gonzaga versus UCLA this week will be appointment television, and the Zags will try to prevent UCLA from gaining revenge on GU for this past season\u2019s Final Four semifinal classic, which will always be remembered as one of the greatest college basketball games ever played. Gonzaga was a top-two team last season. That should not change this season, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 \u2013 Purdue Boilermakers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Boilermakers are clearly the best team in the Big Ten. Michigan has struggled early in the season, as has Ohio State. Illinois has also lost early in the season. Meanwhile, Purdue just put together big wins over Villanova and North Carolina. The Boilermakers have size, length and power. No team will be more physical than Matt Painter\u2019s group. Other teams will have more speed and will be able to run up and down the floor faster than the Boilermakers, but if Purdue can slow games down and rely on its muscle in the paint, this team will be a very tough out in March. Purdue has to be viewed as the current favorite to win the Big Ten championship. Hardly anyone would doubt that claim right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 \u2013 Duke Blue Devils<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Blue Devils beat Kentucky in a huge early-season game. Freshman Paolo Banchero impressed NBA scouts with his strength, fluidity, and all-court game. He is a special player who gives every appearance and indication that he will be a top-five pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Banchero, a forward, was part of a Duke frontcourt which controlled Kentucky\u2019s big men. Duke was superior in the paint and on the glass, and Kentucky had no answer. The Wildcats tried to stay in the game with 3-point shooting, but Duke controlled the area of the court near the rim, and that made all the difference. This is Mike Krzyzewski\u2019s last season as a college basketball coach before he retires at the end of the campaign and hands the keys to his former player, Jon Scheyer, as his successor for next year. Duke has a chance to give Coach K the grand sendoff his career deserves. It will be fascinating to see how close the Blue Devils get to making that dream come true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 \u2013 Kansas Jayhawks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Jayhawks handled Tom Izzo and Michigan State in a big early-season game. Remy Martin, a transfer from Arizona State, was huge for KU in the victory over the Spartans in a battle of blue-blood programs. If Martin is as good as Kansas hopes he will be, the Jayhawks have experience and depth in their frontcourt. A great scoring guard was their missing piece. If Martin fills the role with the skill the Jayhawks want, this is a Final Four-caliber team without question. The only problem for Kansas is how good the competition at the top of the Big 12 is. For instance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6 \u2013 Baylor Bears<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Kansas Jayhawks will have to battle Baylor and also Texas for Big 12 supremacy. Will there be a better three-school race for a conference championship this season? It\u2019s doubtful. Baylor hung a national championship banner from the rafters, and now coach Scott Drew \u2013 one of the best in the country \u2013 gets to reload with a young roster, but a roster which has some holdovers from last season\u2019s team. Those veterans will get a lot more playing time this season. Baylor will push Kansas to the limit in the Big 12 Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 \u2013 Villanova Wildcats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Villanova has lost to UCLA and Purdue, but the Wildcats led by 10 points or more in each of those games before faltering late. If Villanova can simply learn to hold leads in second halves, the Cats could still be special. They made the Sweet 16 last season and have most of their roster back. The performance of their newcomers will tell the tale\u2026 and they did hammer Tennessee, another good team, this past Saturday, so they do have a high-quality win on their resume in late November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8 \u2013 Texas Longhorns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Longhorns lost to Gonzaga, which is no shame or embarrassment. They loaded up on transfers under new coach Chris Beard and should have one of the most formidable starting fives anywhere in the United States this season. Texas has lots of reasons to think it will go deep in March this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9 \u2013 Arizona Wildcats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wildcats opened lots of eyes with an 80-62 romp over Michigan on Sunday night. New head coach Tommy Lloyd is thriving in the first few weeks on the job. Arizona might be the foremost contender to UCLA in the Pac-12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10 \u2013 Seton Hall Pirates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pirates\u2019 win at Michigan is a huge early-season result. The Hall is clearly Villanova\u2019s main contender in the Big East Conference. Head coach Kevin Willard is proving how good a leader he is for this program. The only point of concern: Michigan might be overrated. Still, Seton Hall impressed a lot of people with that road win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The college basketball season is just two weeks old. We have barely begun to play. Yet, two weeks provide a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaab"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20031,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20020\/revisions\/20031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}