Riley Saxon
By Riley Saxon
1. Gonzaga – Most exciting team in college bball.
2. Baylor – Made life tough for Auburn’s Sharife Cooper (6-17, 15 points).
3. Villanova – Class of the Big East focused on getting a 1 seed.
4. Michigan – Covid Pause and losses below keeps their rank the same.
5. Houston – Moves into the top 5 after perfect week.
6. Texas – Showdown with Baylor up next.
7. Iowa – Loss doesn’t change our opinion of them much; big game vs Ohio St this week.
8. Ohio St – Strong last week with a chance to knock off Iowa this week.
9. Creighton – Needs to play better if they want to beat Nova.
10. Oklahoma – Probably too high, but Incredible week, while short handed, + inconsistency of other teams gives them a boost.
11. Virginia – Rivalry games can be tough.
12. Alabama – Still the class of the SEC.
13. Texas Tech – Bounces back from West Va with good road win.
14. Tennessee – Strong showing vs Kansas; needs to keep it up.
15. West Virginia – Great Comeback Monday ruined by Saturday’s loss.
16. Illinois – Illini showed their high ceiling against Iowa.
17. Virginia Tech – Real shot to win the ACC after victory over Virginia.
18. Wisconsin – We don’t like double digit losses at Penn St.
19. Missouri – Needed OT to beat TCU.
20. Florida St – Win streak ended by ugly loss to Ga Tech.
21. Kansas – Dropped 5 of their last 6; went 2-6 in January. In danger of joining other Blue Bloods Duke and Kentucky.
22. UCLA – 16-2 in Pac 12 since Feb 7, 2020, with 2 losses by a combined 3 points. Margin of victory over that span feels that small as well.
23. Boise St – Not much shame in splitting with CSU this year.
24. Drake – Nearly lost in OT to 5-10 Illinois St, but we’ll give some love for 16-0.
25. Florida – Big win at West Va propels them into the Top 25.
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Dropped Out
(24) Oregon – Covid Pauses always vs UCLA… coincidence or something more?
(23) Minnesota – The Barn lost its magic + 3 of next 5 on the road.
(19) Clemson – Beat Louisville, but looks like the wheels are going to come off soon.
(22) UConn – Trending down; Covid cancels big game vs Villanova.
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The Saxon Top 25 appears every Monday at JoeTorosian.com
Riley Saxon can be reached at:
Email: rileymsaxon@gmail.com
Twitter: @riley_saxon
