College Basketball Top 25: Florida State On Fire, Iowa State's Youth Move, and K State on Top of the Big 12
This past week in college basketball was an absolute blur; every slate of games feels monumental in shifting the tides of conference play and potential risers and fallers for March Madness.
The ACC is a bloodbath. The PAC-12 will not go quietly into that good night in its final season. The SEC brings new surprises every day. The Big 12 keeps shuffling top teams (more on that later).
I'd be remiss to not add: This is my personal rankings and viewings. I am not an AP voter and I am not going off of what the AP poll looks like or how they vote. As with any ranking, this is based off the entire season and influenced each week. I do my best in all my work to explain my standpoint and where I'm at with each team, but as always, feel free to ask any questions or share any thoughts you have. I'd love to hear them!
Without further ado, let's unveil this week's Top 25, followed by the biggest news, takeaways, and musings of the past week in hoops.
- South Carolina
- UCLA
- Iowa
- Kansas State
- Southern California
- NC State
- Colorado
- LSU
- Stanford
- UConn
- Florida State
- Baylor
- Texas
- Ohio State
- Virginia Tech
- Louisville
- Gonzaga
- Notre Dame
- Oregon State
- Indiana
- Utah
- Iowa State
- Marquette
- North Carolina
- Creighton
First Out: Michigan State
Ranked Teams by Conference
- Pac-12: 6
- ACC: 6
- Big 12: 4
- Big Ten: 3
- Big East: 3
- SEC: 2
- WCC: 1
Crosstown Showdown
UCLA vs. USC has provided us two of the best games of the season, the two teams splitting the pair of games, and now we won't see them play again unless they face one another in the final Pac-12 Tournament.
First and foremost, I am not moving UCLA down from 2. They have played a hard enough schedule and done enough to prove that they should still be at 2. They lost on the homecourt of a team I've had in the top 5 much of the season who they just beat at home.
I am running out of words to describe JuJu Watkins.
If I had to give it out today, the Naismith Player of the Year trophy would be on its way over to Los Angeles.
You look at the final box score for JuJu, and you don't get the full picture in the slightest.
32 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 6 combined steals/blocks is remarkable, but again, you don't get the full understanding and feel without watching.
No player is perfect, and when you have the ball in your hands as much as JuJu (41.2% usage, leads D1), you will make mistakes. It's the way that JuJu responds to her mistakes and improves upon them that impresses me so much. The scoring, athleticism, and skill is incredible, but her mind and composure sets her apart.
She can go through spurts of falling in love with her pull-up jumper (which is very good) and miss reads or not see the open teammate because of what the defense is giving her; she then comes out the next half, ready to paint the corners, take extra steps downhill to attack the rim, and cleaning up on whatever the defense was trying to muck up in the first half.
It is rare to find someone with her skillset, but I'd argue it's even more rare to find players that have that kind of approach and the ability to routinely put it into practice. That's special.
I have a strong feeling basketball is going to run through Los Angeles for the foreseeable future.
Kansas State Dominating with Defense
Per CBB Analytics, the Kansas State Wildcats are 2nd in the country in Adjusted Defensive Rating (South Carolina is #1), which accounts for opposition and schedule to add context to defensive performance.
I really love that stat, because when people think of K State, it tends to go towards their offense and their dominant post play, which is understandable given how amazing Ayoka Lee is. But, I have to keep pointing out the defense, because that's what makes this group special.
Lee missed last season with a knee injury, which of course was difficult from the standpoint of her being out for the season. K State went through a multitude of growing pains as they played with a completely different system, missed their best player on which they were built, and played a very young group.
"I struggled with that, that was a hard October," said Junior guard Serena Sundell of last season.
"Non-conference, I didn't play as well as I wanted to. It came into January, and I remember talking to my coach and I just remember them telling me straight up, like we need more from you. So it's hard, and then I picked it up and played well to finish conference season. That role change was drastic... Looking back in hindsight, I think last year was really a blessing in disguise. It made us guards grow up quickly, we had to learn how to score without Yokie (Lee) on the court and how to create for ourselves."
They play with so much balance around Lee now, surrounding her with players that can shoot and move the basketball, and Lee deserves so much credit herself for how she can pass and see the court. Sundell has grown into the ultimate Swiss Army Knife of the Big 12, capable of pushing the break, initiating the offense, but also playing off the ball and attacking the rim as a slasher. She's just a really solid all around basketball player who has seen her biggest growth as a defender this year.
As Iowa felt earlier on in the year, this K State team has so much length.
They can legitimately play lineups with 5 players all 6' or taller, switchable 1-4 with one of the best paint protectors in basketball roaming the backline, Lee currently averaging 2.7 blocks per game (12th in D1).
Zyanna Walker has been so impressive as a change of pace guard that can get into the defense, score at the rim, and really be aggressive at the point of attack on defense. She was crucial in stifling Madison Booker late in the game against Texas, getting into her handle and preventing deep penetration that hurt the Wildcats much of the game.
This team is deep. They have good top end talent. They can space the floor. They have multiple ways to win. Most importantly, they're patient, they don't force the pace and they play within what they're best at. This team is a real threat to win the Big 12 and make a deep run in the tournament.
Florida State is on Fire
The Seminoles have had no problem lighting up the scoreboard offensively, but finishing defensive possessions has been a sore spot against the top teams, especially teams with size. Last Sunday against Clemson, Brooke Wyckoff made a change, moving Brianna Turnage into the starting lineup in place of Alexis Tucker at the 4.
While Turnage is not a huge offensive threat, although she is a solid passer, her defensive presence has been undeniable and massive for the Noles.
They took down Clemson before winning two Top 25 matchups back to back against UNC and Virginia Tech this weekend, spurred on by their defensive chaos. This team is so effective in early offense and transition, and forcing turnovers is crucial to that. They had 32 combined steals and blocks in those three games, winning or tying the turnover margin in all three games.
Per CBB Analytics, across 73 minutes of play, the new starting lineup (Gordon/Bejedi/Latson/Turnage/Timpson) has outscored opposition by 55 points. They score at a slightly lower level than the original lineup (110.4 offensive rating compared to 113), but are significantly better defensively, allowing only 74.7 points per 100 possessions (80th percentile in D1).
Sara Bejedi was unreal this past week, averaging 24.3 ppg while shooting 60% from deep on 8.3 attempts to game, getting to the line at an extremely high level, and hitting a significant number of vital contested shots.
Ta'Niya Latson surpassed 1,000 points in her career, just 1.5 seasons in as a sophomore, but it was her playmaking that stood out to me this week, finishing with 8 assists twice and 5 assists against UNC. She keeps growing in her ability to read and pick apart the defense, which was key in a stretch where she was keyed in on by defenses.
They have a huge game coming up on Thursday as they take on a Syracuse team that can really dominate the offensive glass. I'm amped to see that matchup, a very fun clash of styles for a smaller FSU frontcourt.
The Cyclones are Coming
The Iowa State Cyclones are one of two teams undefeated in Big 12 play, sitting at 5-0 in conference after ousting West Virginia and Baylor in a pair of thrilling games this week.
To say the Cyclones are a young team would undersell: They returned just 32.1% of last season's minutes played as a team, are starting 3 true freshmen, and played a 5 freshmen lineup against Baylor. This team rocks. They dealt with freshmen learning curve early on in the year during a tough non-con, slipping to 4-4, but they've won 8 straight, spurred on by the return of veteran All-Big-12 guard Emily Ryan.
In conference play, Audi Crooks is averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds while shooting over 50% from the field.
Addy Brown is averaging 15.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.
Arianna Jackson, Jalynn Bristow, and Kelsey Joens have all shown impressive flashes while making immediate impact, but the Crooks & Brown Law Group is playing at an All-Conference level.
Crooks was a nightmare guard for a Baylor group that likes to play small. When Baylor started to hone in on Crooks, the rest of the team responded and fed off of how she was being guarded.
Part of what makes the freshmen tandem so effective and enticing is that they play well off one another and have synergy in their game, along with great utilization in the offensive system.
Brown is adept facing up and driving, strong with the ball in her ands and using angles and strength to win as she attacks the basket. They post her up on smalls. She attacks bigs or slower forwards that get switched onto her. I love the way ISU uses her as a screener to get her to her best spots as a scorer or to hit Crooks with post entry. Her touch in the intermediary is wildly impressive; she's shooting 59.1% on twos!
She's gotten more comfortable hunting and taking threes as the season's gone on, which is huge for the team, but also her own potential. She gets into it defensively and can defend multiple positions with her frame.
There are but a handful of players in the country with the footwork and polish that Brown brings to the offensive end.
This team will likely go through another stretch of figuring things out, that's what happens in a ~40 game season, but they are a real player in the Big 12.
Mid-Major Spotlight: Chattanooga Rolling
While they're unlikely to crack the Top 25 this season, the Chattanooga Mocs deserve your attention, currently on track to make the NCAA Tournament a second season in a row under 2nd year coach Shawn Poppie.
They have wins over Marshall (undefeated in the Sun Belt), Kent State (Undefeated in the MAC), and Mississippi State (while shorthanded at the time, this is still a good win against a tourney team). They're 14-3, 2-0 in the Southern Conference, and have a huge matchup coming up with 13-4, and also undefeated in the SoCon, East Tennessee State. Chattanooga took the series 3-0 last season, and this will be the first of two meetings this season as they face-off at Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena.
You can watch the game live on ESPN+ on Saturday January, 20th at 2pm EST.
Jada Guinn has been sensational in her first season with the Mocs, leading the team in scoring and assists.
Guinn was a two time All-OVC team member at Tennessee Tech, helping lead them to their first tournament appearance since the 1999-00 season, and she went way under the radar in the transfer portal as a graduate.
She's an incredibly versatile scorer, dynamic driving the ball, attacking the rim, using her strength to post up and re-drive and attack angles. Her touch on floaters and short jumpers is phenomenal and she has great craft and footwork in the lane.
She excels creating and attacking space where it feels there isn't much of it. I love her assertiveness.
Look out for Guinn and the Mocs as they go deeper into conference play!
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