At last. For the first time since late December, there’s a new team atop The Other Top 25 — the definitive ranking of teams outside the Power-5, Big East and American conferences.
The new number one is not terribly shocking. The undefeated San Diego State Aztecs have swapped places with the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
While the Bulldogs used a six-man lineup and Corey Kispert’s clutch shooting to eke out a win at San Francisco, the Aztecs used Matt Mitchell’s 24 second-half points and the steady play of Cousy Award Finalist Malachi Flynn to put away Utah State. Not to be overlooked, San Diego State has also dealt with injuries this season: Starting center Nathan Mensah has been out since Dec. 28 with a blood clot in his lungs. Nevertheless, the Aztecs have found ways to keep winning with Yanni Wetzell at center, plus the nation’s 11th-best offense, per KenPom.
Elsewhere, Rhode Island made a strong case for being the Atlantic-10’s second-best team. Last week, the Rams took care of business at George Mason, then had arguably their best first-half performance of the year against VCU. Most importantly, that win over VCU might’ve gotten Rhode Island into the NCAA Tournament. Both Rhode Island and VCU are 11 seeds on Bracket Matrix; 70 of the 78 brackets have URI in the field.
But BYU would like a word. The Cougars needed a last-second three from TJ Haws to beat Saint Mary’s last weekend, yet a win is a win. For the first time since 2015, the Cougars look like an NCAA Tournament lock. They sit fourth in The Other Top 25 with Saint Mary’s behind them in fifth.
Here’s the part of the article where we bid adieu to a couple teams and say hello to their replacements, so please prepare accordingly.
North Texas and Akron lost games they were favored in, while Wright State was alive in most Other Top 25 ballots before losing to Green Bay late Sunday afternoon. A Winthrop team on a 12-game win streak, a Bowling Green team on an eight-game win streak and a Boise State team that has won four-straight since pulling off a bonkers comeback against Utah State enter the fold. And guess who the Broncos play this weekend? No. 14 Utah State.
Aside from that Mountain West matchup, there are a few key games between Other Top 25 teams this week. Gonzaga finally plays Saint Mary’s this Saturday, San Francisco goes for the season sweep against the aforementioned BYU Cougars and the Saint Louis Billikens look to avenge their overtime loss against Dayton this Saturday. Don’t forget about No. 10 Yale hosting No. 18 Harvard, which is a pivotal matchup for the Ivy League standings. Want to go? You can get tickets right here from StubHub, starting at $52.
The full Other Top 25 poll is listed below. Feel free to chat with us @mid_madness if you have any questions, comments or concerns.
The Other Top 25: Week 14
Rank | School | Record | Change | Our reasoning | This week's games |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | School | Record | Change | Our reasoning | This week's games |
1 | San Diego State | 23-0 | 1 | San Diego State has a legitimate argument to be the best team in the country. Over the weekend, the Aztecs turned a game where they looked in seriously in danger of losing to Utah State into a double-digit win thanks to Matt Mitchell. As for being ranked ahead of Gonzaga: SDSU too has been hampered by injuries; starting center Nathan Mensah has been out with a pulmonary embolism since Dec. 28. Oh, and they're still 23-0 and they have a legitimate Player of the Year candidate in Malachi Flynn. | @ Air Force (2/8) |
2 | Gonzaga | 23-1 | -1 | The Bulldogs flirted with having their first non-Saint Mary's/BYU loss in conference play since 2014, but Corey Kispert quashed San Francisco's upset hopes. Yet despite the injuries, close calls and questionable game plans (Gonzaga took precisely one three in the first half against USF), this weekend's game against Saint Mary's is the Bulldogs' hardest game of the season, per KenPom — and they're still favored to win it. | vs. Loyola Marymount (2/6), @ Saint Mary's (2/8) |
3 | Dayton | 20-2 | — | Now that Dayton has beaten A-10 titan Fordham, it's time to start asking if the Flyers can run the table in-conference. | vs. Saint Louis (2/8) |
4 | BYU | 17-7 | 3 | All of the naysayers can shut the F up. BYU is a tournament team. | @ Portland (2/6), vs. San Francisco (2/8) |
5 | Saint Mary's | 19-5 | -1 | Tough loss for the Gaels at home this week to BYU, but hey — that Winthrop loss from November is looking less and less terrible. | @ San Diego (2/6), vs. Gonzaga (2/8) |
6 | Northern Iowa | 19-3 | — | Here's how the Panthers responded to their loss against Southern Illinois: Overtime win against Loyola, 29-point win over Missouri State and a 12-point win over a desperate Evansville team. And, more impressively, the Panthers won at Evansville while MVC Player of the Year candidate AJ Green had an off-night. | @ Valparaiso (2/5), vs. Drake (2/8) |
7 | Rhode Island | 16-5 | 3 | Few teams had a more productive weekend for their NCAA Tournament odds than Dave Cox's Rams, which shot over 50% from the field in and led by as many as 29 points against VCU's top-30 defense. | vs. Massachusetts (2/4), @ George Washington (2/8) |
8 | VCU | 16-6 | -3 | Losing at Rhode Island is perfectly excusable. Falling behind by 30 is not. | vs. Davidson (2/7) |
9 | ETSU | 19-4 | -1 | ETSU went 1-1 this week against Mercer and UNC Greensboro. The loss was not against the team you'd expect. | @ Chattanooga (2/5), @ Mercer (2/8) |
10 | Yale | 16-4 | -1 | With Harvard looking god-awful this week, there's no longer any doubt: Yale is the class of the Ivy League | vs. Harvard (2/7), vs. Dartmouth (2/8) |
11 | UNC Greensboro | 17-6 | — | KenPom gives the Spartans at least a 60% chance of winning each individual game left on their schedule. They're in the driver's seat for the 1 seed in the conference tournament. | vs. The Citadel (2/5), vs. Samford (2/9) |
12 | Saint Louis | 17-5 | 3 | Neither of the Billikens' wins last week were pretty, but they still held on to that five-way tie for third in the Atlantic 10. Javonte Perkins, who dropped 33 on Saint Joseph's last Saturday en route to winning Co-A10 Player of the Week honors, might be one of the best sixth-men in the conference. | vs. Duquesne (2/5), @ Dayton (2/8) |
13 | Furman | 18-5 | 3 | While ETSU fell victim to a bad loss, Furman held off VMI to avoid the upset in overtime. | vs. Mercer (2/5), @ Western Carolina (2/8) |
14 | Utah State | 17-7 | -1 | The Aggies were 20 minutes away from ruining Kawhi Leonard's jersey retirement at San Diego State. Despite the loss, TourneyCast still gives Utah State a 29.7% chance at earning an at-large bid, which is somehow better odds than Memphis, Georgetown, Syracuse and DePaul. | vs. UNLV (2/5), vs. Boise State (2/8) |
15 | Richmond | 16-6 | -3 | Grant Golden was excellent against VCU, but the Spiders still lost by 19 to their crosstown rivals. Circle Feb. 15 on your calendars for a rematch at the Robins Center. | @ Fordham (2/8) |
16 | Vermont | 17-6 | 1 | Anthony Lamb's last three games: 73 points, 49% FG, 50% 3PT. Vermont's star has started to shine at the best possible time as the Catamounts continue to roll through the America East. | vs. Maine (2/5), @ Hartford (2/8) |
17 | New Mexico St | 17-6 | 1 | Jansuary might be over, but the Aggies are still rolling. New Mexico State beat the breaks off of Grand Canyon last Saturday in front of the second-biggest crowd in Pan American Center history. The Aggies aim for their 27th and 28th-consecutive WAC wins this week. | @ Chicago State (2/6), @ UMKC (2/8) |
18 | Harvard | 13-6 | -5 | This was a disastrous weekend for Harvard. The Crimson lost in overtime at Penn then followed it up with a loss to Princeton. Those are two teams that could make the Ivy Tournament, so it's not the end of the world, but with a game in New Haven looming, the Crimson are in some trouble. | @ Yale (2/7), @ Brown (2/8) |
19 | Louisiana Tech | 17-5 | 3 | CUSA is horrific this year, but Louisiana Tech keeps on winning. That means the Bulldogs are in great position to get another game with North Texas once flex play begins. | @ Western Kentucky (2/6), @ Marshall (2/8) |
20 | Liberty | 21-3 | -1 | Liberty dropped in the rankings because other teams moved ahead of them. The Flames won out this week, but are still tied with North Florida atop the ASUN standings. | @ Jacksonville (2/6), @ North Alabama (2/8) |
21 | San Francisco | 16-8 | 1 | It's hard to punish a team for losing by four to Gonzaga. In fact, the Dons moved up a spot this week, and we're feeling pretty good about them. We'll see how they do against BYU this weekend. | vs. Pacific (2/6), @ BYU (2/8) |
22 | Loyola University Chicago | 15-8 | 2 | Believe it or not, last Saturday's 62-51 win over Bradley was the Ramblers' first win over a top-100 KenPom team. | @ Indiana State (2/5), vs. Valparaiso (2/9) |
23 | Winthrop | 16-7 | NR | Maybe that win over Saint Mary's back in November wasn't a fluke. Pat Kelsey's Eagles are undefeated in the Big South, in the top 100 of KenPom for the first time since 2007 and are on a 12-game win streak. They have a 30.6% chance of going undefeated in conference play. | vs. Campbell (2/6), @ Longwood (2/8) |
23 | Bowling Green | 17-5 | NR | If you haven't lost in a month, you have a solid chance of getting ranked. The Falcons have won eight in a row, including four road games and sit two games ahead in first place in the MAC East. | @ Central Michigan (2/4), vs. Toledo (2/8) |
25 | Boise State | 15-8 | NR | The third Mountain West team in The Other Top 25 has been a revolving door. Now that New Mexico and Nevada have lost, it's the Boise State Broncos' turn. MWC Player of the Year candidate Derrick Alston dropped 51 points against San José State and Nevada last week. Alston and the nation's 14th-most experienced team look to sweep Utah State after pulling off a dramatic comeback in the teams' first meeting. | @ Wyoming (2/4), @ Utah State (2/8) |
Also receiving votes: Stephen F. Austin, Wright State, North Texas, Murray State, Duquesne, Colorado State, Akron.