1. Nevada (8-2): The Wolf Pack looked every bit as strong as a pair of upper-tier Big 12 teams in their two recent losses, and 6-7 junior forward Cody Martin has separated himself as a practically unguardable scorer. (Last week: 1)
• This week: A chance to get back on track with home games against Radford and UC Davis as part of the Las Vegas Classic.
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2. Rhode Island (5-3): With the promise of an E.C. Matthews return this week, the Rams have quite possibly the deepest guard rotation in all of college basketball. (Last week: 2)
• This week: A stern test on Saturday at home against College of Charleston, then another home game against a sneaky-good Iona team on Thursday.
3. Saint Mary’s (8-2): The formula is just not that complicated for the Gaels: Put a dominant big man in the middle (6-11 junior center Jock Landale), surround with 3-point shooters (40 percent as a team), and don’t turn the ball over (8.3 per game leads the nation). (Last week: 3)
• This week: While they aren’t splashy, UC Irvine and Dayton provide two chances for decent home wins this week.
4. Northern Iowa (8-2): While not loaded with the same level of talent as the teams above or below them, no one executes in late-game clutch situations better than Ben Jacobson’s Panthers. (Last week: 4)
• This week: A huge in-state matchup with Iowa State awaits on Saturday on a neutral court in Des Moines.
5. Boise State (10-1): The Broncos needed the second miracle shot of the season from 6-1 senior guard Lexus Williams to force overtime with Grand Canyon at home on Wednesday, but won in double OT behind 27 points and 11 rebounds from 6-7 senior guard Chandler Hutchison. (Last week: 6)
• This week: A big showdown at SMU looms on Monday before Mountain West play begins on Dec. 27.
6. Middle Tennessee (7-1): Nick King’s last four games: 25 points, 32 points, 23 points, 25 points. That’s not bad for the 6-7 senior forward. (Last week: 7)
• This week: Saturday’s neutral-court game against 8-1 Auburn would be the best win of the Blue Raiders’ season.
7. UNLV (8-2): Likely the only team on the list that can boast this kind of record despite only hitting 10 or more 3-pointers in one game all season. (Last week: 8)
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• This week: The Runnin’ Rebels have a rare true road game, but it’s at Pacific.
8. St. Bonaventure (7-2): 6-2 senior guard Jaylen Adams put up 25 points in Saturday’s win over Yale in just his third game back from injury, and coach Mark Schmidt says he’s not even playing at full strength yet. (Last week: 13)
• This week: The surging Bonnies will be tested this week, with a neutral-court game against battle-tested Vermont and then a home game against red-hot Northeastern.
9. UT Arlington (7-3): Three of the Mavericks’ past four games have been at home, but they’ll take the Kevin Hervey show (22.8 ppg, including 40 percent from three for the 6-9 senior forward) on the road for four of the next five. (Last week: 5)
• This week: A big road matchup at Creighton is sandwiched between a quick road trip to Rio Grande Valley and a home game against Cal Poly.
10. Western Kentucky (6-4): A strange and controversial ending foiled the Hilltoppers’ upset bid against Wisconsin in Madison, but they’ve done nothing but hang with good high-major teams all year. (Last week: 12)
• This week: A Saturday home game against Indiana State shouldn’t be too eventful, but Tuesday’s matchup with Belmont at home is one to keep an eye on.
11. Loyola-Chicago (10-1): The Ramblers received votes in this week’s AP poll for the first time in 32 years, and have stayed rolling behind 6-5 senior forward Aundre Jackson and 6-6 senior guard Donte Ingram. (Last week: 15)
• This week: A single road game on Saturday against a pedestrian 6-5 Milwaukee team.
12. Vermont (7-4): A really cool moment for the program honoring Tom Brennan in the team’s win over Siena on Monday, a game that also saw 6-2 senior guard Trae Bell-Haynes return from a concussion. (Last week: 9)
• This week: Saturday’s neutral-court game against St. Bonaventure will be a slugfest, before a home game against Quinnipiac.
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13. Towson (10-1): The Tigers’ 10-game winning streak will be put to the test with four consecutive road games upcoming. (Last week: 16)
• This week: The first of those road games comes on Wednesday at Oakland, where we’ll see an exciting guard matchup between Towson’s 6-4 sophomore Zane Martin and Oakland’s 6-3 senior Kendrick Nunn.
14. BYU (8-2): The Cougars have won five straight, and 6-4 sophomore guard TJ Haws is starting to once again look like the player who made the All-WCC first-team last season. (Last week: 22)
• This week: BYU hosts Utah on Saturday in the game they call “The Holy War,” before another home game Thursday against Idaho State.
15. San Diego State (7-3): The loss against Cal will likely not age well, and the severity of the injury 6-4 senior guard Trey Kell suffered in that game is unknown. (Last week: 18)
• This week: One of the biggest games of the Aztecs’ non-conference slate comes Thursday when Gonzaga comes to town.
16. VCU (5-5): The record doesn’t look great, but we’ll know it’s time to start panicking when VCU actually loses to a team that’s not projected to finish in the top half of a power conference, which hasn’t happened yet. (Last week: 14)
• This week: Two home games this week, the first being a total style clash with a good Bucknell team on Saturday and the second against 5-4 Winthrop.
17. Albany (10-2): 6-4 junior guard Joe Cremo is averaging over 20 points in the team’s last four games, which include three wins and a competitive loss to Memphis. (Last week: 17)
• This week: A home game against Canisius on Saturday to prepare for the road trip to Louisville on Wednesday as part of the Gotham Classic.
18. South Dakota State (9-4): The Jackrabbits have been riding the inconsistency train up and down all season, but are currently at the top after two straight 30-point blowout victories. (Last week: 19)
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• This week: A pair of competitive games, first on the road against Colorado and then hosting Drake.
19. Florida Gulf Coast (7-4): Averaging 14 turnovers per game is probably holding the Eagles back from where they should be on this list, but a win over UT Arlington on Saturday showed their potential. (Last week: 20)
• This week: The Eagles need to get things straightened out this week against Oral Roberts and FIU, with games against Wichita State and Rhode Island looming the following week.
20. Bucknell (4-6): They’re 4-6, just lost to Northeastern by 18 points and you still can’t quit ’em, because when they get healthy they should still roll through the Patriot League. (Last week: 11)
• This week: The Bison end their treacherous non-conference schedule on the road against VCU and Richmond.
21. Missouri State (9-3): 6-9 senior forward Alize Johnson has yet to find his footing, shooting 42 percent from the field and 22 percent from three with only three 20-point games to his name. (Last week: 10)
• This week: A home game against Wright State is all that’s left before the Bears launch into Missouri Valley play.
22. Ball State (6-4): The Cardinals are coming off of one of the best weeks a mid-major team could have, beating a top-10 team on their home floor in Notre Dame then beating another top-100 team at home in Valparaiso to extend their winning streak to five. (Last week: honorable mention)
• This week: North Florida comes to town on Tuesday, the first of three schools to visit Muncie to end the non-conference schedule.
23. Valparaiso (8-3): The Crusaders’ best player, 6-2 senior guard Tevonn Walker, has mono and will be out for an unspecified amount of time, a huge blow for Valpo to receive right before their first MVC conference slate. (Last week: 21)
• This week: A lot of travel in Valparaiso’s schedule this week. After getting blown out by Northwestern in Chicago on Thursday, the team is off to the west coast to face Santa Clara and UC Riverside.
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24. Belmont (6-5): The Bruins’ most recent win gave head coach Rick Byrd the 760th victory of his career, moving him into the top 15 on the all-time wins list. (Last week: 23)
• This week: Belmont will be tested both in their home game against Pepperdine on Saturday, and especially their road game against Western Kentucky on Tuesday.
25. Old Dominion (7-3): It’s always fun to see a team with five players averaging double figures scoring and none averaging above 15 points per game like Old Dominion is doing. (Last week: honorable mention)
• This week: The only game this week is a road trip to Fairfield, a 4-5 team out of the MAAC.
Final thoughts
• Here’s an interesting thought experiment: If you made a team out of the best players from the mid-major ranks, would that team clearly be the best team in college basketball? The amount of talent you could put on the floor would be ridiculous, with a starting five of say Jaylen Adams, Cody Martin, Chandler Hutchison, Kevin Hervey, and Jock Landale, but all of those guys are going to be used to getting 20 points per game, so perhaps they’d be having some of the same problems as Duke and Kentucky have had, not to mention all of the different playing styles they’d be used to. The difference is that four of those players are seniors and one (Martin) a junior, as opposed to five freshmen. And this team would separate itself with its bench, which would include Rhode Island 6-3 senior guard Jared Terrell, South Dakota State 6-9 junior forward Mike Daum, Nick King, Marshall 6-3 junior guard Jon Elmore, UNLV 7-1 freshman forward Brandon McCoy, Alize Johnson, and a whole lot more.
• It’s looking like a two-man race in the “most likely to hit an unbelievable game-winner in March Madness” category, as Boise State’s Lexus Williams and Ball State 6-3 junior guard Tayler Persons have each put in a number of heroic last-second play nominees already. Then again, how many One Shining Moments do you really get in a single season?
• With conference play about to start, there are several conferences that have wide-open races. The Mountain West has three of the top seven teams on this list, and any of the four Missouri Valley schools in this top 25 could realistically win. Same goes for the three A10 schools represented here, and the three C-USA schools will push each other. It should be a lot of fun to follow.
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• Speaking of conferences, let’s talk about NCAA Tournament bids. With the current scheduling squeeze being put on mid-major teams, there are very few at-large bids available to smaller schools. Even the Atlantic 10, which has gotten three teams in the past two seasons, is experiencing a down year and has a very real possibility of being a one-bid league this year unless Rhode Island posts a great record but loses in the conference tournament. But all hope is not lost. The Mountain West looks like it could get at least two teams in, depending on how things shake out, and though it would be a stretch, hope is not lost for Middle Tennessee if they can end somewhere around 28-5.
• The team not on this list with the most potential to move up fairly high next week is Stephen F. Austin (9-1), which has been playing really well lately and has road games against LSU and Missouri this week in which to make a statement.
Honorable mention: Oakland, College of Charleston, Portland State, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Stephen F. Austin, Fresno State, Penn
(Top image of Loyola-Chicago’s Donte Ingram: Loren Orr/Getty Images)