Five weeks into the 2021-2022 College Basketball season we have already seen and learned so many things about so many teams across the country.
With Purdue’s loss to Rutgers last week it was the third week in a row that the team ranked #1 in the AP Top 25 had taken a loss.
Don’t expect that streak to continue though, as the defending National Champion Baylor Bears picked up their best win of the season so far, by knocking off Villanova 57-36 which moved them to #1 in this Week’s AP Top 25. Baylor proved that their defense might be even better this year
then last year’s historically great defensive unit due to its length. Baylor held Villanova to their fewest points and lowest field-goal percentage in a game under Jay Wright, and Villanova’s 36 points were tied for the fewest points by a team ranked in the AP Top 10 in the shot clock
era.
Unlike, Purdue Baylor has not been legitimately challenged in any of their games so far this season which included wins over #12 Michigan State along with the aforementioned game vs. #9 Villanova. Given the fact that
Baylor lost 3 NBA Caliber players from last years team including Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, and Davion Mitchell plus versatile forward Mark Vital no one expected Scott Drew to be able to have this team ranked #1 at any point in the season. However, after watching Baylor just a few
games into this year it is clear that this team can absolutely be the first team to repeat as National Champions since the 2006/2007 Florida Gators.
It was very rare to see the defending National Champions so undervalued and not spoken about much as Baylor was last week when everyone in America seemed to think Purdue was clearly the team that should have been ranked #1. However, Coach Drew’s team has finally received the credit it’s deserved as the best team in the country right now. Considering the shape of the Baylor program when Drew got there in 2003, was rough to say the least (look up Dave Bliss) this 20 year turnaround has been nothing short of amazing – obviously culminating last season with the programs first ever National Championship.
Quick Hits:
ACC – Most expected it to be a down year for the ACC going into the season but I’m not sure if the conference could have asked for a worse start.Behind Duke and North Carolina at the top of the conference, you could make the argument that a handful of teams including Virginia, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame, and more have underachieved to start the season. The ACC’s brutal start was on full display Saturday as unranked NC State blew a second half double digit lead against #1 Purdue, Florida State lost to South Carolina and Virginia Tech lost to Dayton.
Big East – No conference had a better weekend than the Big East as many teams were able to pick up key resume wins in the non conference slate. Seton Hall came out victorious over Texas, Butler went into Oklahoma and won, Creighton picked up their first quality victory of the season over BYU, DePaul picked up a road win at Louisville, and Georgetown was able to come back from a 10 point halftime deficit against Syracuse to pick up the win. When 4 of the bottom teams in your league are able to do that in one weekend that is when you know that your league is good. Villanova, Seton Hall, UConn, Xavier and Providence all look like they’ll be battling at the top throughout the season with even Marquette and St Johns having tournament aspirations.
Big 10 – The top and middle tiers in the Big Ten, have been a little more difficult to start off the season compared to other conferences. Purdue still should be considered the team to beat and Ohio State has been rolling coming off of big time wins over Duke and Wisconsin. However, after those two teams it’s really anyone’s game. Michigan State has shown some real positives but the question of possibly not having a go to scorer could be a concern. Illinois has shown some flashes of greatness but they just lost to Arizona at home. Wisconsin has been a great story but might just be Johnny Davis and a bunch of average Big Ten players. The only thing we know for certain when it comes to this league will be that it will be legitimately hard to win on the road with fans back in the stands. Just ask Purdue.
Big 12 – As good as the Big East is as a conference, The Big 12’s top is better than any league’s top in the country right now. Having two elite teams at the top like Baylor and Kansas plus a tough gritty Texas Tech team, Iowa State – who has a legitimate argument for the biggest surprise in College Basketball – so far plus Texas’ talent. This league is loaded, plus mid tier teams like Oklahoma and West Virginia were able to pick up key wins over ranked teams this week over Arkansas for the Sooners, and over UConn for the Mountaineers. It is always a very difficult challenge to win games on a consistent basis in the Big 12 and this year will be no different.
Pac 12 – In a similar manner to the ACC, the Pac 12 has really struggled as a conference to start off the season. After the conference put together a surprising positive showing in March Madness last year to most by having 4 teams in the Sweet 16 and UCLA in the Final 4 a majority of the league has fallen on hard times. Oregon has an argument to be the most disappointing team in the country, Washington State has lost to Eastern Washington, Arizona State and Stanford have both been super inconsistent and Oregon State is just flat out bad. The conference does have 3 teams that look to have a good chance to make the NCAA Tournament including Arizona who is the saving grace for the league as they have surprised in a good way as they are one of the best teams in the country early on. Add in UCLA and USC, the conference should have 3 NCAA Tournament bids but there really isn’t much to look forward to after that.
SEC – The Southeastern conference had 7 teams ranked in this week’s AP Top 25 for the second week in a row, which was more than any other conference in the country. The SEC’s basketball revolution over the past handful of years is real as they have really improved the overall quality of the league by bringing in coaches like Nate Oats, Eric Musselman, Will Wade, Rick Barnes and more to go along with John Calipari and Kentucky. Alabama looks to be the team in the league to beat early as they have won back to back games over Top 10 opponents in Gonzaga and Houston. The bottom of the league has been a little disappointing as Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Missouri have somewhat underachieved but depth
in this league will not be an issue.
Zac’s Elite 8
- Baylor – Baylor is the best team in College Basketball right now and their defensive length unlocks a whole new gear while guarding for the Bears which should be a scary sight for the rest of College Basketball. All 8 players who play significant minutes for the Bears
contribute. This is no fluke folks, Baylor can repeat. - Arizona – There have been very few wins in the non conference slate for any team, that was more impressive than Arizona going into a rocus State- Farm Center in Illinois and leaving with a win over the Illini. Ben Mathurin is a future NBA lottery pick and second year freshman Kerr Kriisa has shown his ability to run the offense at a high level. Only a month into his head coaching tenure in Tucson, Tommy Lloyd has this program rolling.
- Alabama – Aside from Baylor, no other team in College Basketball has a trio of guards better than Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly, Jaden Shackeford and JD Davison. Each one of these guys has done something pivotal whether it was scoring, rebounding or defense in
the Crimson Tide’s last two victories over Gonzaga and Houston. Nate Oats has already guided this Alabama program into the top of the SEC and it is not ending anytime soon. Oats is building something special in Tuscaloosa that was on full display in Saturday’s win over Houston. - Duke – The Blue Devils have not seen the floor in the last week or since their 71-66 loss to Ohio State on November 30th. Entering that contest, fresh off their win against Gonzaga, Duke looked like they might just be the team to beat in College Basketball this season but since there have been a handful of other teams that have entered a possible conversion with Duke at the top. Duke will close out their non-conference portion of the schedule this week, with 3 buy games before hosting Virginia Tech on December 22nd to start ACC play. The Blue Devils need to get some more contributions off the bench as lack of depth has been a concern.
- Kansas – Although the Dayton loss wasn’t ideal for the Jayhawks it might have been exactly what Bill Self’s team needed as they have been playing absolutely dominant basketball since. Kansas destroyed rival Missouri, in the first edition of the Border War since Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2012. Ochai Agbaji looks the part of an NBA Player that many expected him to be throughout his first few years in Lawrence and Christian Braun continues to be the second option from the wing that Kansas ultimately needs by averaging 16.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. He is the unsung hero of this Kansas team with Arizona State transfer Remy Martin adjusting to a lower volume role compared to his days at Arizona State.
- Gonzaga – Gonzaga did pick up a 80-55 victory over Merrimack in the only game they played this week. Gonzaga fans who may be a tad disappointed by the way the last couple weeks have gone as against Texas and UCLA, there were Bulldogs fans asking themselves if this team could be better than last year’s historically great team that made it all the way to the National Championship. Gonzaga playing teams like UCLA, Duke and Alabama that actually gave them legitimate games and challenges is much better than blowing everyone out going forward. If Gonzaga’s and Baylor’s matchup last year in December wasn’t canceled and Baylor ran the Bulldogs off the floor like they did in the National Championship, Gonzaga definitely comes into the National Championship game more prepared. Plus with more teams
fighting with the Bulldogs at the top there will be less pressure on everyone. - Purdue – It hasn’t been the best week for the Boilermakers as after being voted #1 in the AP Poll for the first time in school history, they lost on a heartbreaking buzzer beater to Rutgers and almost lost to a so-so NC State team at the Barclays Center on Sunday. After being in many close games all year it finally cost Purdue against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights and Boilers went back and forth, but being in a close game late finally cost Purdue as Ron Harper Jr’s buzzer beater won it for Rutgers. Matt Painter’s team will still be able to score the ball better than most and deserve some credit for coming back against NC State in a low energy environment when their guards couldn’t get
anything going thanks to Trevion Williams who finished with 22 and 10. - UCLA – One of the more impressive victories of the weekend that not a lot of people will talk about was UCLA going on the road into Marquette and destroying an overachieving Golden Eagle team. Which makes this even more impressive, was the game was
originally scheduled for 2:30 PM ET but had to be moved to 9:30 PM ET due to these traveling issues. The Bruins showed it didn’t matter what time this game was being played as they beat Marquette 67-56, but that final score is not accurately representing just how dominant UCLA was in this game. It was never close as UCLA was up 33-10 at one point in the first half. The Pac 12 may only have 3 good teams but each one of Arizona, UCLA and USC are all threats to make deep runs come March.
Weekly Awards
Team of the Week: Baylor
Player of the Week: Benedict Mathurin (Arizona)
Coach of the Week: Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)
Flop of the Week: Memphis
Zac Krull has covered College Basketball for the last 2 years while working with Aaron Torres of Aaron Torres Media and recording his own Zac Krull Sports Podcast. Currently, Zac is writing as a contributor for Aaron Torres online with weekly articles and working as a producer for the BETQL Network. Zac graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2021 with a degree in Sports Studies.