Men’s College Basketball Rankings: Florida in Top 5; Michigan State, Nebraska Jump

The top conference races are coming to a clear end: Duke flexed its muscle on Virginia, Michigan dominated Illinois in Champaign, Florida beat Arkansas by a million points, and Arizona blew out Kansas to pretty much seal regular-season titles. The Big East and West Coast Conference are still up for grabs, though! And there is a Miami school in the top 25 for the first time this year! Here’s the latest edition of my men’s college basketball rankings as of March 1. IMPORTANT NOTE on Miami (Ohio): The Redhawks continue to win and are now 29-0 (26-0 vs. Division I opponents), but they are still not close to being ranked in my top 25. Miami has played the 320th ranked schedule in the country. It ranks 51st in the NET and 87 at KenPom. I do not believe they are a top-25 team, but they are a wonderful story and I want to see them in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals have lost three of four games, but they still rank in the top 30 on offense and defense. This team is way too talented to have seven losses in ACC play. This is Louisville’s last chance in my top 25 to show me that it deserves to be here. The Hurricanes have won six of their last seven games, including wins over North Carolina and NC State. The combo of point guard Tre Donaldson and big man Malik Reneau works well. I know the Wildcats have 10 losses (and those matter!), but none of them are bad losses. And when this team is right, it can beat most teams in the land. Guards Otega Oweh and Collin Chandler both had 23 points in a big win over Vanderbilt. At 27-4, I’ve had my eye on the Gaels for a while, but I needed to see them beat Gonzaga to finally welcome them into the fold. This team is young — it only starts one senior — and could be a top-15 team next season. The Commodores got smacked at Kentucky on Saturday and shot just 7-of-28 from beyond the arc. But they still rank 14th in KenPom and still are a joy to watch. The Vols went 0-2 this week at Mizzou and home against Alabama. The more concerning issue was the knee injury to forward Nate Ament. He’s been their best player this month as a freshman, and we’ll keep our eye on that. The blowout loss at Florida on Saturday didn’t look good, but it shouldn’t erase the solid progress this team has made. Forward Billy Richmond has been playing great basketball lately. Still playing without forward Caleb Wilson, the Tar Heels picked up a big win earlier in the week over Louisville. They followed that with a win against a solid Virginia Tech squad. Clemson and Duke this week will be a real challenge. After getting embarrassed against UConn, the Johnnies took out their frustrations on a solid Villanova squad. Big man Zuby Ejiofor got a triple-double (with assists). The Jayhawks beat Houston early in the week and then got blown out by Arizona. I think every team in the country would take that 1-1 split. Guard Darryn Peterson wasn’t very efficient, but he finished both games and played more than 30 minutes in each. Let’s celebrate that. The Zags lost to Saint Mary’s on Saturday night and are now tied in the WCC standings. It was the last ever WCC regular-season game between the teams, as Gonzaga will be joining the new/old Pac-12. Maybe a rematch in the conference tourney in Vegas? I hope. [MEN’S NCAA SEED PROJECTIONS: Illinois, Florida Move Up; Gonzaga Stumbles] An 0-2 week for the Boilermakers has them falling down the rankings, but this offense still ranks No. 2 in the country, according to KenPom. This was a terrible week for the Illini with a loss at UCLA, followed by a home loss to Michigan. But I refuse to give up on this team because I’ve seen what it’s capable of with wins over Texas Tech, at Purdue, at Tennessee and at Nebraska. I’m so impressed with the Red Raiders, who are now 3-0 since the JT Toppin injury and with a win at Iowa State. Six players reached double figures in scoring, and center Luke Bamgboye had 13 points down low. Duke humbled the Cavaliers on Saturday, but Virginia didn’t drop that far because I believe most teams ranked lower in my rankings would have been dominated as well. Carry on. One of the fastest risers in my top 25, the Crimson Tide have won eight straight, including a close one at Tennessee on Saturday since losing to Florida on February 1. Guard Lebaron Philon Jr. came off the bench (illness) but still scored 23 points and hit the game-winner. The Cyclones looked pedestrian in their first home loss of the season to Texas Tech on Saturday. The Big 3 of guard Tamin Lipsey and forwards Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic was good… but got little from anyone else. The Cornhuskers have quietly won three straight and are tied with Michigan State for second in the Big Ten. And they have an interesting matchup at UCLA on Tuesday. The Bruins NEED it to feel safe, and Nebraska wants a 2-seed. Tom Izzo’s squad beat Purdue and Indiana this week to stake its claim as second best in the Big Ten. Forward Jaxon Kohler led the Spartans with a career-high 21 points at Indiana. I was surprised he hadn’t scored more than that, given how good he’s been this season. I no longer view the Cougars as one of the favorites to win the title after losing three of their last four games, but I also don’t believe they should drop any lower than this. While there are better teams than Florida, no team is playing better right now. Nine wins in a row, including a 34-point victory over a talented Arkansas team. The Huskies’ demolition of St John’s earlier this week was one of the better defensive performances of the year, forcing the Johnnies to miss their last 24 shots of the game! An ugly win against Villanova was also nice to keep their 1-seed hopes alive. The Wildcats pretty much locked down the No. 1 seed in the West by crushing Kansas at home. Freshman forward Koa Peat came back after missing three games and was excellent, while freshman guard Braden Burries led the way in scoring. The Wolverines’ destruction of Illinois in Champaign was impressive and confirmed what they are capable of. Losing guard L.J. Cason to an ACL injury was a bummer, as he was playing his best basketball this month. It took me the entire season to finally submit to the Blue Devils’ defense. It’s the real deal, holding Michigan to 63 last week and Virginia to 51 on Saturday.