RADIO
It’s only been one week of the college basketball season and we’ve already seen some ridiculous results. Two top-five teams have already fallen, as two more have dropped from the preseason AP top-25. It’s already been an electric season and we are barely 5% of the way through.
The first real AP poll of the season was released yesterday. There generally wasn’t a ton of movement by most teams, but some experienced some drastic changes.
Let’s take a look at a few overvalued and undervalued teams heading into the Week 2 action. All rankings listed are based on the Week 2 AP Poll.
Overrated College Basketball Teams For Week 2
Arizona Wildcats: No. 12 -> No. 3
Arizona had a wildly impressive win this past week, standing on business at Cameron Indoor in a 78-73 convincing win vs Duke. Caleb Love owns the Blue Devils, notching his third straight win against the program. It was a complete performance by the Wildcats who had all five starters score at least 11 points, led by senior forward Keshad Johnson with 14. Their three-man bench even combined for an additional 16. Tommy Llyod has his squad playing at a high level early in the season.
With that said, I’m not sure the Wildcats are deserving of a nine-spot bump in the AP poll. It was a great win for the program, but the victory shouldn't warrant that kind of a bump this early. There's no doubt that they should be above Duke, but putting them ahead of UConn, Marquette, Houston, and Tennessee doesn’t seem right. Their November 23rd matchup against MSU will be huge in maintaining this ranking.
James Madison Dukes: Not Ranked -> No. 24
I don’t like having the Dukes here being from Virginia and finding myself rooting for them more often than not, but they are not the 24th best team in the country. They did have the highlight of Week 1, taking down hall-of-famer Tom Izzo and No. 4 Michigan State on the road. That may very well end up being one of the best overall wins of the season. However, the Dukes still sit outside the top 80 in KenPom, EvanMiya, and Bart Torvik’s team rankings.
While it’s an impressive win, the Spartans shot 1-20 from three-point range. That is one of the worst shooting performances in school history. I don’t want to take away from the perimeter defense that James Madison played, but the horrid long-range accuracy of the Spartans is more of an anomaly. JMU also needed three overtimes to dispatch a Kent State team that was favored by two points. It’s a great early-season story for the sport, but I doubt this ranking will hold.
Underrated College Basketball Teams For Week 2
Texas A&M Aggies: No. 15 -> No. 13
One of the few teams to play a true road game in Week 1, Buzz Williams’ squad went into a hostile Columbus arena as 1.5-point underdogs and toughed out a 73-66 victory. Three starters had 20 or more, as Wade Taylor and Tyrese Radford each dropped 21. The former was only 1-9 from three but made some huge plays down the stretch to seal the win.
The Aggies also dismantled a Texas A&M Commerce team, covering the -21.5 spread by 10 points. I am very high on this A&M squad this year and felt as though their great start should have bumped them up 1-2 more spots in the latest AP poll.
Virginia Cavaliers: Not Ranked (Others Receiving Votes)
Like A&M, Tony Bennett’s team also faced a true test in Week 1 - albeit at a neutral site - and came away with an impressive win. The Cavs took down Florida in Charlotte on the back of a breakout performance by freshman center Blake Buchanan. The 6-11, 255 lb. Idaho native put up 18 points and 7 rebounds, including 10-16 from the free throw line off the bench.
The Hoos were favored by a half point, so they didn’t necessarily surprise anyone by winning this one but it was a hard-fought W nonetheless. That, coupled with their 30-point shellacking of Tarleton State (-17.5 favorites), should’ve given the Cavaliers a spot in the top-25 for this week’s AP poll.
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