John Fanta
College Basketball broadcaster and reporter
The Auburn Tigers are the best team in men’s college basketball.
Of course, Tennessee is undefeated and less than impressed by putting that record to the test at Illinois and winning. And yes, Bruce Pearl’s team lost at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but what this team did the last two Saturdays — knocking off Ohio State by 38 points and following it up with an 87-69 victory over Purdue — was enough for me. putting Auburn in the top spot until I see otherwise.
The Tigers (11-1) have outscored their competition by averaging 23-plus points per game this season and are powered by reigning National Player of the Year Johni Broome, who dislocated his shoulder on Tuesday against Georgia State again. posted his eighth double-double of the season (23 points, 11 rebounds) on Saturday. His presence inside combined with remarkable depth on the edge gives Pearl the luxury of wealth.
The win over Purdue summed up the depth the Tigers have. While Chad Baker-Mazara and Miles Kelly shot a combined 1-for-7 from 3-point range, Denver Jones exploded with 6-for-10 shooting from the floor for 15 points. Then there’s freshman Tahaad Pettiford, a 6-foot-1 guard who is a power-changer for the Tigers when he’s on his game. He had 18 points to go along with five assists in the double-digit victory.
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Auburn’s team with the best offense in the nation is great because teams led by Pearl are always on guard (10th in KenPom defense this year). How he led the program to its first Final Four in school history back in 2019. To think that the Tigers are in the top position is also a testament to Pearl and his ability to make Auburn a place where he can work.
Here are five more to pick up this weekend:
The Buccaneers are making a statement!
Ohio State entered the year with high expectations, but after a heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss to Pittsburgh and blowout losses to Auburn and Maryland, it has us questioning whether Year 1 of the Jake Diebler era is going sideways.
On Saturday, Bruce Thornton and the Buckeyes made a strong statement that they are an NCAA Tournament-caliber team, handing Kentucky a reality check with an 85-65 blowout of the once-10-1 Wildcats at Madison Square Garden. . It was a defensive showing for Ohio State, which had an impressive all-around athletic Saturday with a win over Tennessee in the College Football Playoff to advance to the Rose Bowl.
The Buckeyes held Kentucky’s top-10 offense, known for its firepower, to 4-of-22 from long range. But the story was Thornton, who dominated the game with the best performance of his career, scoring 30 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor and 13 of 14 from the free throw line. With Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw returning to the lineup and contributing 11 points — and freshman John Mobley continuing to be the X-factor with 15 points and a +28 plus/minus — Ohio State showed the nation of college hoops something this weekend. Is it sustainable? We’ll see, but it also showed that Kentucky isn’t the same team when you close the perimeter and make the Wildcats play rough basketball.
North Carolina saved its season by coming back from 16 down shock UCLA.
The Tar Heels look dead and buried, staring at 6-6 and the very real possibility that they might miss the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years — an unfathomable situation. But RJ Davis and Ian Jackson didn’t let Hubert Davis’ team give up, with freshman Jackson leading UNC with five straight hits when the team was down 65-60 to finish with 24 points. UNC has to avoid a bad loss and needs to finish in the top three in the ACC, in my mind, but getting the second Quad-1 win on Saturday was huge.
State of Michigan would be the best team The Top Ten.
What about Tom Izzo in his 30th year in charge? His team was not on the preseason schedule but won five straight and rolled past Florida Atlantic on Saturday. Jeremy Fears has 20 assists in his last three games, Jaden Akins has grown into an alpha scorer, Jaxon Kohler is close to double figures, Jase Richardson is contributing as an X-factor off the bench and Coen Carr is unusual. natural.
Izzo has a second-weekend NCAA Tournament team ranked in the top fifteen in the country in defense.
Mississippi State there should be no more sleep after a loud victory Memphis.
Now in his third year at the helm, Chris Jans has done an impressive job at Starkville in building a program focused on resilience. We saw it on Saturday, as MSU went into Memphis and dominated the Tigers at home, 79-66. Florida transfer Riley Kugel scored 19 points in the win, Josh Hubbard continued his stellar season and KeShawn Murphy continued his junior year high with 13. Hubbard is one of the best guards in the country that no one talks about.
Cincinnati proved to be a nightmare waiting for a big year in Big 12 with 66-59 victory Dayton.
Year 4 of the Wes Miller era in Cincinnati brought both expectations and pressure to break through and reach the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats have not danced since taking over Miller, but in the last two weeks they have shown that the drought will end and that this team may be in the competition. Its defense is excellent, and we saw it on Friday when it held Dayton to 17 points in the first half en route to a win. Dan Skillings Jr., part of a deep and versatile backfield, charged Cincinnati with 17.
Let’s get to our Top 25!
1. Auburn (11-1)
The Tigers are off until Dec. 30, when it will host Monmouth to finish out non-conference play.
The Vols got past Western Carolina and will host Middle Tennessee on Monday night before closing out non-conference play against Norfolk State on New Year’s Eve.
3. Iowa State (10-1)
Life in the Big 12 is renewed next for the Cyclones, who will open 9-2 at Colorado on Dec. 30 before hosting Baylor in their first game of 2025.
4. Duke (10-2)
Kon Knueppel led the Blue Devils with 18 points and five assists, and Khaman Maluach had 15 and eight rebounds as Jon Scheyer’s team moved to 2-0 in ACC play with an 82-56 victory at Georgia Tech. Duke hosts Virginia Tech on New Year’s Day.
The Crimson Tide has won seven of its last eight games after wins over North Dakota and Kent State this week. I give them credit for playing North Dakota in a real road game to give Grant Nelson a chance to come home. Mark Sears and Nelson scored 23 points apiece in the 97-90 victory. The Tide wraps up non-conference play with South Dakota State on Dec. 29 before hosting undefeated Oklahoma in its SEC opener.
6. In Florida (12-0)
The Gators are loaded with outstanding guards and remain undefeated at 12-0 with a 26-point performance from Will Richard to lead them past North Florida on Saturday. Florida hosts Stetson on Sunday before visiting Kentucky.
The Golden Eagles improved to 11-2 with a 72-70 win at Xavier on Saturday behind a combined 39 points from Kam Jones and David Joplin. The end caused a lot of controversy, as Ryan Conwell of the Musketeers took the ball high. What do you think about this? Marquette is happy about it. Next up is a visit to Providence on New Year’s Eve (6pm ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app).
The Jayhawks cruised past the Browns on Sunday to capture the non-conference game 9-2. Next up: A Big 12 game starts on New Year’s Day against West Virginia.
9. in Kentucky (10-2)
The Wildcats remain in my top 10 but have kinks to work out where the 3-point shot isn’t falling. In addition, the tendency to slow down should stop. They outmuscled and were pushed by the Buckeyes when Otega Oweh and Jaxson Robinson shot a combined 7-for-24.
There are two reasons why the Huskies are back in the top 10:
1. They have won six goals in a row and have never lost in the continent. That Maui Invitational nightmare is now in the rearview mirror — and the team regained its mojo, winning 78-74 over Butler on Saturday as Alex Karaban hit two dagger 3s and Liam McNeeley continued his strong season. .
2. I wouldn’t really take 10 teams over Dan Hurley’s team at the end of the day, and I’m willing to say that this team has changed a lot on defense – there’s a lot of work to be done – and they’re a solid shooting team.
11. In Oregon (11-1)
12. In Oklahoma (12-0)
13. Houston (8-3)
14. Texas A&M (10-2)
15. Michigan State (10-2)
17. Cincinnati (10-1)
18. Mississippi State (11-1)
20. Maryland (10-2)
21. San Diego County (8-2)
22. Illinois (8-3)
23. Arkansas (10-2)
24. Baylor (7-3)
25. Georgia (11-1)
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers sports in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to being the lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary for the Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on @John_Fanta.
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