MERIT RANKINGS. As a reminder, this ranks the value of a team’s wins and losses. Nothing more. It’s not necessarily a ranking of how good I think each team is.
1. ARIZONA. 7-0. Road win at San Diego State. Neutral floor wins against Duke and Drexel.
2. SYRACUSE. 7-0. Neutral floor wins against Minnesota, Cal and Baylor
3. WISCONSIN. 8-0. Notable wins vs Florida (home), vs Saint John’s (neutral), @ Green Bay, vs Saint Louis (neutral).
4. VILLANOVA. 7-0. Neutral floor wins against Kansas and Iowa. Decisive home win against Towson.
5. MICHIGAN STATE. 7-0. Neutral floor wins against Kentucky and Oklahoma
6. IOWA STATE. 5-0. Road win at BYU. Home win against Michigan.
7. OHIO STATE. 7-0. Decisive win at Marquette.
8. NORTH CAROLINA. 4-1. Neutral wins against Louisville and Richmond
9. DAYTON. 6-1. Neutral wins over Gonzaga and California. Road win at Georgia Tech. No bad losses
10. BELMONT. 6-1. Win at North Carolina. No bad losses. Home win against Indiana State.
11. UMASS. 6-0. Neutral wins against New Mexico, Nebraska and Clemson
12. BAYLOR. 5-1. Neutral floor wins against Dayton and Colorado
13. CONNECTICUT. 6-0. Neutral wins against Indiana and Maryland
14. OKLAHOMA STATE. 7-0. Home win against Memphis. Neutral win against Butler. 4-0 away from home.
15. KANSAS. 6-1. Neutral floor win against Duke.
16. SAN DIEGO STATE. 3-1. Neutral win against Creighton. No bad losses
17. OREGON. 6-0. Neutral win against Georgetown. Home win against Pacific
18. MARQUETTE. 5-2. No bad losses. Neutral floor win over George Washington.
19. GEORGETOWN. Notable win vs VCU. Bad loss to Northeastern.
20. IOWA. 7-1. No bad losses. Notable neutral wins against Xavier and UTEP.
21. MICHIGAN. 5-2. Neutral win against Florida State. Notable loss to Charlotte
22. FLORIDA STATE. 5-2. Neutral win against VCU. Close losses to Michigan (neutral) and Florida (road)
23. DREXEL. 4-2. Neutral win against Alabama. All games have been at road or neutral sites. No bad losses.
24. DUKE. 6-2. Neutral win against Alabama. No bad losses.
25. VCU. 5-2. Road win at Virginia. No bad losses
26. WICHITA STATE. 6-0. Neutral win against BYU.
27. FLORIDA. 6-1. Home wins against Florida State and Middle Tennessee. No bad losses
28. GONZAGA. 5-1. Neutral win against Arkansas. Home win against Colorado State. No bad losses.
29. SAINT MARY’S. 6-0. Home wins against North Dakota State, Akron and Louisiana Tech.
30. CREIGHTON. 5-1. No bad losses. Road win at Saint Joseph’s and Arizona State (neutral)
31. VIRGINIA. 7-1. Neutral floor wins against SMU and Missouri State. Home loss to VCU
32. CHARLOTTE. 5-1. Neutral win against Michigan. Bad loss at College of Charleston.
33. MINNESOTA. 5-2. Road win at Richmond. Neutral floor loss to Arkansas
34. ARIZONA STATE. 7-1. No bad losses. Home win against Marquette
35. COLORADO. 7-1. Home win against Harvard
36. CALIFORNIA. 5-2. Neutral win against Arkansas. No bad losses
37. SOUTHERN MISS. 5-1. No bad losses. Win at North Dakota State.
38. UCLA. 5-2. Home win against Drexel
39. MEMPHIS. 4-1. No bad losses. Neutral win against LSU
40. PITTSBURGH. 7-0. Neutral win against Stanford
41. LOUISVILLE. 6-1. No bad losses. Home win against Southern Miss
42. CINCINNATI. 6-0.
43. MISSOURI STATE. 6-1. No bad losses. Neutral win against Texas A&M.
44. ILLINOIS. 7-0
45. INDIANA. 6-1. No bad losses
46. MARYLAND. 7-2. Neutral win against Providence
47. OREGON STATE. 3-1. Road win at Maryland
48. GEORGE WASHINGTON. 5-1. Road win at Manhattan. No bad losses.
49. RICHMOND. 6-2. No bad losses
50. NEW MEXICO. 6-2. No bad losses
51. TENNESSEE. 6-2. No bad losses, neutral wins against Xavier and Wake Forest.
52. LSU. 4-2. No bad losses. Neutral win against Saint Joseph’s
53. UTAH STATE. 5-1. No bad losses. Road win at UCSB
54. HARVARD. 6-1. No bad losses. Neutral win against Green Bay
55. LOUISIANA TECH. 4-1. No bad losses.
56. KENTUCKY. 6-1. No bad losses
57. BUTLER. 5-1. No good wins. Close loss vs Oklahoma State.
58. SAINT LOUIS. 6-1. No bad losses
59. BOISE STATE. 5-0
60. MISSOURI. 6-0
61. OLE MISS. 6-0
62. PROVIDENCE. 7-1. Lost to Maryland.
63. SMU. 6-2. Losses to Arkansas and Virginia
64. KENT STATE. 6-1
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES FOR SUNDAY, DEC 1ST
-WICHITA STATE AT SAINT LOUIS. This would be a much needed win of note for SLU. It would be one of Wichita’s Biggest wins on the season up to this point as well.
-CSU BAKERSFILED AT DRAKE. A win for Drake gets them to 6-1.
-BUTLER VS LSU (Old Spice Classic). Both of these teams need notable wins.
-MIAMI FL VS ARIZONA STATE (Wooden Legacy). A win for Arizona State gets them to an impressive 8-1.
-VCU VS BELMONT. A huge game between two teams that already have some good wins and are looking for some more. You get the sense that Belmont needs this a little more.
-NORTH CAROLINA AT UAB. North Carolina has the chance to pick up another road win. UAB is 6-2 and has looked good at times, but doesn’t have anything overly impressive on their resume yet.
-GEORGE WASHINGTON VS CREIGHTON (Wooden Legacy). Both teams need to build their profiles.
-MEMPHIS VS OKLAHOMA STATE (Old Spice Classic). Memphis needs a big win. It’s been years since they’ve had one. Okie State blew them out earlier this year, but hasn’t looked that good in their last two games.
-MARQUETTE VS SAN DIEGO STATE (Wooden Legacy). Both appear to be solid tournament teams, so it would be a quality win for whoever pulls it off.
-PROVIDENCE AT KENTUCKY. Kentucky has been tested, but doesn’t have any big wins yet. Providence is 7-1, but doesn’t have anything on their profile nearly as big as this would likely be.