ESPN Men's Basketball

Before conference play gets underway Tuesday night, here's my latest attempt at ranking the Big Ten:

1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes seem to have it all right now. Jared Sullinger is arguably the top player in the country. And his squad has one of the country’s best starting rotations. We didn’t learn much from its latest wins over Lamar and Miami (Ohio), other than the Buckeyes continue to be crazy good.

2. Indiana: The Hoosiers aren’t supposed to be here. But they’re in this spot because they can shoot (51 percent) and score (84 points per game) with the best teams in the country. Big Ten play will offer another test, but none greater than a Dec. 10 win over No. 1 Kentucky. They’ve won their first 12 games of the season.

3. Michigan State: During their 11-game winning streak, the Spartans held seven opponents under 60 points. We know that Draymond Green is balling right now. But it’s the emergence of Branden Dawson (43 points in team’s past three games) that’s changed projections for Tom Izzo’s team.

4. Wisconsin: The Badgers’ Jared Berggren has scored 13 or more points in eight games this season. The 6-foot-10 Minnesota native is a key part of Wisconsin’s plans. Winners of six straight, the Badgers are confident entering Big Ten play.

5. Michigan: Trey Burke had a season-low one turnover in Thursday’s win over Bradley. He’s averaging 2.8 per game. If he can control the ball for the Wolverines, they’ll certainly move up the standings. But there’s just as much potential for Michigan to slide.

6. Illinois: There’s no shame in losing to Missouri, especially with young center Meyers Leonard recording a double-double (14 points and 13 rebounds) in that game. Illinois’ concern: 45 turnovers in its past three games.

7. Purdue: The Boilermakers are a play or two away from being a one-loss team (they lost to Butler and Xavier by four points combined). Robbie Hummel looks like he has regained his old form. And Matt Painter’s squad is averaging just 9.7 turnovers per game.

8. Minnesota: The Gophers will definitely move up if they knock off Illinois. Despite their surprising six-game winning streak without Trevor Mbakwe, the opposition is about to get much, much better. Can they handle better competition? We’ll see.

9. Northwestern: The Wildcats are another team that hasn’t suffered a bad loss, but we won’t know if they’re destined for the bottom of the standings or an unexpected push through the ranks until Big Ten play begins. But Northwestern might not be physical enough to compete with the best teams in the Big Ten.

10. Nebraska: Bo Spencer (16.0 ppg) is the Big Ten’s top newcomer. But the LSU transfer will need consistent contributions from teammates to help the Huskers avoid a finish at the bottom of the standings in their first season with the Big Ten.

11. Penn State: They’re riding a two-game winning streak and Tim Frazier (17.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 7.2 apg) is putting put freakish numbers. But when a 6-1 guard leads the team in rebounding, that’s rarely a good thing.

12. Iowa: Worst scoring defense. Worst field goal percentage defense. Worst 3-point defense. And the winner of the “most likely to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten” goes to the Hawkeyes.

Before conference play gets underway, let's take another attempt at ranking all 16 teams in the Big East:

1. Syracuse: The Orange head in to league play unblemished and barely challenged. Syracuse has won games by an average of 21.7 points in the nonconference season.

2. Louisville: Russ Smith has provided a much-needed offensive spark for the Cardinals, scoring 23 against Western Kentucky. The Cards still haven’t jelled entirely, but the defense has kept Louisville alive.

3. Connecticut: The Huskies beat a good Fairfield team to end their nonconference schedule but will have to make do in the first three league games without Jim Calhoun. The coach will begin his suspension from NCAA sanctions this week.

4. Georgetown: The eye-opening win against Memphis proved how good the Hoyas are getting … and how much the Tigers are struggling. Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson continue to lead Georgetown.

5. Marquette: The Golden Eagles responded well from the upset against LSU with a win against a decent Milwaukee team. They’ll have one more nonleague game -- against floundering Vanderbilt -- before heading into conference play.

6. West Virginia: No shame in the Mountaineers’ overtime loss to Baylor in Vegas. If anything, the loss proves how good West Virginia is becoming, thanks largely to the continued great play from Kevin Jones.

7. Seton Hall: The Pirates own an eight-game win streak and an 11-1 record. They’ll know how good they really are in a hurry. Seton Hall opens Big East play at the Carrier Dome against No. 1 Syracuse.

8. Cincinnati: Maybe the brawl has refocused the Bearcats. Cincinnati, using a 4-guard offense because of the suspension of Yancy Gates, barely missed becoming the first team in school history to score 100 points in three consecutive games, falling five points short of the record in a blowout of Chicago State.

9. Pittsburgh: The unthinkable has happened twice now at Pitt, with the Panthers dropping their second home loss of the season, this time to Wagner. It’s the first time the Panthers have lost to a Northeast Conference opponent in 70 games, and hardly the confidence boost Pitt needs as it readies for the Big East.

10. Providence: The Friars’ improvement is officially evident in the state of Rhode Island. Providence beat URI on the road for the first time in its past five tries. Ed Cooley takes his team to New York for the league opener against St. John’s.

11. DePaul: The Blue Demons’ improvement continues as Oliver Purnell has DePaul off to its best start (9-3) in 12 years. In Cleveland Melvin, DePaul has a legit Big East talent.

12. Villanova: The Wildcats know one thing heading in to Big East play -- they need Maalik Wayns. Nova recently led American by just two before Wayns, sidelined with a virus, came into the game. The Cats won by 21.

13. Notre Dame: The good news: The Irish scored 106 points in a game. The bad news: It was against Sacred Heart. How Notre Dame will do offensively against the likes of Pitt -- the Irish’s first league opponent -- will be a little more telling.

14. St. John’s: The Red Storm finally got some good news -- Amir Garrett, one of three freshmen who didn’t qualify academically, was cleared and played in his first game last week. St. John’s needs him with Nurideen Lindsey choosing to transfer.

15. Rutgers: Even in a win, the Scarlet Knights have problems. Rutgers beat NJIT by 24 but trailed early in the second half against the undermanned opponent. That on-and-off-the-gas-pedal attitude won’t fly this week when Rutgers finishes its nonconference slate against Florida.

16. South Florida: Things continue to look bleak in South Florida, where the Bulls completed their nonconference play with a loss to Southern Miss. Next up: Connecticut.

As we draw nearer to conference season, here's my latest ranking of the SEC teams:

1. Kentucky: The Wildcats didn’t have to deal with tough competition this past week, but they didn’t take a step back. We’ll learn more about UK after Saturday’s showdown with in-state rival Louisville. So far the Cats have passed every test, save the final seconds in Bloomington, Ind.

2. Florida: The Gators made it look pretty easy against in-state rival Florida State. They are starting to see more consistent play from freshman Bradley Beal, too. Florida has one more road nonconference game, Wednesday at Rutgers.

3. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs will get their toughest test to date against Baylor in Dallas. The Bears and Bulldogs match up well at every position. How Arnett Moultrie and Renardo Sidney deal with the length of Perry Jones III and Quincy Acy will be fascinating to watch.

4. LSU: I took a gamble on the Tigers at No. 4 last Monday and they came through with a win over top 10 Marquette that night. They followed up with a nice road win at North Texas. This list is based on how teams are playing at this point in the season, and right now LSU deserves to be in this spot. The next test: Tuesday's home game against Virginia.

5. Vanderbilt: It’s hard to push the Commodores down too far, even though this team has struggled mightily during the early part of the season. The Dores get yet another challenge this week at Marquette.

6. Alabama: The Crimson Tide finally had a relatively easy win by beating Oklahoma State in Birmingham, Ala. The Cowboys aren't a great team by any means, but Bama desperately needed to get back into gear.

7. Georgia: The Bulldogs went west and won a defensive battle at USC. Georgia is still a work in progress, but Mark Fox has this team heading in the right direction.

8. Ole Miss: The Rebels have the frontline talent to be higher than this and maybe they will ultimately finish in a better slot. But the Rebels still haven’t finished games well, as evidence by the recent loss to Southern Miss.

9. Arkansas: The Hogs are still finding their way under Mike Anderson. Arkansas has had to deal with attrition and still has played its schedule decently.

10. Auburn: Tony Barbee’s team had moments during the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii when it looked like a contender for postseason play. But the Tigers left the island with two losses and without the momentum they sought heading into SEC play.

11. South Carolina: The Gamecocks rolled over Southeastern Louisiana after that gutty effort against Ohio State. Once this team gets its roster settled and Bruce Ellington is done with football for good, this team will pull off a surprise or two in the SEC.

12. Tennessee: The Vols will improve once they get freshman Jarnell Stokes into the lineup in mid-January. Until then, it’s hard to put them any higher after a week in which they squeaked by a pair of average mid-majors.

1. Baylor: The Bears are one of the country’s six remaining undefeated teams. At 12-0, they’ve matched their best start in school history. Baylor has defeated five teams (West Virginia, St. Mary’s, Brigham Young, Northwestern and San Diego State) that have a legitimate chance to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. It’s biggest test of the season comes Wednesday vs. Mississippi State in Dallas.
2. Missouri: Frank Haith’s Tigers blew a 13-point lead in the second half against Illinois last week before making some key shots down the stretch in a 78-74 win against the best team they’ve played this season. Kim English is shooting 53 percent from 3-point range for the undefeated Tigers, who wrap up non-league play Friday at Old Dominion.
3. Kansas State: The Wildcats are for real. Eight days after defeating then-No. 21 Alabama, Kansas State mule-kicked a solid Long Beach State squad 77-60 in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic. Rodney McGruder scored 28 points for the Wildcats, who are 10-1 with the only loss coming in overtime against West Virginia.
4. Kansas: Thomas Robinson (17.4 ppg, 11.8 rpg) has been solid, but his teammates are struggling with consistency. Tyshawn Taylor is averaging 4.2 turnovers a game, and it’s obvious head coach Bill Self has zero confidence in his bench. This team will get better -- Self’s teams always do -- but hopes of an eighth-straight Big 12 title may be a stretch for a team that lost to Davidson last week.
5. Oklahoma: Lon Kruger has turned in one of the finest coaching jobs in the country thus far. The Sooners will take a 9-1 record into Thursday’s game at Cincinnati. Steven Pledger is averaging 19.8 points and shooting 49 percent from beyond the arc. Point guard Sam Grooms, a junior college transfer, is dishing out 5.2 assists per game.
6. Iowa State: The Cyclones have bounced back from a pair of disappointing early season losses (to Drake and Northern Iowa) and have now won four straight, including an 86-76 victory over Iowa. This is one of the Big 12’s upper echelon teams in terms of pure talent. The biggest question is whether the Cyclones can develop good enough chemistry to compete with the league’s top dogs.
7. Texas: Rick Barnes’ squad had won seven straight games by double digits before getting worked over in an 82-63 loss to North Carolina on Dec. 23. Texas’ youth and lack of size will threaten the Longhorns’ streak of 13 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
8. Texas A&M: Much like Vanderbilt, Memphis and Arizona, the Aggies were clearly overhyped during the preseason. Five days after a 20-point loss to Florida, Texas A&M suffered an embarrassing home loss against Rice on Thursday. The setback snapped a 67-game home nonconference winning streak.
9. Oklahoma State: At 6-5, the Cowboys have been the Big 12’s biggest disappointment thus far. Oklahoma State will take a three-game losing streak into Wednesday’s game against SMU in Dallas. Included in that stretch is Wednesday’s 17-point defeat against an Alabama squad that was without top player JaMychal Green.
10. Texas Tech: The Red Raiders may have trouble escaping the Big 12 cellar this season. Texas Tech has dropped five of its last seven games, including a 16-point drubbing by Oral Roberts. Freshman Jordan Tolbert has been a bright spot. The forward is averaging 14.7 points and 6.5 rebounds despite playing just 20.5 minutes per game.

The Pac-12 only gets more convoluted and confusing with each passing week, but the conference power rankings, like any good Broadway show, must go on. Here's my latest attempt to make sense of this muddled West Coast landscape as the Pac-12 prepares to commence league play this week. (Spoiler alert: The Pac-12 is bad.)

1. Stanford: Surprised? So am I. After all, Stanford's only result since last week's rankings was a 71-66 home loss to Butler, which came after the Cardinal allowed the offensively bereft Bulldogs to streak to a downright shocking 45-point second-half. Considering Stanford has no great wins, and much of its early ranking hinged on that close contest with Syracuse in November, you'd think Johnny Dawkins' team would take a tumble in the conference power rankings. When I sat down to write these rankings, I didn't think Stanford stood any chance of staying in the top spot. But as you dig in to the rest of this league, you realize that Cal remains the only other contender for this spot, and I find it difficult to move Stanford below the Bears when Mike Montgomery's squad was so thoroughly trounced by UNLV last week. So Stanford remains. Someone has to be No. 1, I guess.

2. California: The Bears may well be the best team in this league. Ken Pomeroy's advanced metrics indicate as much. But Cal isn't doing anything to inspire confidence that its efficiency in wins over inferior opponents can be replicated against top competition. Consider Friday's drubbing at UNLV. The Bears entered Friday's game having outscored their last four opponents 301-189. Then, in Vegas, Montgomery's squad looked absolutely dreadful -- stagnant offensively, weak defensively and arguably timid in many respects -- as the Rebels blitzed for 40 minutes en route to an 85-68 blowout. This was Cal's second game against a ranked opponent. Its first, against Missouri, ended 92-53. Add it all up, and you get a team that has 10 wins against inferior opponents, one forgivable one-point road loss to San Diego State, and two absolute blowouts at the hands of top competition. So, yeah, maybe Cal is the best team in this league. But if they only look good against bad teams, what does "good" even mean, anyway?

3. Arizona: The Wildcats didn't do much last week, but they'll hold steady at No. 3 if only because they didn't lose. Rather, Zona got past a tricky Oakland team at home and put 100 points on Bryant two nights later, and that -- plus their promising if uneven performances throughout the nonconference schedule -- doesn't offer any obvious reason to move them below any of the teams that follow.

4. Oregon State: OSU is now tied for the best record in this conference, with its 10-2 mark matched only by Stanford. And that record isn't all fluff, either: A Nov. 19 win against Texas might in fact be the best nonconference win the league has (as sad as that is). But since Dec. 9's home loss to Idaho, Oregon's State's four wins have come against Illinois-Chicago, Howard, Portland State and, this week, Chicago State. Those are some of the worst opponents in Division I hoops. For that reason, it's hard to trust that gaudy record, not until the Beavers can test this apparent improvement against someone ranked higher than No. 230 (that would be Portland State) in the Pomeroy rankings.

5. Oregon: The Ducks notched three wins in three days last week, but all three (NC Central, Prairie View A&M, Stephen F. Austin) were cupcakes. Meanwhile, last week's missed opportunity -- when Oregon let Virginia escape from Matthew Knight Arena with a second-half comeback win -- is still a cause for concern. Given Dana Altman's track record as a coach, and the way he got the maximum from his first team in Eugene last season, it's fair to expect some improvement in Pac-12 play. But the Ducks still have a long way to go.

6. Washington: The Huskies looked much sharper in a home win over Cal-State Northridge last Thursday, but really, there's nothing new to report here. The Huskies still look like the most talented team in this league. They should still be considered a favorite to contend for the regular-season crown. Unfortunately, they're still maddeningly inconsistent, confused about their offensive roles, defensively porous and, to paraphrase Washington coach Lorenzo Romar's words, missing that distinct, hard-to-define chemistry all good teams must develop before they can become more than sum of their parts. The talent here is undeniable, but league play starts this week, so the clock is already ticking. This could go either way. We'll see.

7. Washington State: The lack of movement in these rankings is the theme of the week, and Ken Bone's team is no different. The Cougars are getting decent play out of senior guard Faisal Aden and aggressive interior work from junior forward Brock Motum, but they remain sloppy and turnover-prone and have spent their December racking up five wins against decidedly inferior competition. This team isn't bad, per se. But we can't exactly call it good, either.

8. UCLA: If you can't always tell by my tone, yours truly tends to get a little frustrated when teams spend huge stretches of their nonconference schedule toasting cupcake teams. Go out and play somebody, you know? But UCLA's December of inferior competition couldn't have come at a better time. After a November that featured blowout home losses to Middle Tennessee and Loyola Marymount, a disastrous trip to the Maui Invitational and the eventual dismissal of forward Reeves Nelson, UCLA needed some comfortable, confidence-inspiring victories, and it appears to be paying dividends. At the very least, this record -- 2-5 through a Dec. 3 loss to Texas -- is back above .500 in time for the start of Pac-12 play. We don't know if UCLA is actually better, or just beating up on bad teams, but either way, it doesn't really matter. This is why (or at least partially why) coaches schedule so many cupcakes. Sometimes, your team just needs a few wins.

9. USC: Unlike most of the Pac-12, USC actually had an important fixture on its calendar last week, a date with Kansas at the Galen Center in LA. And USC was essentially USC. The Trojans played a slow-paced game and held KU to 63 points, a product of the rapacious defense Kevin O'Neill's team has played so often this season. The only problem with this, of course, is that SC just can't score. The Trojans scored a mere 45 points against the Jayhawks. They rank No. 245 in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency. You should expect O'Neill's squad to stifle more than a few of their Pac-12 opponents in the coming months, and they'll no doubt steal a few wins against allegedly superior squads between now and March. But this putrid offense is like an invisible ceiling. Without at least some offensive output -- something, anything! -- this team can only go so far.

10. Colorado: The Buffaloes' 7-4 record is better than the Trojans' and Bruins' and the Huskies'. So why does Tad Boyle's team still rank so low in this league? Because unlike those teams, the Buffs don't do any one thing particularly well. For the sake of brevity, Colorado is average offensively and awful defensively. I wouldn't be surprised if this team shows real improvement in the weeks to come, but with per-possession numbers this pedestrian, I'm hesitant to make that prediction.

11. Arizona State: If Herb Sendek didn't have more pressing things to worry about -- namely, how to get his apparently awful team moving in a positive direction -- he could some spend time lavishing everyone responsible for bringing Utah to the Pac-12 (conference commissioner Larry Scott, Utes brass, even Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany) with gifts. For yet another week, only Utah's near-historical ineptitude is keeping this Sun Devils squad out of the power rankings cellar. In any other season, we'd look at this team -- now 4-8 with three straight home losses to Northern Arizona, Southern Miss and Fresno State -- as the "worst power-conference team in the country" contender it would have been. Either way, Arizona State is in a bad way, and if the current trend continues into league competition, the nascent questions about the "future of the program" (read: Sendek's job security) will only grow more vociferous.

12. Utah: And then there's Utah. (Last week, I tried on a few alternate, Utah-related headlines for this column. But I think "And then there's Utah" might be our winner.) The good news first: The Utes topped Idaho State and Portland two weeks ago. Wins are wins. The bad news? Both teams are ranked outside the top 225 or so teams in the nation in adjusted efficiency. Even worse, Larry Krystkowiak's team followed those meager signs of progress with an 80-51 road loss to Weber State, a thrashing at the hands of a team that, for reference's sake, lost by 20 to Cal. In the meantime, the 3-9 Utes are ranked No. 316 in the country in adjusted efficiency; the list of teams in their statistical vicinity (The Citadel, Radford, Mount St. Mary's, Texas Pan-American, et al.) is comprised those for whom a trip to the NCAA tournament play-in game is a basketball season's ultimate hope. This is some historically bad basketball coming from Salt Lake City. With Pac-12 play commencing this week, where do the Utes go from here? I don't know. But it could be fascinating to behold.

Are we there yet? ACC play will finally begin in less than two weeks, which could lead to some shake-ups in the rankings after a slow holiday push. As it is, there’s little question about who the top three teams in the league are right now (although the order, of course, is always up for debate). But the fourth? Fifth? Sixth?

1. North Carolina: The Tar Heels’ dismantling of Texas was impressive, even if it was a younger, shorter Longhorns team than seasons past. Against Nicholls, UNC pulled down 72 rebounds, the most in program history since 1956.

2. Duke: Mike Krzyzewski wasn’t pleased with the way his team lollygagged early against UNC Greensboro last week, but the Devils got the job done as they should have, winning by 27 points. Friday’s matchup against Western Michigan will mark only their second game in a 21-day span, so it will be interesting to see whether they repeat their slow start.

3. Virginia: The Cavaliers' depth may have been hurt by the announcements that guard KT Harrell and forward James Johnson will transfer, but they’re still on a roll. At 10-1, the Cavs are off to their best start since 2000. They have an eight-game winning streak, have won their last four road games, and forward Mike Scott scored a career-high 33 at Seattle last week.

4. Florida State: Leonard Hamilton said after his team’s 18-point loss to No. 12 Florida that he worries his Seminoles have lost their competitive edge since last season. Perhaps the return of guard Ian Miller — who made his season debut in the game after sitting out the first semester because of academics — will help. After all, Hamilton is pondering going to a smaller lineup.

5. NC State: Funny, I was just discussing with a colleague a couple weeks back who State’s best “go-to” option would be, and then sophomore C.J. Leslie hits the game-winner at St. Bonaventure with 0.8 seconds left. These guys could make things interesting all season.

6. Virginia Tech: The hardest part of the Hokies’ blowout win over Eastern Michigan was apparently trying to get coach Seth Greenberg to give more details about senior Dorenzo Hudson, who started despite his involvement in altercations that led several felony arrests that included the football team’s kicker. Hudson hasn’t been charged with anything, and the team should get a good on-the-court test at Oklahoma State on New Year’s Eve.

7. Miami: First the Hurricanes got Reggie Johnson back. Now DeQuan Jones, too. The forward, who had been held out because of an ongoing NCAA inquiry, played 18 minutes at Charlotte, recording seven points, six rebounds and a block. UM has two more games to tune up before opening ACC play with two road games.

8. Maryland: Guard Pe’Shon Howard is back from his foot injury, but Maryland continues to struggle against mid-major opponents. Last week, the Terps beat Radford by only five points.

9. Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons did let an 11-point lead slip away vs. UNC Wilmington, but battled back to win by nine points. That shows growth from last season. The Deacs have now won five of their last seven games.

10. Georgia Tech: Coach Brian Gregory said he wants to see better practice habits after his team lost to Mercer. The Jackets are still last in the league in 3-point percentage (.278) and turnover margin (minus-3.25).

11. Clemson: The Tigers went 1-2 in Hawaii, needing overtime — and a career-high 26 points from Tanner Smith — to get their one win (against struggling Southern Illinois) in the Diamond Head Classic.

12. Boston College: The freshmen-laden Eagles have won three in a row, but keep in mind that it was against Stony Brook, Bryant and Sacred Heart.

Robbi Pickeral can be reached at bylinerp@gmail.com. Twitter: @bylinerp.