Three weeks and three different No. 1 teams in Power Rankings
— -- With Kentucky losing at Rupp to UCLA, it means we'll have a new No. 1 team for the second consecutive week. ?Defending national champion Villanova are the fairly easy choice. Jay Wright's team is undefeated and has a resume win with a road victory in West Lafayette over a Top 25 team in Purdue.
UCLA makes a move with the road win at UK, while the Cats -- who haven't beaten a Top 25 team -- take a tumble. The biggest surprise of the early season is Scott Drew and Baylor, who remain undefeated with a win over Xavier in Waco. Baylor's resume stacks up against anyone in the country.
Xavier, Purdue and Virginia all fell from last week, URI, San Diego State and Oklahoma State are gone and have been replaced by Texas A&M, Cincinnati and West Virginia. The Mountaineers return to the Power Rankings after beating Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers in Charlottesville.
Josh Hart recorded the program's first triple-double in more than 30 years when he scored 16 points, grabbed 11 boards and dished out 10 assists in a win over Saint Joseph's. Harold Pressley had the last one back in 1986 against Providence.
Landen Lucas returned from an oblique injury and had eight points and five boards in a win over Stanford in Lawrence. Bill Self got a combined 19 points and 15 boards from the big man trio of Lucas, Udoka Azubuike and Carlton Bragg Jr.
Miami transfer Manu Lecomte has been exactly what Scott Drew needed. Lecomte wound up with 24 points and five assists in the win over Xavier. Baylor's resume is as impressive as just about anyone's thus far: Louisville, Xavier, Oregon, Michigan State and VCU all victims.
Lonzo Ball was terrible in the first half against Kentucky, but finished with 14 points, seven assists and five boards. Aaron Holiday was huge in the first half as the Bruins snapped UK's 42-game winning streak at Rupp.
5. Duke Blue Devils
Record 8-1
Last week's ranking: 5
Luke Kennard went for 35 in a rout over Maine, but what mattered this past week for Duke was Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden finally came back. Tatum had 10 points and eight boards in 20 minutes against Maine and Bolden finished with seven points and five rebounds in 12 minutes.
6. Gonzaga Bulldogs
Record: 8-0
Last week's ranking: 6
Przemek Karnowski, the 7-foot-1 senior center, had questions, his career was in doubt last season due to a back injury. He is healthy now and that gives the Zags a true post presence and also arguably the best passing big man in the country. He had 18 points in the win over Arizona.
The Tar Heels hadn't been tested in any of its previous seven games, but never led in Bloomington against Indiana. Sophomore guard Kenny Williams is finally starting to get adjusted and has made 13 of 26 3-pointers after making just 1-of-13 a year ago.
OG Anunoby injured his ankle at the end of the win over North Carolina, but the Hoosiers didn't need him in easy wins over SIU-Edwardsville and Southeast Missouri State over the weekend.
UK lost for just the fifth time at home in the John Calipari era and UCLA also snapped the Wildcats' 42-game home winning streak by putting up 97 points at Rupp on Saturday.
The Bluejays are the lone team in the country to shoot at least 50 percent from the field in every game. Greg McDermott's team is also deadly from beyond the arc, standing fourth in the country in 3-point percentage.
Matz Stockman played a total of 15 minutes in the first seven games and scored five points. Well, against Grand Canyon, the 7-footer from Norway logged 15 minutes and scored a career-high 10 points.
The Musketeers can't have J.P. Macura go 2-for-16 from the field, especially when Chris Mack doesn't have Myles Davis on the court. Davis remains suspended, and Xavier lost in Waco to a Baylor team that has been as good as just about anyone early this season.
Junior forward Calvin Hermanson, who went to Lake Oswego High in Oregon -- the same school that produced Kevin Love -- scored 25 points and was 7-of-9 from 3-point territory in a win at Stanford. The Gaels should give Gonzaga a run for the WCC title.
The Gators have played seven of their first nine games at neutral sites while the O'Connell Center is being renovated. The building will be done for Dec. 21. Up next, though, is Duke at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
The Gamecocks beat Vermont with Sindarius Thornwell, but were without their leading scorer and rebounder in a win over FIU on Sunday. Thornwell has been suspended indefinitely for violation of athletic department rules.
Kelan Martin has been terrific and freshman Kamar Baldwin has been a pleasant surprise, but it has been the improved play of Tyler Lewis that has been the difference. He's shooting 64 percent from the field, as opposed to 39 percent last season. He's also averaging nearly double the number of assists from a season ago.
This week was the Nigel Hayes show. First, he helped carve up the Syracuse 2-3 zone and finished one point from a triple-double. Then he had 28 points in a 90-70 win over Oklahoma. Through the first six games Hayes took 31 3's. The past three games, he has taken just two -- and made them both.
It was a brief one-week absence for Bob Huggins after the loss to Temple. The Mountaineers forced 40 turnovers in a rout over Manhattan and then beat Virginia in Charlottesville.
The Cavs came back from a huge deficit to beat Ohio State at home, but then lost to West Virginia in Charlottesville. Virginia is now 104-21 under Tony Bennett at John Paul Jones Arena, but the last week it has been clear that the Cavs are not a top-10 team.
The Trojans lost Bennie Boatwright for the next six weeks with a knee injury. Freshman Nick Rakocevic replaced Boatwright in the starting lineup, but played just 10 minutes in the win over BYU. The Trojans played small the majority of the game.
If Mike Brey's team has a lead late, don't put them at the line. The five starters are 113-of-128 from the free-throw line. Notre Dame ranks second in the nation in free throw shooting.
The Boilermakers aren't going to beat too many teams with Vince Edwards getting just one point -- and that's what happened in a 71-64 loss at Louisville. One thing the Boilermakers keep doing, though, is making 3's. They have made 62 over the past five games.
The Aggies have lost to a pair of ranked teams against USC and UCLA. Billy Kennedy boasts one of the best frontcourts in the country with Tyler Davis, Robert Williams, Tonny Trocha-Morelos and D.J. Hogg. The concern is point guard play.
Mick Cronin's club lost to Rhode Island in Connecticut, but more than made up for it with a rare road win at Iowa State. The Cyclones had won 37 straight at Hilton Coliseum against nonconference teams.
The Cyclones put up just 54 points in an overtime loss to Cincinnati, the lowest total for Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum since 2009. The loss also snapped a 37-game nonconference winning streak.
Dropped out:?Rhode Island, San Diego State, Oklahoma State
