With now less than a week to go until Selection Sunday, the top eight in the RTC16 has become a bit more stable. As leagues embark on their conference tournaments, strong play to protect and possibly improve seeding will be key. With Gonzaga and Baylor having secured two of the four #1 seeds, will the Big Ten grab the others or will a team like Alabama pry a top seed away?

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big Ten (5), Big 12 (3), ACC (2), SEC (2), AAC (1), Big East (1), MVC (1), WCC (1),

RISING:

• Illinois: Brad Underwood’s Illini picked up a pair of Quad-1 victories by beating Michigan without Ayo Dosunmu and then following that up with a win at Ohio State. The #2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois has now positioned itself to be a strong contender for a #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
• Loyola (Chicago): The Ramblers ran through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with three wins all by double-figures. In the MVC Tournament, Loyola made 49% percent of its three-point attempts, an important improvement for a team that ranked seventh from beyond the arc in league play.
• Oregon: The Ducks went 3-0 this past week to win the Pac-12 title. This included a dominant final 10 minutes Wednesday night against UCLA in which Oregon turned a nine-point deficit into an eight-point victory. Chris Duarte is the type of player who can carry this talented Oregon team into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

FALLING:

• Maryland: A week ago Maryland had won five straight games and found itself in good position on the bubble. Then the Terrapins went 0-2 this past week with losses to non-tournament teams in Northwestern and Penn State. Eric Ayala had a particularly tough week, going 6-of-20 from the field.
• Villanova: The Wildcats were hit with injuries at the worst time of the season. First it was losing Collin Gillespie for the season with a knee injury against Creighton, and then Justin Moore to what was described as a severe ankle sprain. The impact of Gillespie was clear in the loss at Providence, a game in which Villanova produced its worst offensive efficiency output of the season.
• Wisconsin: Wisconsin has lost three straight and five of its last six games. With the game tied late against Iowa, the Badgers failed to grab a defensive rebound on a missed free throw, were called for a foul on Jordan Bohannon shooting a three-pointer, and then found itself on the wrong end of another monitor review to a play involving Brad Davison.

The lengthy run of Baylor and Gonzaga holding down the top two spots in the RTC16 has finally come to an end with Michigan jumping the Bears this week for the #2 spot. The Wolverines moved up after overpowering victories against Iowa and Indiana last week. Sophomore Franz Wagner has upped his production since Michigan returned from its COVID pause, having now scored 20 or more points in three of Michigan’s five games. While Illinois remains in the top five, the Big Ten was not without a shakeup in the RTC top 10, as Iowa climbed and Ohio State fell this week.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big Ten (5), Big 12 (4), ACC (2), Big East (2), SEC (2), AAC (1), MVC (1), MWC (1), WCC (1)

RISING

• Georgia Tech: A win at Virginia Tech was followed up by a home win against Syracuse to move Georgia Tech to 13-8 (9-6 ACC). The Yellow Jackets began February ranked outside of the top 60 in the NET Rankings but now enter March ranked 40th.
• Oklahoma State: No team in the country has a better overtime record than Oklahoma State (4-0), which needed five extra minutes to beat both Texas Tech and Oklahoma this past week. In the Bedlam battle, Cade Cunningham delivered his best performance of the season, dropping 40 points to go along with 11 rebounds and six assists. Oklahoma State prepares for a challenging week with games against Oklahoma, Baylor and West Virginia on the schedule.
• St. Bonaventure: After beating A-10 contender Davidson to start the week, the Bonnies picked up their most lopsided conference win in program history with a 47-point win over George Washington. With some help via a VCU loss, St. Bonaventure has clinched the A-10 title and the top seed in the conference tournament. Sharpshooter Dominick Welch comes into the week hot having made 12-of-20 from deep over his last three games.

FALLING

• Indiana: On Wednesday night the Hoosiers got off to a hot start against Rutgers leading the Scarlet Knights 23-8. From there, nothing went right for IU. Rutgers outscored the Hoosiers 62-27 over the next 25 minutes en route to a 74-63 Rutgers win. Archie Miller’s team followed that up with a home loss to Michigan. Now having lost three straight and six of their last nine, the Hoosiers resume continues heading in the wrong direction.
• Oklahoma: The Sooners stumbled in the RTC16 this week after an 0-2 week which included a loss against lowly Kansas State, a game in which OU led by six points with under four minutes to go. After losing to Oklahoma State in overtime on Sunday, the in-state rivals meet again on Monday night.
• USC: The Pac-12’s “mountain trip” is often described as the toughest road test in the Pac-12 and it proved to be just that to USC. The Trojans dropped a pair and fell out of first place in the league. SC was outscored from beyond the three-point line by 42 points in the two games. The month of February has not been kind to Andy Enfield as his Trojans are just 20-20 in the month over the past five seasons.

NOTABLE GAMES OF THE WEEK

• Monday: Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State (9 PM EST, ESPN)
• Tuesday: Illinois @ Michigan (7 PM EST, ESPN), Baylor @ West Virginia (5 PM EST)
• Wednesday: Creighton @ Villanova (8:30 PM EST, Fox Sports 1), UCLA @ Oregon (9 PM EST, ESPN2)
• Thursday: Oklahoma State @ Baylor, 7 PM EST
• Friday: Georgia Tech @ Wake Forest, 8 PM EST
• Saturday: Illinois @ Ohio State, 4 PM EST
• Sunday: Atlantic Sun, Big South, and Missouri Valley Conference Title Games

Michigan picked up its most impressive victory of the season with its five-point win over the weekend at Ohio State. The two teams combined to shoot 53.4 percent from the field and used tremendous ball movement to each find open shots all game long. Elsewhere, Ayo Dosunmu picked up his second triple-double of the season; West Virginia came roaring back from another double-figure deficit to pick up a win at Texas; and Florida State put up 80+ points on Virginia. With just one week left in February, the RTC16 continues to fluctuate outside of the top three.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big 12 (5), Big Ten (4), ACC (2), Big East (2), AAC (1), SEC (1), WCC (1)

RISING

• Duke: After losing its opening three games of the month, Duke has now won three contests in a row, including a weekend win over Virginia. The Blue Devils made 60.7 percent of their two-point field-goal attempts against the Cavaliers, becoming just the second Virginia opponent to eclipse the 60 percent mark, joining Gonzaga.
• Florida State: Leonard Hamilton’s team jumps back into the RTC16 with a 2-0 week, which included a 21-point win over Virginia. Junior Raiquan Gray is averaging 16.8 points per game and nine rebounds per game over his last five outings. Now with a one game lead in the loss column in the ACC standings, the Seminoles stay on the road for a pair this week.
• Maryland: A 3-0 week pushed Maryland to 14-10 and 8-9 in league play. They avoided the obstacle that was back-to-back against resume-killing Nebraska and then won at Rutgers over the weekend. Aaron Wiggins posted a pair of double-doubles and Jairus Hamilton was productive off of the bench, knocking down 6-of-12 three-point attempts last week.

FALLING

• Louisville: Louisville returned from a near three-week break and lost by 45 points at North Carolina, the most lopsided defeat in program history going back to the 1949-50 season. Louisville, the ACC’s worst three-point shooting team, shot 6.3 percent on its 16 three-point attempts. This was the worst three-point shooting performance of any Louisville team since 2010 (min. 10 3PA).
• Minnesota: The Golden Gophers led at Indiana, 45-39, with 17:14 to go in the game before they were on the wrong side of a 36-16 run over the next 15 minutes which flipped the game. The Gophers returned home over the weekend and never were in the game against Illinois. Having lost eight of their last 11 games, what was once a strong resume is becoming a much bigger issue with each new loss.
• Saint Louis: A 19-of-70 shooting performance against Dayton was a major factor in the Billikens’ 23-point loss to the Flyers. The loss was the team’s third in the A-10 and with the way the conference has been ravaged with cancelled games, its a loss that could become costly with respect to conference tournament seeding. Saint Louis gets a shot at boosting its resume this week with games against VCU and Richmond.

NOTABLE GAMES OF THE WEEK

• Monday: Oregon @ USC, 9 PM EST, Fox Sports 1
• Tuesday: Kansas @ Texas, 9 PM EST, ESPN2
• Wednesday: Alabama @ Arkansas, 9 PM EST
• Thursday: Iowa @ Michigan, 7 PM EST, ESPN
• Saturday: UCLA @ Colorado, 10 PM EST
• Sunday: Iowa @ Ohio State, 4 PM EST, CBS

Gonzaga returns to a unanimous #1 in the RTC16 following another 2-0 week on the road. While Baylor enters a pause, Michigan returned to action and showed it belongs among the top four teams that have separated from the rest of the pack. While neither team remains in the RTC16, perhaps the biggest outcome of the past week came in the Missouri Valley Conference where Drake and Loyola (Chicago) split their matchups, leaving the possibility of a two-bid MVC.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big 12 (5), Big Ten (4), Big East (2), AAC (1), ACC (1), Pac-12 (1), SEC (1), WCC (1)

RISING

• Creighton: After receiving zero votes in last week’s RTC16, Creighton climbs back into the top 16 and again appears on all ballots. Creighton made 17 of its first 22 field-goal attempts against Villanova to build a 10-point first-half lead that they never would relinquish. While Marcus Zegarowski and Mitch Ballock led the way in scoring, the performances of Christian Bishop and Damian Jefferson again proved that Creighton is a dangerous team on any given night.
• LSU: Will Wade’s squad went 2-0 this past week with a pair of double-figure SEC victories. The Tigers are now tied for second in the SEC at 8-4 while boasting a top 10 offensive efficiency ranking. Freshman Cameron Thomas is averaging 22.6 points per game, the fourth highest mark in the country.
• USC: The Trojans’ rise to the top of the Pac-12 has been matched with a new season best showing in the RTC16. Having now won six straight and 12 of its past 13 games, USC is holding opponents to an average of 60.1 points per game over its last seven outings. Evan Mobley continues his show his immense talent, dominating on each end of the floor.

FALLING

• Missouri: An 0-2 week for Missouri drops the Tigers out of the RTC16. Missouri was without third-leading scorer and the team’s best rebounder Jeremiah Tilmon in the weekend loss to Arkansas, as Tilmon was away from the team following a death in his family.
• Penn State: Prior to this week, Penn State was 7-8 and 4-7 in Big Ten play with recent wins over Wisconsin and Maryland. With no bad losses and several resume-building wins, the Nittany Lions had a chance to play their way into bubble consideration. Then this week happened. First Penn State blew a four-point lead late Michigan State and then they became the first Big Ten team Nebraska had beaten since January of last year.
• UCLA: Recent lackluster play carried into this week for the Bruins beginning with a poor showing in Pullman against Washington State and carrying over to a game against Washington in which the Bruins barely walked away victorious. They face an important week ahead as the desert schools travel to Los Angeles.

NOTABLE GAMES OF THE WEEK

• Monday: Virginia @ Florida State, 7 PM EST, ESPN
• Tuesday: Texas @ Oklahoma, 9 PM EST, ESPN
• Thursday: Iowa @ Wisconsin, 7 PM EST, ESPN
• Thursday: Houston @ Wichita State, 7 PM EST,
• Saturday: West Virginia @ Texas, 3 PM EST, ABC
• Saturday: Texas Tech @ Kansas, 2 PM EST, ESPN
• Sunday: Michigan @ Ohio State, 1 PM EST, CBS

Teams that began the week ranked among the AP Top 25 lost a combined 13 games this past week, with a handful of other games being too close for comfort. While the RTC16 top five went unscathed, last week’s rankings have undergone a shakeup following the up-and-down week. No one climbed higher in a week than Oklahoma which used wins against Texas and Alabama to vault into the top 10. The state of Texas continues to dominate the RTC16 with four teams ranked among the top 12, but it is now Houston who is ranked second among Lone Star State teams. Kelvin Sampson’s Cougar team is now 15-1, with its lone blemish coming by a point against Tulsa.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big 12 (4), Big Ten (4), ACC (3), SEC (2), AAC (1), Big East (1), WCC (1)

RISING

• Illinois: The Illini picked up a signature win with their victory over Iowa on Friday. Trent Frazier scored a season-high 24 points and matched his high-mark with four made three-pointers. Prior to Friday, Frazier had been averaging just 7.3 points per game over his previous seven games.
• Ohio State: After a shaky performance on Wednesday against Penn State, a game in which the Buckeyes overcame an eight-point deficit in the final ten minutes, Ohio State defeated Michigan State with ease. At 8-4 in Big Ten play, second-place is within reach for Chris Holtmann’s squad. Sophomore EJ Liddell has stepped up his game recently having scored 20 or more points in each of the last three games.
• Virginia Tech: The Hokies had scored 34 points in the opening 28 minutes against Virginia over the weekend. In the final 12 minutes, Virginia Tech outscored UVA 31-7 to grab a key ACC win. Tech’s 2-0 week comes following the suspension of Tyrece Radford. Keve Aluma’s presence was large scoring 14 against Notre Dame and then 29 against Virginia. Aluma was coming off of a two point, 1-of-10 showing in a loss at Syracuse the weekend prior.

FALLING

• Kansas: Kansas snapped its three-game skid midweek against TCU, but came crashing back down with an uninspiring and lopsided loss against Tennessee. While the at-times maligned David McCormack was productive, the Jayhawks trio of Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, and Jalen Wilson could not buy many makes from three-point range, combining to go 6-of-32 from deep in KU’s two games last week.
• Marquette: After a 5-2 start which included wins against Creighton and Wisconsin, Marquette’s season continued in the wrong direction this past week with losses to Providence and St. John’s. Now sitting at 8-9 and 4-7 in the Big East, the Golden Eagles are headed for their worst season since Steve Wojciechowski’s first year at Marquette.
• Michigan State: Thursday night’s 30-point loss at the hands of Rutgers was the most lopsided loss to an unranked team during Tom Izzo’s tenure at Michigan State. It was only the fourth time an Izzo coached Spartan team had lost by 30 or more points, the last time having come in December of 2008 against #1 North Carolina. Michigan State followed up its loss at Rutgers with a 17-point loss against Ohio State. Michigan State’s six-conference losses have come by an average margin of defeat of 16 points.

NOTABLE GAMES OF THE WEEK

• Monday: Oklahoma @ Texas Tech, 9 PM EST, ESPN
• Tuesday: Baylor @ Texas, 7 PM EST, ESPN
• Thursday: Ohio State @ Iowa, 7 PM EST, ESPN
• Saturday: Alabama @ Missouri, 8:30 PM EST, Network
• Saturday: UCLA @ USC, 10 PM EST,
• Sunday: Xavier @ Villanova, 2:30 PM EST, Fox

While the top four remains unchanged this week, the rest of the top 16 was not without shuffle. A loss to Indiana sends Iowa back out of the top five, while Michigan, now headed for a two-week break, moves back into the top five. Alabama extended its winning-streak to nine games and jumps from 13th to 7th, appearing in the top 10 in each ballot cast. Kansas tumbles to a tie for 16th this week, appearing on just 50 percent of the submitted ballots. Kansas gets a home game against TCU mid-week before a test in the Big 12/SEC Challenge against an equally struggling Tennessee team, which dropped from #7 to unranked in the RTC16 this week.

CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN: Big 12 (5), Big Ten (4), ACC (2), Big East (2), SEC (2), AAC (1) WCC (1)

RISING

• Florida State: The Seminoles climb from outside of the top 16 all the way up to #10 this week. Leonard Hamilton’s team not only put together back-to-back double-figure wins, but did so in dominant fashion. Florida State led Louisville by a margin of 40-16 before winning 78-65; and then over the weekend led Clemson by as many as 38 points on its way to a 80-61 victory.
• Loyola Chicago: As of today, the Ramblers have a top 30 NET Ranking and a top 25 KenPom ranking. Senior center Cameron Krutwig is averaging a career-best 15.3 points per game, while shooting 62.7 percent from the field. Porter Moser’s squad is playing tenacious defense, holding MVC opponents to a league-low 83.8 points per 100 possessions.
• Oklahoma: Despite Austin Reaves shooting 3-of-11 from the field, the Sooners grabbed a big win at home over Kansas over the weekend. De’Vion Harmon matched his season-high of 22 points. More impressively OU limited Kansas to just two offensive-rebounds.

FALLING

• Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech falls out of the RTC16 after a lopsided loss at Syracuse over the weekend. The Hokies leading scorer on the season Keve Aluma scored just two points and shot 1-of-10 from the field. Earlier today, the Hokies were dealt a blow when Tyrece Radford was suspended indefinitely from the team as he is dealing with off the court issues.
• Tennessee: The Volunteers were 0-2 this past week with losses to Florida and Missouri. Tennessee turned the ball over 18 times in both games, finishing the week with a turnover margin of -8. Additionally, the Volunteers really struggled at the free-throw line, making just 25 of their 50 free-throw attempts during the week.
• The top of the Pac-12: While the middle and bottom of the Pac-12 had been largely criticized for being lackluster, prior to this past week the top of the conference seemed to be running strong. Then Colorado, Oregon, and UCLA each lost games last week. Oregon hits the road for a Southern California trip which will feature two games against UCLA and another at USC over the next eight days in what will be important action for the conference.

NOTABLE GAMES OF THE WEEK

• Monday: Syracuse @ Virginia, 7 PM EST, ESPN
• Tuesday: Oklahoma @ Texas, 7 PM EST
• Wednesday: Wisconsin @ Maryland, 9 PM EST, Big Ten Network
• Thursday: Oregon @ UCLA, 9 PM EST, ESPN
• Friday: Iowa @ Illinois, 9 PM EST, Fox Sports 1
• Saturday: Big 12/SEC Challenge, All-Day
• Sunday: SMU @ Houston, 1 PM EST

The state of Texas had the attention of the college basketball world much of the past week. First it was the showdown between Texas and Texas Tech, with Tech’s Mac McClung taking over in the final minutes. Over the weekend, Texas Tech and Baylor played a tight game before the Bears proved to be too much. Attention remains on the Big 12 heading into this week with Baylor hosting a Kansas team who is coming off of a loss against Oklahoma State. Elsewhere, Minnesota rebounded from a 25-point defeat at the hands of Michigan 10 days prior with an 18-point win of its own. While Gonzaga and Baylor continue to roll around, anything has remained possible outside of the top two.

Conference Breakdown: Big 10 (4), Big 12 (4), ACC (2), SEC (2), AAC (1), Big East (1) Pac-12 (1), WCC (1)

Risers

• Alabama: Riding a seven-game winning streak, the Crimson Tide jump from the “also receiving votes” category and into this week’s RTC16. Alabama knocked down 29-of-66 (43.9%) three-point attempts last week in what were convincing wins over Kentucky and Arkansas. Now sitting atop the SEC at 5-0, Alabama hits the road for the fourth time in sixth games on Tuesday against second-place LSU.
• Florida State: The Seminoles returned to the court after a two-plus week hiatus and went 2-0 with wins against NC State and North Carolina. The win over the Tar Heels came without Scottie Barnes, but that proved not to be an issue with five Seminoles finishing the game with 10 or more points.
• Virginia: December losses to San Francisco and Gonzaga seem to be a thing of the past now as Virginia has rattled off five consecutive wins. Their most recent victory came in dominating form at Clemson. Tony Bennett’s team shot 65.5% from inside the arc and 55.6% beyond it on 27 attempts against what was a top five defensive efficiency team in Clemson. After scoring 70 or more points in just two ACC games last season, Virginia has now done so three times in its past four games.

Fallers

• Arkansas: The Razorbacks ended the 2020 calendar year a perfect 9-0, but since 2021 began the team is just 1-4. This past week Arkansas dropped a pair on the road by 16 and 31 points. Arkansas ranks 12th in league play in both offensive and defensive effective field-goal percentage.
• Indiana: Archie Miller’s Indiana team fell to 8-6 (3-4) after dropping a home game to Purdue last Thursday. Since taking over in Indiana, Miller is now 0-6 against Purdue. While Trayce Jackson-Davis’ production has remained high, it’s a team that needs more out of junior Rob Phinisee. In IU victories, Phinisee is 11-of-27 (40.7%) from deep, but in losses he is just 3-of-18 (16.7%).
• San Diego State: A pair of lackluster offensive performances led the Aztecs to an 0-2 week against Utah State. After finishing last season with an offensive efficiency ranking of 11th in the nation, the Aztecs currently sit at 71st and eighth best in the Mountain West Conference. With Matt Mitchell sidelined for the next week or two with a hyperextended knee, the Aztecs could face challenges on the offensive side of the floor.

Notable Games This Week

• Monday: Kansas @ Baylor, 9 PM EST, ESPN
• Tuesday: Alabama @ LSU, ESPN2
• Tuesday: Seton Hall @ Villanova, 9 PM EST, Fox Sports 1
• Thursday: USC @ Stanford, 5 PM EST, Fox Sports 1
• Friday: Michigan @ Purdue, 7 PM EST, Fox Sports 1
• Saturday: Ohio State @ Wisconsin, 4 PM EST
• Saturday: Baylor @ Oklahoma State, 2 PM EST

After trailing most of the second-half, Texas rallied from five down in the final two-minutes to escape West Virginia with a win. Shaka Smart’s team has now picked up road wins at both Kansas and West Virginia over the past 10 days. While Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin escaped any damage in the Big Ten this past week, the middle of the conference continued to beat on each other with Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Rutgers all losing at least one game over the last seven days. The RTC16 has plenty of consensus on the top 12 teams, while the bottom four spots this week are filled with varying opinions.

Conference Breakdown: Big 12 (5), Big Ten (4), ACC (2), Big East (2), AAC (1), SEC (1), WCC (1)

Risers

• Gonzaga: While Gonzaga cannot rise any higher than its position at the top of the RTC16, they continued to show just how dangerous they can be. In Saturday’s win over Portland, Joel Ayayi’s triple-double was the first in Gonzaga program history. After averaging 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game a season ago, Ayayi is averaging 11.8 points and a team-best 8.1 boards per game. Flying under the radar behind Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs and Drew Timme, Ayayi is another piece to the puzzle that makes this team special.
• Clemson: Clemson makes its first appearance in the RTC16 after an overtime win this past week against NC State. Clemson now has five wins over KenPom top-50 ranked opponents, with its lone loss coming on the road against Virginia Tech. After shooting 46.3 percent from the field in his first three years at Clemson, senior Aamir Simms is shooting 56.1 percent while averaging 12.6 points per game.
• UCLA: After escaping with an overtime win in Tempe, the Bruins led much of the second half in a win against Arizona in Tucson. UCLA is now 5-0 in Pac-12 play, having won 12 of its last 13 league games going back to last season. While the defense still has room to grow, the Bruins have the league’s best offensive efficiency, effective field-goal percentage, and three-point percentage. The Bruins sit just outside the top 16, but picked up multiple votes this week.

Fallers

• Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights had an 0-2 week with a pair of double-figure losses. It was a tough shooting week for Ron Harper and Geo Baker who went a combined 3-of-17 from beyond the arc. The team’s struggles at the free-throw line also continued, as the Knights were a mere 11-of-27 at the line. The struggles allowed Ohio State and Michigan State to outscore Rutgers by 25 points with the clock stopped.
• Minnesota: Minnesota finished the week 0-2 after dropping both of its games away from home. The Golden Gophers’ offense did not crack the 1.0 PPP mark in either game, while the defense allowed 1.21 and 1.19 points per possession. Through seven Big Ten games, the Minnesota offense now ranks 13th in three-point percentage and last in two-point field-goal percentage.
• Missouri: Cuonzo Martin’s Missouri club led Mississippi State 43-29 with 18:28 to go in a game last Tuesday night. The Tigers saw State finish the game on a 49-20 run. After committing just one turnover in the first half, Missouri turned it over seven times after the break.

Notable Upcoming Games

• Tuesday: Wisconsin @ Michigan, 7 PM EST, ESPN
• Wednesday: Texas Tech @ Texas, 9 PM EST, ESPN2
• Thursday: San Diego State @ Utah State, 9 PM EST, CBS Sports Network
• Thursday: Washington State @ UCLA, 5 PM EST, Fox Sports 1
• Friday: Villanova @ Connecticut, 9 PM EST, Fox Sports 1
• Saturday: Baylor @ Texas Tech, 4 PM EST, ESPN

Gonzaaga’s Joel Ayayi had two double-doubles through his first two seasons in Spokane. After an 18-point, 10-rebound performance against San Francisco over the weekend, however, Ayayi now has four double-doubles in 10 games this season. While the likes of Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs and Drew Timme rightfully dominate the headlines, Gonzaga’s spot at #1 in the RTC16 remains firmly gripped thanks in part to its premier depth. #2 Baylor picked up its second KenPom top-100 win on Saturday at Iowa State, and the Bears next six opponents are ranked inside of the top 65. Villanova is currently dealing with COVID issues which include head coach Jay Wright, but chaos within the RTC16 moves the Wildcats up to #3. Here’s a look at the first RTC16 of 2021.

Conference Breakdown: Big Ten (5), Big 12 (4), Big East (2), SEC (2), AAC (1), Pac-12 (1), WCC (1)

Risers

• Texas: After missing five of its final six three-point attempts in the first-half at Kansas, the Longhorns began the second-half by drilling their first six attempts after the break. While Greg Brown was held to just five points, five of his Longhorn teammates scored in double-figures. Shaka Smart’s second win over Kansas while at Texas sent a statement to the rest of the Big 12 — after sitting at #10 in the RTC16 last week, Texas now appears ranked at #4 in all seven ballots cast this week.
• Iowa: Since collapsing late against Minnesota, Iowa has compiled a pair of quality wins against Northwestern and at Rutgers. Jordan Bohannon scored in double-figures in each game, including tying his season-high of 24 points against Northwestern. While both the Wildcats and Scarlet Knights each averaged 1.06 points per possession against Iowa, it was an improvement from the 1.32 PPP allowed by the Hawkeyes against Minnesota.
• Michigan: The Wolverines added a pair of victories against KenPom top-60 teams last week, and they are now 5-0 against top-100 teams, with four of those victories coming by more than 10 points. Freshman Hunter Dickinson is now averaging 16.6 points per game with a 72.6 percent field-goal percentage. After appearing among the top-10 in just a single RTC16 ballot last week, the Wolverines now appear at #5 in over half of the ballots this week.

Fallers

• Houston: Houston’s fall this week comes after a narrow loss at Tulsa. While the Cougars rebounded with a win over SMU on Sunday, the team learned that Caleb Mills would be stepping away from the team. While Mills has been limited early in the year, he averaged more than 13 points per game last season and made north of 35 percent of his threes.
• Kansas: The Jayhawks’ 25-point home loss to Texas tied the school’s largest margin of defeat at home (Feb. 1, 1989, vs. Missouri) going back to the 1949-50 season. David McCormack’s struggles continue as he is now shooting just 32.9 percent from the field, a steep drop from the 52.1 percent notch he shot last season.
• West Virginia: Not only has West Virginia lost two of its last three games, including this past weekend’s matchup with Oklahoma, but the team was dealt the blow of Oscar Tshiebwe leaving the program. Jalen Bridges saw his minutes rise against Oklahoma and while the Mountaineers lost the game, Bridges scored 19 points, made 5-of-6 three-point attempts and showed that he can bring a spark to the WVU offense moving forward.

Notable Upcoming Games

• Monday: West Virginia @ Oklahoma State, 9 PM EST
• Tuesday: Rutgers @ Michigan State, 9 PM EST, ESPN2
• Wednesday: Minnesota @ Michigan, 8:30 PM EST
• Thursday: USC @ Arizona, 9 PM EST
• Saturday: Texas @ West Virginia, TBA
• Sunday: Minnesota @ Iowa, TBA
• Sunday: Loyola-Chicago @ Drake, 6 PM EST

The gap separating #1 Gonzaga and #2 Baylor from the rest of the country continued to widen this past week as the Bulldogs and Bears went a combined 4-0 with an average margin of victory of 33.8 points. Gonzaga’s offense continuously broke down Virginia’s defense in ways that few teams have in the Tony Bennett era. #3 Kansas backed up its win against Texas Tech with a convincing performance over West Virginia, while #4 Villanova enters this week with COVID-19 concerns, they moved to 3-0 in the Big East with a 17-point victory at Marquette last week.

Conference Breakdown: Big Ten (5), Big 12 (5), Big East (2), SEC (2), AAC (1), WCC (1)

Risers

• Houston: The Cougars began AAC play with a 26-point win against Temple and overcame a slow start to beat UCF on the road, 63-54. Houston is a perfect 7-0 and is just one of seven teams with an adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency ranking of 20th or better. After being ranked in the top five in just one of eight RTC ballots a week ago, Houston this week earned six top-5 votes.
• Texas Tech: After last week’s narrow loss at the hands of Kansas, Chris Beard’s squad squared up its Big 12 record with a two-point win against Oklahoma. Terrence Shannon’s team-high 21 points was the second time this season he has scored 20 or more, tying the number of times he did it last season. Last week Texas Tech appeared on just four RTC ballots, this week they made all but one.
• Creighton: After starting league play with a loss to Marquette, Creighton has rattled off three straight wins, including a five–point win this past week against Xavier. The Bluejays’ balanced attack has seen four or more players score in double-figures in each of the team’s past three games. Creighton rises from out of the RTC rankings and into the top 12.

Fallers

• Iowa: Despite leading 80-73 with just 44 seconds to go, Iowa could not escape Minnesota with a win. Iowa’s defense saw Minnesota make 17 three-point attempts, none bigger than Marcus Carr’s game-tying three in the final seconds of regulation. After going 2-8 on the road in Big Ten play last season, giving away a game the Hawkeyes seemingly had wrapped up has dropped Iowa to an average RTC ranking that is outside of the top 10.
• Michigan State: Friday’s loss to Wisconsin dropped Michigan State to 0-2 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2006-07 season. The 85 points allowed by the Spartans was the fifth-most the school has allowed in regulation in a league game since the 2002 season began. The Spartans fall out of this week’s RTC poll after coming in at #12 last week.

Notable Upcoming Games

• Monday: Michigan State @ Minnesota, 8 PM EST, Big Ten Network
• Tuesday: Houston @ Tulsa, 9 PM EST, ESPN 2
• Wednesday: Tennessee @ Missouri, 9 PM EST, SEC Network
• Thursday: Colorado @ USC, 9 PM EST, ESPN 2
• Saturday: Iowa @ Rutgers, 2 PM EST, ESPN 2
• Saturday: Texas @ Kansas, Noon EST, ESPN 2