College Basketball Power Rankings

The 2021-2022 college basketball season is finally underway. It's early on, but big time matchups have already taken place and things are starting to take shape. Here’s how things stack up a few games into the season.

Gonzaga

The Gonzaga Bulldogs came into the season ranked #1 and haven’t disappointed so far. The Bulldogs are 3-0 and already have an impressive 86-74 win over #5 Texas. As a team, they’re shooting a staggering 55.7% from the field while holding opponents under 40% from the field. Drew Timme is performing as expected averaging 19 points and five boards per game. The Bulldogs are rolling and don’t look to be slowing down at all. This is easily college basketball’s best team.

Duke

In Coach K’s final season,Duke has won their first four games, in large part due to their suffocating defense; the Blue Devils are holding opponents to 58.8 points per game on 37% shooting. Offensively, Duke Freshman Paolo Banchero has been superb so far in his first four collegiate games, averaging 17.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Even if the offense might lack punch outside of Banchero, defense wins championships and Duke looks like one of the best defensive squads in the country.

UCLA

The Bruins are balling, starting the year 4-0 including a huge overtime win over Villanova. The Bruins have been lights-out from three shooting 42.4% from behind the arc. Additionally, the Bruins are crushing teams on the boards, out-rebounding their opponents 43.5 to 31.8. Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez have been sensational so far. Jaquez has been solid averaging 18 points and shooting 50% from three. Juzang has shown that his heater during last year’s shocking Final Four run was no fluke, averaging 21.5 points per game this season. The Bruins are cruising and will face off against Gonzaga on Tuesday in what might be the most anticipated game of the regular season. 

Kansas

It’s still early, but it looks like this could be the Jayhawks’ year. They’re 3-0 with a solid win to start the season against Michigan State, looking like they could reclaim their perch atop the Big 12 from Baylor. Ochai Agbaji is one of the top players in the country— his elite scoring ability has been on display as he’s averaged 26 points per game. The Jayhawks are a disciplined, veteran team that takes care of the ball averaging under 10 turnovers per game while forcing 13 turnovers per game. Although they’ve mostly faced low-quality opponents, they’re holding opponents to 65 points off 41% from the field and that’s a recipe for success.

Villanova

Villanova rounds out the top five. ‘Nova has been characteristically lethal offensively, averaging 89 points per game while making 89% of their free throws and hitting 48.8% from behind the arc. Despite not having a single dominant scorer, Nova succeeds because of their balance as four guys average more than 16 points per game and junior Justin Moore leads the way with 19.0. ‘Nova has taken an L, but it was an overtime loss on the road to  #2 UCLA. Nova cannot be ignored and belongs on this list.