LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – The Alabama Crimson Tide, with an eight-game winning streak that has powered its rise to No. 7 in the latest BurlisonOnBasketball college Top 25, gets what should be a sturdy couple of challenges this week.
Coach Nate Oats’ club, which continued to look like the best team in the SEC with wins over LSU and Mississippi State last week, is at home in Tuscaloosa Tuesday evening for a conference game with Kentucky.
The Wildcats (5-9) have struggled much of the season – including during a 20-point loss to the Crimson Tide in Lexington on Jan. 12 – but turned in an impressive effort in knocking off LSU Saturday.
Saturday, Oats’ team visits Norman to play a 9-4 Oklahoma team that has won three conference games in row in a Big 12-SEC Challenge contest.
Top-ranked Gonzaga has beaten six West Coast Conference opponents by an average margin of 25.5 points.
No. 2 Baylor has a much more difficult road toward an unbeaten record going into the NCAA Tournament by way of its Big 12 Conference competition – both in regular season and (assuming conference tournaments are played, a big “if” with the COVID-10 pandemic still ablaze) the Big 12 tournament.
The Bears have six regular-season games remaining with Big 12 teams currently in the Top 25.
They take on their final non-Big 12 foe Saturday in Waco against Auburn (and one of the best freshmen guards in the country in Sharife Cooper) in the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
Top 25 (records as of Jan. 24)
- Gonzaga 15-0
Key wins: Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa and BYU.
- Baylor 14-0
Key wins: Illinois, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas Tech, Kansas and Oklahoma State.
- Villanova 10-1
Key wins: Arizona State, Texas, Marquette, Seton Hall and Providence.
Loss: Virginia Tech.
- Texas 11-2
Key wins: Indiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Kansas and West Virginia.
Loss: Villanova and Texas Tech.
- Houston 11-1
Key wins: Boise State, Texas Tech, Wichita State and Tulsa.
Loss: Tulsa.
- Michigan 13-1
Key wins: Maryland (2), Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Purdue.
Loss: Minnesota.
- Alabama 13-3
Key wins: Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, Arkansas, LSU and Mississippi State.
Losses: Stanford, Clemson and Western Kentucky.
- Missouri 10-2
Key wins: Oregon, Wichita State, Liberty, Illinois, Arkansas and Texas A&M.
Losses: Tennessee and Mississippi State.
- Iowa 12-3
Key wins: North Carolina, Purdue, Northwestern (2), Rutgers, Maryland and Minnesota.
Losses: Gonzaga, Minnesota and Indiana.
- Florida State 9-2
Key wins: Indiana, Florida, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Louisville and Clemson.
Losses: University of Central Florida and Clemson.
- Louisville 10-3
Key wins: Western Kentucky, Kentucky, Virginia Tech and Duke.
Losses: Wisconsin, Miami and Florida State.
- Virginia 10-2
Key wins: Notre Dame (2), Clemson and Georgia Tech.
Losses: San Francisco and Gonzaga.
- Tennessee 10-3
Key wins: Colorado, Cincinnati, Missouri and Arkansas.
Loss: Alabama, Florida and Missouri.
- Kansas 10-5
Key wins: Kentucky, Creighton, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Oklahoma and TCU.
Losses: Gonzaga, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Butler and Oklahoma.
- West Virginia 9-4
Key wins: VCU, Western Kentucky, Georgetown, Richmond and Oklahoma State.
Losses: Gonzaga, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
- Ohio State 12-4
Key wins: Notre Dame, UCLA, Rutgers (2), Northwestern, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Losses: Purdue (2), Northwestern and Minnesota
- Oklahoma State 9-4
Key wins: Marquette, Wichita State, Texas Tech and Kansas.
Losses: TCU, Texas, West Virginia and Baylor.
- Texas Tech 11-4
Key wins: Oklahoma and Texas.
Losses: Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Baylor.
- Wisconsin 12-4
Key wins: Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana, Rutgers and Northwestern.
Losses: Marquette, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State.
- Purdue 11-6
Key wins: Liberty, Ohio State (2), Notre Dame, Maryland, Michigan State and Indiana.
Losses: Clemson, Miami-Fla., Iowa, Rutgers, Illinois and Michigan.
- Illinois 10-5
Key wins: Duke, Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern.
Losses: Baylor, Missouri, Rutgers, Maryland and Ohio State.
- Creighton 11-4
Key wins: Connecticut, Xavier, Providence, Seton Hall and Connecticut.
Losses: Kansas, Marquette, Butler and Providence.
- Virginia Tech 11-3
Key wins: Villanova, Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame and Duke.
Losses: Penn State, Louisville and Syracuse.
- Minnesota 11-5
Key wins: Saint Louis, Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan.
Losses: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Maryland.
- Saint Louis 7-1
Key wins: LSU and North Carolina State.
Loss: Minnesota.
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