College basketball’s 8 best teams so far, ranked

There are 10 days left in 2018, and an upper echelon of teams in college basketball has started to emerge. While I’m partial to the “polls don’t really matter this early” mantra that inevitably fills the Twitter mentions when one talks about polls at this juncture of the season, there are eight teams—Michigan, North Carolina, Duke, Tennessee, Gonzaga, Nevada, Virginia, and Kansas—that have started to pull away from the rest of the pack.

With 2019 on the horizon, it’s time to look at where those teams stand as of now. Also, ranking things is fun.

All eight of these teams could reasonably have an argument to be ranked anywhere from 1-to-8. This isn’t to say that other teams won’t join the fray at a later point this season or that these might not fade or struggle, but at this point, these teams are practically interchangeable.

Without further ado, the Power8:

It’s been a crazy six weeks for the Zags. Their upset win over Duke propelled them into the No. 1 spot in the polls, but that only lasted two weeks as Gonzaga fell in a hotly contested game against Tennessee (more on them later) and got drubbed by North Carolina (more on them later) in the Dean Dome.

Gonzaga’s best basketball may actually still be in front of them as they are without forward Killian Tillie. He is reportedly on track to return from an ankle injury that required surgery in late December or early January, and coach Mark Few could seriously use the depth. The Zags have the nation’s most efficient offense per KenPom, led by underrated stars like Rui Hachimura, Zach Norvell, Brandon Clarke, and Josh Perkins.

The Zags won’t play another KenPom top 40 team the rest of the regular season, so it’s entirely possible they enter postseason on a 20 game win streak and a 29-2 record.

Speaking of win streaks and good records...the Wolf Pack! Nevada is one of eight remaining undefeated teams, and KenPom gives them a 10 percent chance of completing the regular season without a loss. This team starts five seniors, led by the Martin twins (Caleb and Cody) and one of my favorite players in the country in Jordan Caroline. They average just shy of 84 points per game and don’t turn the ball over (3rd in the country in turnover percentage).

This is a very good team.

The problem? Wolf Pack ain’t played nobody. Arizona State, the 49th ranked team in KenPom is the best team they’re slated to play this season, and the only inside the top-50. The Mountain West Conference is nothing to write home about this year, and some less-than-convincing non-conference performances have some questioning Nevada’s ability despite its 11-0 record.

One week ago, this would have been a Power7 rankings. Then, North Carolina got their act together and played like we all knew they could as they manhandled Gonzaga, 103-90. The Tar Heels have a four point loss to Texas and an ass-kicking by Michigan on their resume, but finally played some inspired ball against the Bulldogs.

Luke Maye is the only player in the ACC averaging a double-double (14.3 points, 10 rebounds) and Cameron Johnson is connecting on 49 percent of his three point attempts (26-for-53), but the real story of the early season for UNC is freshman Coby White. White is averaging over 15 points per game and shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc. More than that, though, is his just general ability to make plays.

Offensively, the Tar Heels have the 3rd shortest possession time (13.5 seconds) and like to run and gun (duh). Defensively...well they could use some work. They’re first in the ACC with points scored per game (94.3) and dead last in points given up per game (75.3 ).

This year’s Michigan team has been utterly dominant on both sides of the ball. They’ve slipped a little with games against Northwestern, South Carolina, and Western Michigan that were much closer than they should have been, but this is still a squad that beat Villanova, North Carolina, and Purdue by an average of 21 points.

Mo Wagner, Muhammad-Ali Abdul-Rahkman, and Duncan Robinson are gone from the team that made it all the way to the national championship game last season, but John Beilein somehow has an even scarier team this year. Freshman Ignas “Iggy” Brazdeikis has been a revelation and returnees Jordan Poole, Zavier Simpson, and Charles Matthews are all performing at a high level.

The offense (ranked No. 22 in KenPom) has had its issues at times, but this could be Beilein’s best defense yet—and that’s a scary thought.

A lot of people are hesitant to trust the Cavaliers after last season’s inauspicious ending or their “boring” reputation. That’s fine, but you’re going to miss out on a fun squad this year if you’re not watching.

Virginia returns Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy as one of the best backcourts in the nation, plus potential lottery pick De’Andre Hunter. All three of them are shooting 42 percent or higher from three so far this season, and UVA has the No. 10 offense in the nation to go with their stifling Pack Line defense. Post play continues to be Virginia’s biggest limitation on offense, but the Jerome-Guy-Hunter troika has shown more aggressiveness this season.

Added to the mix is Alabama transfer Braxton Key and first year point guard Kihei Clark, the latter of which has surprisingly worked his way into the starting lineup with his gritty defense and security handling the ball. Clark had surgery for a fracture in his left (off-hand) wrist, but somehow missed no games.

Although their non-conference wasn’t as rigorous as years past, the Hoos have true road wins over Maryland and South Carolina, plus a neutral site win over Wisconsin. That will toughen up as the Cavaliers face Duke twice this season in conference, along with the normal ACC rigors.

Kansas is the weirdest team this season. They’re undefeated and have played an incredibly strong non-conference schedule, but there’s just something that seems off. Bill Self’s squad has been without some key pieces as Udoka Azubuike is out with an ankle injury and fellow big man Silvio De Sousa is currently being held out due to eligibility questions.

The Jayhawks have played a very difficult schedule and have high-profile wins over Michigan State and Tennessee (in OT). They’ve also struggled immensely with Stanford (went to OT), New Mexico State (won by three after trailing late), and Villanova (coming off a loss to Penn).

Right now, Kansas feels like a two-man team with Dedric Lawson and Lagerald Vick. Lawson has been consistent across the board, while Vick—who wasn’t even expected to be on the team this year—seems to always come up with the big shot as he’s connecting on 54 percent (!!!) of his attempts from downtown.

There may not be a team playing better than the Vols are right now in the middle of a five-game win streak. Admiral Schofield has one of the best names in college basketball and has been on fire the last five games, averaging 23 points per game (including 30 in the win over Gonzaga). The kicker? He’s not even the best player on his own team. That’s Grant Williams, another linebacker-sized dude with finesse and averaging a team-high 19.4 points per game.

The Vols are tough and physical on defense, and they’ll bruise their way into the paint for an easy shot (they’re the second least blocked team in the nation), or kick out to one of their many three point capable shooters.

Auburn, Mississippi State, and Kentucky will vie for the SEC, but it’s Tennessee’s to lose this year.

Duke has hands down been the most dominant team in college basketball this season. From the season-opening beat down of (a, granted, very overrated) Kentucky to top-15 wins over Auburn and Texas Tech, the Blue Devils have rolled with little-to-no resistance. Their lone loss came at the hands of Gonzaga at the Maui Invitational, and even that was decided by two points.

The key to beating Duke is to not turn it over, but that’s proving to be nearly impossible as Coach K’s squad is leading the nation in steal percentage at 15.1 percent. In raw numbers, they average 11.5 steals per game, and opponents turn the ball over 17.5 times per game, leading to 23 points per game for the Blue Devils. That’s...a lot.

On top of their incredibly efficient offense that features a near unstoppable Zion Williamson and an absolutely unflappable Tre Jones, their defense is currently rated No. 3 in the country. If you do manage to not turn it over, good luck not getting your shot blocked by a team that is second best in the nation in block percentage.