College basketball Power Rankings, Feb. 2: Gonzaga, Virginia, Baylor all rise

February is here. The Super Bowl is in three days. College basketball, for some, begins in four days. And that’s really too bad.

For the sane and rational among us, for those with good taste, of course, it’s been going on for a while, and a lot has happened over the season’s first three months. But we’ll keep this week’s Power Rankings intro, the last under the cloud of the NFL, brief.

Next week’s open will preview the in-season bracket reveal, which is just nine days away. For now, let’s get right to the rankings, which feature a lot of movement in both directions.

If you’re new in these parts, an explanation of the criteria, or lack thereof, can be found here. And if you’re in an argumentative mood, complaints can be directed to @HenryBushnell on Twitter. For the rest of you … enjoy.

1. Kansas | 20-2 | KenPom: 7 | Last week: 1

We’ll break ground on this week’s rankings with a simply astounding stat: Scott Drew has now lost 10 games at Allen Fieldhouse. Bill Self has lost nine.

Also astounding, even if it can’t fully be grasped through statistics, has been the play of Josh Jackson recently. Jackson is one of the very best players in college basketball at the moment, no qualifiers necessary. Not only has his three-point shooting improved (10-of-18 over the past four games). Not only is his athleticism awe-inspiring. His feel for the game makes him a 2-3 zone-killer from the free throw line:

Jackson is a comprehensive next-level talent, and a college star who makes Kansas the best team in the country. The Jayhawks couldn’t have done without his 23 points and 10 rebounds in their win over Baylor.

2. Villanova | 21-2 | KenPom: 6 | Last week: 2

Villanova has now beaten a Top 25 team in a 71-possession game and in a 55-possession game. The Wildcats are far from perfect, but they’re equipped to hang with any team in the country, in any type of game.

3. Gonzaga | 22-0 | KenPom: 1 | Last week: 4

Sports Illustrated’s Luke Winn highlighted some interesting stats on the structure of Gonzaga’s offense. The Bulldogs use post-ups at a higher rate than all but one team in Division I college basketball and lead the nation in efficiency on such plays. So do those numbers say anything about the sustainability of the Zags’ seventh-ranked offense?

On one hand, they answer that question in a slightly ominous tone. Gonzaga can bully overmatched West Coast Conference foes inside all they want, you might think, but they won’t be able to have similar success against the North Carolinas and Baylors of the college basketball world. To some extent, that’s a fair assessment. But there are plenty of ways to refute it. First of all, WCC teams aren’t as small as you think — seven of the 10 rank in the top 100 nationally in KenPom’s effective height. Secondly, Gonzaga’s main post weapon, 7-foot-1 behemoth Przemek Karnowski, scored a game-high 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting against a long Arizona front line, and power forward Johnathan Williams shot 8 for 9 from the field over and around a decently sized Florida frontcourt.

More importantly, Gonzaga’s offense has both east-west and north-south balance. Mark Few more or less plays two bigs and two point guards at almost all times. That lineup construction opens up several entryways to the post, and makes it difficult for opposing defenses to consistently keep the ball off the block. The way the Bulldogs vary their points of attack is a big reason the offense has been so successful.

4. Virginia | 17-4 | KenPom: 2 | Last week: 8

Sunday’s showdown with Villanova had the feel of an Elite Eight game, if not a Final Four game. Virginia has the feel of an ACC favorite. The Cavaliers have held their last four conference opponents to 54, 49, 54 and 48 points. Tony Bennett must break out into tears of joy every time he sees those numbers.

5. Baylor | 20-2 | KenPom: 8 | Last week: 9

Coaches hate moral victories. Power Rankings adore them. Baylor showed more in a loss to Kansas than it had in any other game over the past month. It has its share of offensive imperfections; every once in a while, it’s okay to ignore those to celebrate what is very much an elite defense.

6. Arizona | 20-2 | KenPom: 14 | Last week: 6

Last week we discussed the flakiness of the one-game sample that we have for Allonzo Trier-led Arizona in 2017. This week … well, we don’t have much more than a one-game sample. Home games against Washington State and Washington barely count. Taking all the sample size-related reservations into account, though, one number stands out from Trier’s first three games as a sophomore: His assist rate is 32.5. The number on its own isn’t significant, but it’s worth noting that Trier’s assist rate a season ago was just 7.6. His turnover rate through three games (5.8) is also a big improvement on his freshman year rate (16.9). Just something to watch as Trier’s role, and his game, evolve.

7. North Carolina | 20-4 | KenPom: 11 | Last week: 3

Things Roy Williams has thrown this season, ranked:

1. That dadgum chair, Saturday at Miami
2. His dadgum jacket, in December against Kentucky
3. Some dadgum shade, after a December game at Indiana

Roy Williams is throwing things because his team is too dadgum inconsistent. A loss at Miami was understandable. It happens. But escaping with a two-point win over Pittsburgh at home? A tad worrying.

8. Kentucky | 17-3 | KenPom: 5 | Last week: 5

Malik Monk has many outstanding attributes. One of a few that make him special is his ability to separate from defenders coming off both on-ball and off-ball screens and still rise into his shot unaffected by the speed of his movement. Watch him on the final play of regulation against Georgia. He bursts to the corner to give himself room to catch and shoot, but his stop-start quickness allows him to set his feet, halt his momentum carrying him away from the basket, and get vertical:

It’s this same attribute that allows him make contested three-pointers off the dribble. Monk hasn’t completely shed the “streaky” label, but he’s an exceptional talent.

9. West Virginia | 18-4 | KenPom: 3 | Last week: 10

Talk of West Virginia often centers on its defense, because its defense is its identity. We’ve been as guilty of the fixation as anyone. But the Mountaineers are a top-10 team because of their offense, which is head and shoulders above that of any previous Huggins team. The philosophy isn’t unique, nor is it distinct from the West Virginia teams of the recent past, but Jevon Carter, Tarik Phillip, Daxter Miles and Esa Ahmad have all elevated their offensive ratings more than 10 points by elevating their effective field goal percentages by more than five points. The Mountaineers have always been strong on the offensive glass, which provides a strong baseline; but it’s the shooting that has improved, and that has West Virginia at No. 3 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings.

10. Louisville | 18-4 | KenPom: 4 | Last week: 12

Quentin Snider remains sidelined for “the foreseeable future,” but Louisville has gone 3-1 in his absence with a net average scoring margin of plus-26.75. The Cardinals’ dominance has been every bit as thorough as it’s been surprising given Snider’s importance, and it’s been enough to conclude that if and when the junior point guard returns to full health, Louisville is a borderline top-five team.

11. UCLA | 20-3 | KenPom: 19 | Last week: 11

A quiet week in Westwood. Not a quiet week in the living room of the Ball household. Lonzo’s father LaVar gave TMZ an early candidate for sports interview of the year in the 90 seconds and under category.

12. Oregon | 19-3 | KenPom: 20 | Last week: 13

[Whispers behind hand] “Can we get by without mentioning the Colorado loss? The one to a team that was 1-7 in the Pac-12? Maybe? OK, let’s go for it … ”

Oregon star Dillon Brooks is —

[Whispers again] “Wait … what about the flop? Can we sneak by without mention of that? No?”

OK, fine. That flop. My goodness. It was so egregious that it didn’t even induce anger; only laughter. And it’s a shame, because it’s the second non-performance-related Brooks headline that has distracted the casual fan from the fact that he has been wonderful in conference play despite dealing with injuries. His usage rates have spiked as a junior, and after a slow start to the season, his efficiency is right back up to where it was last year even with the increased responsibility. Most impressive has been his passing, which has jumped from good to great in his third year in Eugene. He’s Oregon’s top playmaker with a 30.2 assist rate, up 10.8 points from last season. The Ducks don’t have the caliber of offensive player around Brooks that past Altman teams have had, but they improved on the offensive end in January, and there’s plenty to suggest that trend will continue through February into March.

13. Wisconsin | 19-3 | KenPom: 9 | Last week: 16

Wisconsin scored 45 points in regulation Saturday at Madison Square Garden; it shot 15-for-49 from the field and 3-for-23 from three-point range; and it won a basketball game. How? Three words: Ethan Happ. Rutgers.

14. Florida State | 19-4 | KenPom: 17 | Last week: 7

So maybe Florida State isn’t the Final Four contender we thought it might be. Fine. I’m ready to admit that. But Wednesday’s win over Miami — in a game in which the Seminoles were underdogs, and one they trailed at halftime — was massive. The second 20 minutes were 20 of the most important minutes of their season.

15. Duke | 17-5 | KenPom: 13 | Last week: 20

Duke’s problems were discussed ad nauseam last week, and with good reason. Those problems were very real, and to some extent still are. But the scope of the problems was a bit overblown. Much of the discussion was in reaction to the NC State loss. Duke made just eight of its 28 three-pointers in that game. Here are freeze frames of 11 of the misses:

The Blue Devils won’t miss so many wide open looks again all year. Whether they have or haven’t turned a corner, last week’s craze was overdramatized because of shooting randomness and Coach K’s locker room ban. If one of those 11 shots had gone in, we’d be talking about a four-game win streak and possibly a top-10 team.

16. Cincinnati | 20-2 | KenPom: 18 | Last week: 17

Three wins for Cincinnati since we last spoke, and one, uh, interesting Mick Cronin fashion choice:

17. Notre Dame | 17-6 | KenPom: 26 | Last week: 14

How are the Irish handling three losses in a row? Let’s go to Mike Brey: “This is the most unpanicked program in the history of college basketball,” he said last weekend, and he surely felt the same way after Monday’s loss to Duke. Even if the losing streak is strung out to four games this Saturday at North Carolina, Notre Dame will be fine.

18. Butler | 18-5 | KenPom: 25 | Last week: 15

Just like Notre Dame, Butler is on a losing streak, and just like Notre Dame, Butler knows better than to panic. In both of the Bulldogs’ losses, to Georgetown and Creighton, their opponents shot 50 percent or better from three. Their opponents shoot 33 percent from deep on the season. No need to freak out.

19. South Carolina | 18-4 | KenPom: 22 | Last week: 19

The Gamecocks are playing offense! Whoa! Their 98 points against Auburn last week were the highest single-game output of the Frank Martin era, and two of the three highest totals have come over the past nine days. South Carolina is on the rise, and still hasn’t lost at full strength.

20. Florida | 16-5 | KenPom: 10 | Last week: NR

Saturday. Gainesville. 8:15 ET. Kentucky. ESPN. Enough said.

Five more to keep an eye (or two) on: Purdue, Maryland, SMU, Oklahoma State, Creighton

Best of the mids: St. Mary’s, Illinois State, Wichita State, VCU, Middle Tennessee State

Previous rankings: Jan. 5 | Jan. 12 | Jan. 19 | Jan. 26