College basketball power rankings: Don’t forget about Kansas

Head coach Jerome Tang, Kansas State Wildcats. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)

In a week where most of the top teams took a step backward, the Kansas Jayhawks showcased their mettle to rise in the college basketball power rankings.

It has been 15 years since we had a repeat champion in college basketball. Few teams have been able to retain as much talent as the 2007-08 Florida Gators, who brought back pretty much everyone from their title winner to pursue history, making Kansas’ pursuit of another title a fascinating situation.

The Jayhawks lost a lot of key pieces from last year’s championship team but have more than held their own despite playing a tough non-conference schedule and in the rugged Big 12. In a year where there have been few standouts atop the polls, the idea of a Kansas repeat is becoming more plausible as the Jayhawks demonstrate their mettle.

Kansas’ two-win week will shoot Bill Self’s team up this week’s college basketball power rankings, but how high will they go? Read on to find out, but first we’ll start with a very new look for the Honorable Mentions category.

Week 10 College Basketball Power Rankings – Honorable Mentions

Note: All rankings referenced in this story are from the Week 9 AP Top 25 poll.

Kansas State, Virginia, Iowa State, Rutgers, Arkansas

There was a lot of carnage from last week’s power rankings as four of the teams listed in this space lost and one leapt into the Top 10 to replace Virginia, which dropped out after losing at Pittsburgh earlier in the week. The most impressive newcomer is Kansas State, which is 14-1 under first-year coach Jerome Tang and completed a huge road sweep of Texas and Baylor, putting the Wildcats firmly on the map as an at-large threat.

Iowa State also did good work in the Big 12 this week, sweeping a pair of road games at Oklahoma and TCU to improve to 3-0 in league play. Rutgers also joins the honorable mentions for the first time after knocking Purdue from the ranks of the unbeaten with a road win at Mackey Arena and following it up with a good victory over Maryland.