The college basketball season has already been wild and we haven’t even reached conference play yet. With the newest AP Poll being released earlier this afternoon I wanted to see how my top 25 NCAA teams compare.

1 – Michigan, 7-0, AP Rank: 4 – I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I love this Michigan team led by Juwan Howard. They seem to have figured out and reached the potential that they couldn’t quite find under John Beilein, that’s even with a Final Four appearance two seasons ago. They’re number one on my list because of three signature wins over Iowa State, North Carolina and Gonzaga. No other team in the country has two top-10 wins other than Michigan. For that reason they have to claim the top spot.

2 – Louisville, 7-0, AP Rank: 1 – Louisville is the top-ranked team in the country according to the Associated Press and it’s hard to argue against it. I put Michigan number one because of their resume whereas the AP has Louisville first based off where they stood on the preseason poll and their undefeated record. We won’t have to wait long for my top two teams in the country to square off as they’ll battle in Louisville on Tuesday night. Home court advantage might be the factor and hand the Cardinals a win, but if there’s anything that the Wolverines have proven is that they are light years better than what we originally thought they were going to be. I can’t wait for this game.

3 – Maryland, 8-0, AP Rank: 3 – I’m going to honour the undefeated team for one last spot here before I throw in a one-loss team. Maryland looked okay, not great, in the Orlando Invitational except for the championship game where they balled out in a 84-63 win over Marquette. These Terrapins are deeper and better than last season’s squad and that’s a team that had Bruno Fernando dominating the post. Anthony Cowan Jr. is a college superstar and he is surrounded by a talented cast that can easily make a deep run in March. As long as they remain undefeated I don’t see them falling in my rankings.

4 – Kansas, 6-1, AP Rank: 2 – Kansas is the top one-loss team in the country with their only defeat coming at the hands of Duke on opening night. They only have one signature win but it was against a red-hot Dayton team that looked unstoppable in Maui. As long as I’ve been watching college basketball Kansas has been a top team but I’ve never taken them seriously as a national title contender. This year’s team feels different. Devon Dotson is one of the most talented guards in the country, they have an unstoppable big man in Udoka Azubuike and having Silvio De Sousa back from last year’s suspension will make a huge difference. A postseason ban is likely on its way for Bill Self and his Kansas Jayhawks possibly as soon as next year. So I can see a scenario where they go out and win it all this year before they have to pay the consequences.

5 – Ohio State, 7-0, AP Rank: 6 – This is another example of a team I’m ranking based off their resume and ignoring the preseason poll. Wins against Cincinnati and Villanova are impressive, especially the way they handled Nova in a dominant 76-51 fashion. Luckily for college basketball fans their next matchup will determine whether or not they are a legitimate top-5 team as they head to Chapel Hill and take on North Carolina. They might end up losing that game but fortunately for me this ranking is before that game happens. So a top-5 ranking seems fitting for my liking.

6 – North Carolina, 6-1 (1-0 Conf), AP Rank: 7 – Just like the AP Poll, I’m not going to punish the Tar Heels for losing to Michigan. I’ve said that this North Carolina team isn’t as good as their teams over the past decade but they get still manage to get wins over really good teams (Notre Dame, Alabama, Oregon). Their next two games are against Ohio State and then a conference battle in Virginia. I see this Tar Heels team winning both of those games and getting back into the top-5. Cole Anthony is so good he might single-handedly carry this team to a one-seed in March Madness.

7 – Gonzaga, 8-1, AP Rank: 9 – Surprise, surprise the Zags are really good once again. I have them below North Carolina for two reasons: they had to go to overtime to beat Oregon whereas North Carolina beat the Ducks in regulation and the Zags struggled more against Michigan than North Carolina did. Yet, I have the Zags higher than teams such as Kentucky and Duke because their one loss is much better than losing to Evansville or Stephen F. Austin at home. This team isn’t fully healthy yet as they’re relying on seven players to carry the load so I do see this team getting even better. But for now 7th is as high as I can put them.

8 – Virginia, 7-0 (1-0 Conf), AP Rank: 5 – I don’t have the reigning national champions higher because their offence concerns me. If you compare them to the rest of the ACC their 386 points scored in seven games is the second lowest. Only Georgia Tech’s 353 points scored is lower and they’ve only played five games. But what does put Virginia in the top-ten is their defence. They are allowing an average of 40.3 points per games which is the best in college basketball. They don’t have the signature wins that teams above them do as their best wins have come against Syracuse, Vermont and Arizona State. My worry with this team is that when they do play a powerhouse offensive team, will their offence be able to keep pace? Last year we saw Virginia and Texas Tech play in the national championship with both teams relying on their defence, but at the same time those two teams were able to score at an efficient rate. With this Cavaliers team I don’t see how their offence can match their defensive performance.

9 – Duke, 7-1, AP Rank: 10 – Now we reach the part in rankings where I have to take into account Duke and Kentucky’s elite talent and rank them higher than teams who are undefeated. I’m putting Duke 9th because of their win over Kansas and their extremely skilled team they put on the floor each night. They’ll be without Cassius Stanley until after Christmas so they’ll have to avoid that second loss in the meantime.

10 – Kentucky, 6-1, AP Rank: 8 – If Michigan State didn’t have two losses I’d put the Wildcats higher. That’s their only significant win of the season. But as is the case with Duke, their talent is too strong to keep them out of the top-10, but another loss will do the trick. But we probably won’t see that for a while as their next game against a ranked team will be December 21 against Ohio State.

11 – Arizona, 9-0, AP Rank: 12 – In my opinion Arizona is the best team out of the PAC-12 and could probably beat Oregon. The reason why they aren’t higher despite being 9-0 is because they haven’t played any real competition yet except for Illinois who will be a fringe tournament team. Yet, Sean Miller has his guys rolling early. They just need a few quad-1 wins to boost their resume.

12 – Oregon, 6-2, AP Rank: 13 – Oregon is the best two-loss team in the country right now. Yes I think that today they’re a better team than Michigan State, but down the line who knows. Oregon’s two losses came against Michigan and Gonzaga and the loss to the Zags easily could’ve been a win in their favour. So yes, Arizona is the better team in the PAC-12 but it’s close.

13 – Auburn, 7-0, AP Rank: 14 – Auburn looks like they haven’t missed a beat after their Final Four run last season. They’re undefeated and honestly this team has TOP-5 potential. Their best two wins come against Davidson and Richmond but that’s not saying much. However, they have looked unstoppable in every game that they have played. December will be a breeze for them but until they play some legitimate competition it will be hard to rank them inside the top-10.

14 – Michigan State, 5-2, AP Rank: 11 – The preseason #1 team have not looked like a very good team to start the new season. They do have a gutsy win at Seton Hall which proves to me that this team still has the potential to be the top team in the country. But losses to Kentucky and then Virginia Tech have made it hard to believe in the Spartans. As long as they have Cassius Winston, Xavier Tillman, Rocket Watts, Aaron Henry and Josh Langford this team still needs to be feared. But until they can figure things out I can’t give them the luxury that Kentucky and Duke have in the top-10. Once Josh Langford returns from injury in the new year this team will be scarier than they are already. So maybe we just need to wait until then.

15 – Dayton, 5-1, AP Rank: 19 – Wow Dayton. You are so fun to watch. Obi Toppin looks incredible and this Dayton team looks just like their fanbase at every game: really, really hype. They pushed Kansas to the their limits and with Toppin on their roster they will make any team in March uncomfortable. The thing about Dayton that is an underrated factor is their traveling fans. Come March, if they have to make the trip down south, out west, where ever, their fans will follow them and give them that “home-court advantage”.

16 – Memphis, 6-1, AP Rank: 15 – Memphis grabbed a huge win over N.C. State without James Wiseman and Lestor Quinones. This is a very good, young basketball team that will be a top-10 team when Wiseman’s suspension is over. For now, they just have to keep winning games and stick around in the top-25 until they can get their best player back out on the floor.

17 – Seton Hall, 6-2, AP Rank: 16 – Without a doubt Seton Hall is the best team in the Big East. They’re two losses have come against Michigan State and Oregon and both of those games were close. But man, if one of those games could’ve swung in the Pirates favour then this could be a top-10 team. Myles Powell is a college superstar but if he’s off, even just a little, then this team will lose games to top teams. They are the type of team that can beat just good teams pretty easily, but unless everything goes perfect they can’t take down elite teams.

18 – Florida State, 7-1 (0-1 Conf), AP Rank: 17 – Florida State should probably be higher on this list but there’s something about this team that doesn’t have me sold on their potential yet. Yes, I acknowledge that I’m saying this despite wins over Florida, Tennessee and Purdue. I guess that season opening loss to Pitt has left a sour taste in my mouth, the win over Florida was when the Gators weren’t comfortable as a team yet, and the two wins over Tennessee and Purdue were super close. It’s weird to say I need to see more from this Seminoles team but I do.

19 – Baylor, 5-1, AP Rank: 18 – Baylor, Baylor, Baylor are you good or are you just okay? I can’t tell. You lose to Washington but you beat Villanova, the rest of you games have not meant much to me. Jared Butler is very good but is this Bears team one I would fear heading into March? Luckily for me they’ll play Arizona on December 7 and I can finally get a sense if Baylor is for real or not.

20 – Tennessee, 6-1, AP Rank: 21 – Given the amount of superstar talent this team lost in the offseason I did not expect the Vols to crack the top-25 this early in the season. But they have played super well with their only loss coming to Florida State. They manhandled Washington and took down a very tough VCU team at the buzzer. Lamonte Turner is proving to be one of the best point guards in college basketball and I truly think that this team will sink or swim based on his health and performance going forward.

21 – Washington, 5-1, AP Rank: 22 – This team should crack the top-20 for me but their loss to the Vols have prevented that. On paper this is one of the scariest teams in college basketball but they’re still trying to figure out how to distribute the ball evenly when you have so many high-skill players on the floor. The Huskies will make a run for that PAC-12 title and I think if they fulfill their potential they will be better than Oregon and Arizona. Just right now they haven’t showed it.

22 – Florida, 6-2, AP Rank: Unranked – They were ranked in last week’s AP Poll and one week later they’re unranked despite a win. I know they had a rough start to the season but they were the #6 team in the preseason poll with one of the best recruiting classes and a grad-transfer in Kerry Blackshear Jr. This team is playing the right way now and they proved it with a win over Xavier. They still have lots of work to do if they want to climb these rankings but they’re on the right track and they’ll have plenty of opportunities.

23 – Colorado, 6-0, AP Rank: 20 – I will admit I haven’t watched a ton of Colorado so far this season but from what I’ve been reading they are very good. They haven’t played in a close game yet, handling each of their opponents pretty easily. They’ve got Kansas on December 2. So I guess I’ll finally get a chance to see what this team is all about then.

24 – Utah State, 7-1, AP Rank: 25 – Oh Utah State I only have you on here because of your preseason ranking. Their only loss came on the road at St. Mary’s so I can’t fault them for that, even Gonzaga has trouble at St. Mary’s each season. I’ll keep them in my ranking for now but I’m not convinced that they’re even the best team in the Mountain West! San Diego State might be the better team. The Aggies will only have a couple of chances to improve upon their ranking this month when they play BYU and travel to Gainesville to take on Florida. They might end up falling out of the rankings in the meantime.

25 – Xavier, 7-1, AP Rank: Unranked – I’m going to give Xavier some love here because I think that they are a really good basketball team. As of today I’d say they’re the second best team in the Big East and yes that means they’re better than Villanova.

Honourable Mentions: 26 – Villanova, 27 – San Diego St., 28 – Butler, 29 – Texas Tech, 30 – Oklahoma State