VILLANOVA, Kentucky and Duke all spent time atop the college basketball rankings this year, but last week we saw a new number one. The Wildcats were dethroned by the mighty Baylor Bears, who celebrated their first #1 ranking in school history by losing by 20+ the next night to West Virginia. If I can be certain about one thing at the moment it’s the uncertainty surrounding the best college team this year.

POOR Baylor had the resume that justified them being ranked number one, especially after Villanova’s loss to Butler earlier this week. #10 ranked West Virginia had other ideas though leading from start to end forcing 29 Bears turnovers. Baylor may be able to hold their #1 rank, but it seems like it’s back up for grabs. With Villanova’s only loss this season coming at the hands of a pretty good team they could climb back into that spot, or we could see someone new.

KANSAS are currently sitting 3rd in the polls thanks to a game winning shot that shouldn’t have counted and other teams inconsistencies. The UCLA Bruins are gathering steam as well after winning their first 13 games and usual staples like Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke are snapping at the heels of their competitors, building winning streaks and finding form. And I haven’t even talked about the last undefeated team remaining Gonzaga, who partially have their favourable conference schedule to thank for their 15-0 record.

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SO who is number one? There are a lot of schools vying for the spot and all have certain strengths and weaknesses. UCLA are the excitement machine of the competition led by Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf and I was tempted to pick them, but you can’t go against the Villanova Wildcats right now. Even though they stumbled at Hinkle Fieldhouse to Butler they actually look better than last year when they won the national championship. Jay Wright’s squad hasn’t done anything to prove that we should doubt them too much and I wouldn’t be surprised if they held a #1 seed come tournament time. By no means is it a forgone conclusion though and the next month of games will really shape the landscape of the college basketball season.

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