The Mountain West Conference moved into the top five, while the SEC got closer to the Big East in ESPN Stats and Info’s weekly college basketball rankings.
For a complete recap of how we rank the conferences, click here and here.
The MWC has continued to rise in the rankings this season and is now nearly three full percentage points ahead of the ACC. The conference is getting more respect from the computer polls than the ACC and got a season-high 10.6 percent human bonus this week.
There are just two Mountain West teams in the Top 25, but the San Diego State Aztecs and UNLV Rebels are both ranked in the top 15 in the nation. The Aztecs are ranked 12th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll this week, the highest they’ve been all season.
While the Mountain West moved into the top five this week, the SEC moved closer to the Big East, cutting the gap in half from eight percentage points to four. The conference has three teams ranked in the Top 25, but the Kentucky Wildcats moved into the top spot in both polls this week, slightly helping its human bonus.
The SEC saw a three point jump in the computer rankings this week and was helped by two out-of-conference wins on Saturday over Big Six conference teams. The Arkansas Razorbacks beat the Michigan Wolverines 66-64 while the Tennessee Volunteers took care of the Connecticut Huskies, giving the SEC big wins over the Big Ten and Big East.
The Murray State Racers are ranked ninth in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 11th in the AP poll, but the Ohio Valley Conference remained in the number 22 spot in the power rankings this week.
No conference moved up or down more than one spot in this week’s rankings.