Over the last three seasons, they are 76-17. They are one of only seven teams undefeated in conference play and have won at least one NCAA Tournament game the previous two years.
It’s not Syracuse, Duke or Kentucky. Not Arizona or Kansas. Having trouble figuring this out? Don’t feel bad. It’s Saint Louis, the best team in college basketball nobody talks about.
The Billikens have won 16 games in a row since a Dec. 1 loss to undefeated Wichita State, they’re undefeated in the deep Atlantic 10 and look like a No. 3 seed — at least — in the NCAA Tournament.
(Last week’s rankings in parentheses)
1. Syracuse (1):Â Now the real challenges begin, the first of three extremely difficult road games for the undefeated Orange in the coming weeks. It starts Wednesday at Pittsburgh, which nearly upset Syracuse on Jan. 18 at the Carrier Dome.
2. Florida (2): The day the entire SEC has been waiting for  is finally upon us: Florida travels to Lexington to face Kentucky on Feb. 15. The Gators, winners of 15 straight games, can go a long way toward sewing up the league crown with a victory over the supremely talented Wildcats, who have won three straight themselves.
3. Arizona (3): The Wildcats looked more like the team we’ve come to know Sunday night, when they blew out Oregon State in their first impressive performance since losing forward Brandon Ashley for the season with a broken foot. Freshmen forwards Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the way. The two will need to perform that way for Arizona to reach its lofty goals.
4. San Diego State (4): There’s something special going on with the Aztecs, who have tied a school record with 20 straight victories. That streak nearly ended last Wednesday at Boise State, when San Diego State rallied from a 14-point deficit and pulled out the dramatic win on a 3-pointer from Dwayne Polee II — remember him, St. John’s fans? — with 4 seconds left.
5. Wichita State (5): The notion Wichita State isn’t deserving of a No. 1 seed if it runs the table is laughable. They’ve played 25 games and won all of them. They’ve beaten one of the top programs in the country in Saint Louis and the Missouri Valley Conference is a very quality mid-major conference. This is, after all, the same team that reached the Final Four a year ago.
6. Villanova (7): Is there a more underrated player in the nation than James Bell? The senior wing, the five-time reigning Big Five Player of the Week, is leading Villanova in scoring at 16 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field, yet you never hear his name mentioned among the best players in the country, let alone the Big East. The Wildcats wouldn’t be atop the conference without the four-year contributor, who has made a gargantuan leap from last season, nearly doubling his scoring output.
7. Kansas (8): Barring a Kansas collapse, the Jayhawks will win their 10th straight Big 12 regular season title, an impressive run of dominance in one of the nation’s top conferences. This season’s might be the Jayhawks’ most impressive crown — the league is loaded from top to the bottom and coach Bill Self has one of his youngest teams ever.
8. Saint Louis (11): The Billikens’ strength is their balance; any of five different players who average between 14.5 and 8.8 points per game can take over a game on any given night. That doesn’t mean Saint Louis doesn’t have an absolute star in senior senior Jordair Jett. He certainly looked the part in last Saturday’s win at LaSalle, going for 25 points and the game-winning basket to lead coach Jim Crews’ team to its 16th straight victory.
9. Cincinnati (6): Losing at SMU is no reason to be alarmed — the Mustangs haven’t lost at home this season — but Cincinnati has issues on offense. The Bearcats desperately need a third option to emerge behind Sean Kilpatrick and Justin Jackson if they want to play deep into March.
10. Duke (14):Â The Blue Devils are back, and more importantly so is Jabari Parker. Duke shook off the overtime loss to Syracuse with routs of Wake Forest and Boston College, and the sensational freshman scored a career-high 29 points against BC. Winning the ACC regular-season crown is a long shot, but the Blue Devils are trending in the right direction as March approaches.
11. Louisville (12):Â Either the Cardinals are going to pick up a few signature victories down the stretch of they are going to finish in the middle of the AAC, which has become a rugged league in its first year of existence. Louisville still has to play Memphis, SMU, UConn and Cincinnati once apiece down the stretch.
12. Michigan State (10): That the Spartans are still tied atop the Big Ten despite the rash of injuries that has besieged their roster speaks volumes to their talent and the job Tom Izzo has done. Michigan State is still without forward Brandon Dawson (broken right hand) after just getting back forward Adreian Payne (plantar fasciitis). On Sunday, point guard Keith Appling (wrist) was out of the lineup for the second straight game at Wisconsin, and Izzo’s kids nearly stole the game before losing by two.
13. Virginia (15): It might seem like this season has come out of nowhere, the Cavaliers sprinting towards the top of the ACC after years of futility. But we saw signs last year, when Virginia reached the NIT quarterfinals and the year before, when it made the NCAA Tournament. Of course, that’s nothing compared to this winter, which has yielded a 19-5 record, a shot at an ACC crown and a high seed in the tournament.
14. Michigan (9): The formula to beating Michigan is out: Stop Nik Stauskas, stop the Wolverines. Indiana and Iowa were able to to limit the sophomore sharpshooter in knocking off Michigan. Obviously, that’s easier said than done, but Stauskas’ teammates, notably Glenn Robinson III, can undermine that game plan by producing and making the opposition pay for over-committing to Stauskas.
15. Creighton (13): St. John’s played exceptional defense on Doug McDermott down the stretch of Sunday’s victory, doing everything it could to keep the ball out of the All-American’s hands. But McDermott cannot go the final 8:41 without taking a shot. Either he has to work harder to get open or his teammates have to do a better job finding him. The best player in college basketball up to this point can’t go shot-less in a close game, which he readily admitted after the setback at the Garden.
16. Iowa (16)Â
17. Iowa State (18)
18. Kentucky (19)
19. Memphis (22)
20. VCU (24)
21. SMU (NR)
22. Wisconsin (NR)
23. George Washington (NR)
24. Ohio State (NR)
25. Pittsburgh (23)
Dropped Out: Texas, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Gonzaga
Stock Watch — Up
Larry Brown
Apparently, Larry Brown is pretty good at this coaching thing. In just his second year in Dallas, the Hall of Famer has SMU headed to the NCAA Tournament. If the Mustangs reach the field of 68, it would be their first berth in 21 years. And SMU isn’t just thriving on the court; Brown has signed top-ranked point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, and this year’s four-man class of freshman has been impressive.
St. John’s
The NCAA Tournament’s East Regional will be played at Madison Square Garden, but that might not be the only reason March will be an exciting month around here. St. John’s has hit its stride after an underwhelming start to the Big East campaign, winning six of seven and knocking off Creighton on Sunday for its first victory over a ranked opponent. Steve Lavin has this team peaking at the right time — just as he predicted — and if it finishes strong over its last seven games, the Johnnies could be headed to the tournament for the first time in four years.
Stock Watch — Down
Marcus Smart
And, to think, there are those out there who criticize kids for leaving school early. Smart may have cost himself a lot of money by returning to school. But I’m not referring to Saturday’s incident at Texas Tech in which he shoved a fan. NBA teams want players, not model citizens. Smart has hurt his draft stock with his play, his suddenly shaky jump shot and Oklahoma State’s mammoth struggles. The Cowboys likely will be fine and get into the tournament, and who knows what happens from that point on. But the chiseled point guard was a certain top-10 pick after his freshman year. Now, the he may not even be in the lottery.
Oregon
It seems like years ago Oregon got off to that 13-0 start. Since then, they have won two games — two! — over USC and Washington State while losing eight. Right now, the Ducks are on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble, and are showing no signs of having a run in them. Here we were thinking they would only get better once Dominic Artis and Ben Carter rejoined the team Dec. 17 following a suspension. Instead, coach Dana Altman’s team has gotten progressively worse.