Baylor, Arizona, Duke and Kansas sit atop Andy Katz's Tiers
By Andy Katz
FOX Sports College Basketball Analyst
We’re on to our fourth No. 1 of the season after Purdue was upset by Rutgers at the buzzer and Baylor throttled and suffocated Villanova’s offense on Sunday.
As a result, it should be no surprise where we have the Bears in our tiers this week.
Let's get to it.
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Andy Katz reveals his college basketball tiers as of Dec. 16 and explains why Baylor is at the top. He also highlights some teams that barely missed the cut, including Villanova, Texas and Wisconsin.
Tier 1: Title teams
Baylor: The Bears blitzed Villanova to remain undefeated. The next challenge comes Saturday at Oregon.
Arizona: Tommy Lloyd has the inside track for national coach of the year as the Wildcats continue to roll. They could go into the last weekend of the year in L.A. undefeated.
Duke: The Blue Devils are into the softer portion of their schedule but haven’t dipped at all.
Kansas: The renewal of the Missouri revival was embarrassing for the Tigers. The Jayhawks beat down Mizzou in Lawrence.
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Andy Katz caught up with Duke Blue Devils forward Wendell Moore Jr. to talk about almost doubling his production from last season, what he thinks of Duke's freshman class and playing for Coach K in his final season.
Tier 2: Final Four contenders
Gonzaga: The Zags had their Washington game canceled. Texas Tech is next on Saturday, and the Zags need to get back to defending well.
Purdue: The Boilermakers did lose at the buzzer to Rutgers but then survived NC State in overtime. Purdue needs to tighten up its defense and start stronger.
USC: The Trojans are quietly undefeated and just as viable as Pac-12 contenders as UCLA and Arizona.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes turned their season around with the comeback win over Duke. EJ Liddell might have the inside track on national player of the year.
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Andy Katz joins Mark Titus and Tate Frazier to discuss what's wrong with the Purdue Boilermakers.
Tier 3: Teams on the rise
Auburn: The Tigers didn’t have coach Bruce Pearl for two games last week. That didn’t matter. They crushed the competition and are looking like SEC title contenders.
Seton Hall: The Pirates have a chip, an edge and a feistiness about them that makes them a real Big East title threat. They beat Texas and Rutgers at home last week.
Iowa State: Tommy Lloyd is No. 1 for coach of the year for me. But TJ Otzelberger is No. 2 right now, after keeping the Cyclones undefeated.
Michigan State: The Spartans are actually one of the surprise teams in the Big Ten. Having Tyson Walker, a transfer from Northeastern, buying in and keeping his turnovers down is a positive development.
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Sandro Mamukelashvili dropped 22 points and racked up seven rebounds as the Seton Hall Pirates defeated the UConn Huskies by a score of 80-73.
Tier 4: Sleepers
LSU: The Tigers are undefeated, and while their schedule hasn’t been as daunting, they are finding ways to win late and will be a tough out.
Colorado State: The Rams have a star in David Roddy and might lose only a handful of games, if that, this season.
Alabama: Yes, the Tide lost to Memphis on Tuesday. But they also knocked off Houston in a wild ending in Tuscaloosa.
Houston: The Cougars were one shot away from winning at Alabama. That’s not enough for me to knock them out just yet.
Up next: Villanova, UConn, Xavier, Texas, Texas Tech, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oklahoma
Andy Katz is a longtime college basketball writer, analyst and host. He can be seen on FOX Sports and Big Ten Network platforms, as well as March Madness and NCAA.com, and he hosts the podcast "March Madness 365." Katz worked at ESPN for nearly two decades and, prior to that, in newspapers for nine years.