Purdue, Baylor, Duke, Kansas sit atop Andy Katz's Tiers

By Andy Katz
FOX Sports College Basketball Analyst

Gonzaga's 91-82 loss to Alabama last weekend brought about a slight shakeup at the top of this week's tiers, and we also saw some changes down the ranks.

Remember, the first group is the title favorites, and then we work our way down in groups of four.

Let's get to it.

Tier 1: Title favorites

Purdue: The Boilermakers ascended to No. 1 for the first time in school history and promptly held off a gritty Iowa team.

Baylor: The Bears are undefeated and heading toward a showdown with Villanova this weekend. That matchup was one of the toughest for Baylor during its title run last season.

Duke: The Blue Devils enter the soft portion of the schedule and should coast into the ACC as a one-loss team.

Kansas: The Jayhawks went to Long Island last week and handled St. John’s in a hostile environment. Ochai Agbaji is a legit all-American candidate. 

Tier 2: Final weekend contenders

Alabama: The Tide pulled off one of the best wins of the season, riding Jaden Shackelford’s 28 points to a win over Gonzaga in Seattle.

Gonzaga: The Zags need to get back to defending the way they did against UCLA. They have plenty of time to rectify their miscues, but losing to the Tide won’t be a huge negative. 

UCLA: The Bruins have the blemish against the Zags and aren’t fully healthy yet. They have a big-time challenge coming up Saturday at Marquette. 

Arizona: The Wildcats are rolling into a matchup at Illinois on Saturday. The undefeated Cats took apart formerly undefeated Wyoming on Wednesday. This team is a good watch. 

Tier 3: Elite Eight potential

Villanova: The Wildcats came back to beat Syracuse and run away from the Orange. The Wildcats will get yet another top-five matchup this season when they play at Baylor. 

USC: The Trojans are quietly cruising in the Pac-12. This team will have as much of a chance to challenge for the Pac-12 as Arizona and UCLA.

Kentucky: The Wildcats are finished with the light part of their schedule, with big games coming up against Notre Dame, Ohio State in Las Vegas and Louisville. 

Arkansas: The Hogs have one of the toughest perimeters in the country. Eric Musselman has Arkansas looking like an entertaining team every night. Oh, and the Hogs keep winning.

Tier 4: Second-weekend teams

Ohio State: The Buckeyes beat No. 1 Duke and then won at Penn State to ensure it wasn’t a fluke. Once the Buckeyes get healthy, they can challenge for a top-three Big Ten finish. 

Wisconsin: Johnny Davis is playing like a first-team All-American, and the Badgers have something special brewing. The 22-point comeback against Indiana on Wednesday will have shelf life for this team.

Houston: The Cougars have the one loss to Wisconsin in the relocated Maui Invitational in Las Vegas. Marcus Sasser has been the best player in the American thus far. 

Iowa State: The Cyclones edged Texas and Auburn in my choice for the final spot this week. TJ Otzelberger is the coach of the year in the Big 12 so far. The undefeated Cyclones will get yet another test against in-state rival Iowa.

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.