The 2021-2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball schedule has been rolling along as we enter the second week of December. Over the past few weeks the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rankings have routinely shuffled with teams finding ways to crack the Top 10 while other teams fell after losing critical contests. 

With the talent level of the NCAA men’s basketball programs across the country as well as the loaded NCAA Men’s Basketball schedule featuring top 25 matchups to start the season, no one team has dominated.

From back to back loses, Gonzaga stumbled from the top team in college basketball while both the Purdue Boilermakers and Baylor Bears continued to pick up wins to remain unbeaten. 

Meanwhile other surprise teams such as Houston, Alabama and Iowa State have slowly emerged as talented teams to make their case for the Top 10 NCAA College Basketball teams as we sit early in December 2021.

With that said, here is our list of the Top 10 NCAA Men’s Basketball Teams:

 

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Honorable Mention

Kentucky Wildcats

After a disappointing 79-71 loss to the Duke Blue Devils to start the season, the Wildcats have been red hot winning seven straight contests to push their season record to 7-1 on the year. Despite their success, the team failed to reach the Top 10 due to the lack of head to head meetings with other top ranked programs. 

Up next for Kentucky includes key matchups against Notre Dame, a Top 25 program, Ohio State, Louisville and Missouri to round out the year.

Kansas Jayhawks

The Kansas Jayhawks are currently sitting just outside of the Top 10 after failing to pick up any wins against teams ranked inside the Top 25. However, the Jayhawks are still a very talented team that has the talent to compete inside the Big 12 during the remainder of the 2021-22 season. 

The Jayhawks have one key win over Michigan State to start the season while their only loss came in a 74-73 thriller to Dayton. Up next for Kansas includes matchups against Missouri, Stephen F. Austin, Colorado and Harvard to round out their games in 2021.

Top 10 College Rankings

10. Texas Longhorns

After a key loss in the team’s second contest of the season against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Texas Longhorns have rebounded winning five straight games while moving their overall record to 6-1 to start the season. While the team lands at number 10, it is hard to put an exact feel on how good they are with a lack of top 25 matchups to start the season. 

Nonetheless the Longhorns are loaded with talent including forward Timmy Allen. Up next for the Longhorns is a Top 25 showdown with Seton Hall who enters the matchup ranked 23rd in the Nation.

9. Iowa State Cyclones

A surprising team that may be getting overlooked to start the season is the Iowa State Cyclones who have picked up eight straight wins to start the season including wins against Creighton and Oregon State as well as two Top 25 wins against Memphis (9th ranked) and Xavier (25th ranked). 

Izaiah Brockington is carrying the load averaging a team high 16 points to go along with 7.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists. Up next for Iowa is a key rivalry matchup against Iowa. 

8. Alabama Crimson Tide

The Alabama Crimson Tide is well deserving of a top 10 spot among the top men’s college basketball teams to start the season. After losing a crucial matchup against Iona, the Tide have won back to back contests over Miami and the second ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs. 

Leading the charge is junior guard Jaden Shackelford who is averaging 19.3 points a game to go with 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Up next for the Crimson Tide is 14th ranked Houston before rounding out December with another strong matchup against Tennessee.

7. Villanova Wildcats

Here is a Villanova Wildcats team that should stick around as one of the top teams in all of college basketball as the season continues to move on. 

As we roll into the second week of December, the Wildcats sit at 7-2 to start the season with impressive wins over Syracuse and the 17th ranked Tennessee Volunteers while the team’s only losses came against Top 10 ranked teams UCLA and Purdue. 

Up next for the Wildcats is a difficult matchup against the Baylor Bears before matchups against Creighton and Xavier.

6. UCLA Bruins

The UCLA Bruins are one of the most talented teams in all of college basketball and it has shown with a fast start including wins in seven of their first eight contests to start the season. Despite a better record the team’s loss to Gonzaga has them just behind the Bulldogs in the Top 10. 

The Bruins have wins over Colorado and the fourth ranked Villanova Wildcats to help build their resume to start the season. Leading the way is possibly college basketball’s top star Johnny Juzang who is averaging 17.1 points a game to go along with 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. 

Coming up over the next few weeks include key matchups against UNC and Arizona to round out December.

5. Gonzaga Bulldogs

As some may argue that the Gonzaga Bulldogs don’t deserve a top 10 ranking, for us it is hard to not include them near the top half based on the difficult schedule to start the year. The Bulldogs are 7-2 on the year with key wins over a Texas Longhorns team ranked sixth and a UCLA Bruins team that was ranked second. 

Their only two losses came against a sixth ranked Duke Team and a 18th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide program. The Bulldogs are led by All-American candidate Drew Timme who is averaging 18 points a game to go along with 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists. UP next for the Bulldogs are the Merrimack Warriors before matchups against Washington and Texas Tech.

4. Arizona Wildcats

With the season off to a strong start, it makes it difficult to weed out the top men’s basketball teams based on the top records to start the season. However, when comparing the top half of the teams ranked within the AP Top 25 Coaches poll, one team that has gotten off to a strong start is the Arizona Wildcats. 

The Wildcats are 7-0 to start the season after having their game against Washington postponed due to Covid-19. Over the stretch to start the season the Wildcats have key wins over Oregon State, Wichita, North Dakota State as well as fourth ranked Michigan. 

The Wildcats have four guys averaging double digits including three players averaging more than 15 points a game. The next couple weeks get tough for the Wildcats with a schedule that features Tennessee, UCLA and USC all ranked inside the top 20.

3. Duke Blue Devils

In the last year of Mike Krzyewski leading the Duke Blue Devils, the team has gotten off to a solid start winning seven of their first eight contests. Through their first eight games the Blue Devils have picked up a key 79-71 win to open up the year against a Kentucky Wildcats team that was ranked 10th overall. 

The team saw their toughest stretch of the season over the past two contests that included a 84-81 win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs before falling to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big Ten/ACC challenge. The Blue Devils have a deep roster led by Paolo Banchero and Wendell Moore Jr. 

The combination of those two are averaging 35.6 points a game to go along with 13.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 3.2 steals per contest. Up next for the Blue Devils include South Carolina State and Appalachian State.

2. Baylor Bears 

It is hard to look past the Baylor Bears as one the top men’s basketball teams in college basketball to start the 2021-22 NCAA season. The Bears have started the season with eight straight wins including seven double digit wins as well as four wins by at least 20 points. 

The team is led by sophomore guard LJ Cryer who leads the team in points per game while averaging 15.4 per game to start the season. To start the season the Bears have picked up critical wins against Michigan State, VCU, Arizona State and Stanford. 

Up next for the Bears include a stretch of back to back games against Villanova and Oregon.

1. Purdue Boilermakers

The Purdue Boilermakers sit at the top of the Top BB Men’s team as play continues over the second week of December. With key losses to some of the other top programs including the Gonzaga Bulldogs as well as their own continued success the Boilermakers made the jump to number one as they moved their record to 8-0 on the year. 

The Boilermakers are 2-0 against top 25 ranked teams including a key 80-74 win over a Villanova Wildcats team that was ranked sixth. Purdue is led by four players averaging double digits including Jaden Ivey who is averaging a team high 15.9 points a game to go with 5.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals per contest. 

Meanwhile Zach Edy is averaging 15.5 points to go along with 7.1 rebounds while Trevion Williams is averaging a team high 8.8 rebounds per game to go with 12.4 points per game. Next up for the Boilermakers is Rutgers followed by NC State and Butler.

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Related Links:

• Top 25 NCAA Men’s Basketball Rankings 2021 – 2022 Preseason
• Top 25 NCAA Women’s Basketball Rankings 2021 – 2022 Preseason