We are approaching the midway point of league play as following Thursday night’s action, everyone will have played once. Things look much different this week than our previous power rankings as we have our first shakeup at the top.

Power rankings are based on games played through January 27th.

Note: National rankings are courtesy of KenPom.com. Arrows denote movement in power rankings since last ranking.

1. Stetson 11-11, 5-2 #303
  7

I’ve done power rankings for this site for almost a decade now and never have I seen a team rise from near the bottom of the rankings to first place in one update, but here we are. Stetson deserves it. They are 4-0 since our last power rankings with road wins at North Alabama and Jacksonville and knocking off NJIT at home, all three teams who at times have appeared to be the third best team in the league. Then, they capped it all with a come from behind win against Liberty on Saturday. With 5 ASUN wins, the Hatters have won more conference games than any other Stetson team in the past 5 seasons. A couple big tests for them this week, beginning Thursday night in a first-place showdown with UNF. Donnie Jones is the unquestioned ASUN Coach of the Year to this point.

This week: 1/30 @ North Florida, 2/1 @ Lipscomb

2. North Florida 12-10, 5-2 #184
   no change

North Florida would have been first in these power rankings if they were able to build off the win over Liberty, but the Ospreys fell at Lipscomb by a dozen just 48 hours later. We’ve known all along that UNF would be Liberty’s biggest challenger for an ASUN title and they proved that Thursday night. Now, we’ll see if they can knock Stetson off their perch.

This week: 1/30 vs Stetson, 2/1 vs Kennesaw State

3. Liberty 19-3, 5-2 #70
  2

As quick as things changed for Stetson, they nearly changed as much for the Flames. It looked like Liberty would have the ASUN regular season title all but wrapped up by February 1st, but the road trip to Northern Florida proved otherwise. Plenty of soul-searching being done in Lynchburg right now as the Flames look to get back on track. The good news? They host Kennesaw State, who is 1-19, Thursday night.

This week: 1/30 vs Kennesaw State, 2/1 vs FGCU

4. North Alabama 9-11, 4-3 #275
  1

The Lions may have dropped a spot in the power rankings, but not necessarily because of their play. They have won 3 out of 4 games with their only loss coming against the hottest team in the league, Stetson.

This week: 1/30 @ NJIT, 2/1 @ Jacksonville

5. NJIT 7-13, 3-4 #273
  2

The Highlanders opened ASUN play at 0-2, a 27 point loss at home to Liberty and a 16 point loss at Jacksonville, as they fell to 3-12 on the season. It looked like NJIT may have been headed for a disastrous season, but a January 11th win at North Florida has turned their season around. The Highlanders are 4-1 in their last 5 games with the only loss coming at Stetson by 1 point.

This week: 1/30 vs North Alabama

6. Jacksonville 10-12, 3-4 #220
  1

The Dolphins are a team that will be a tough out in the ASUN Tournament. David Bell is as good a post in the league, and they don’t beat themselves. They could get hot and make a late season push towards a first round home game by finishing in the top 4.

This week: 1/30 vs FGCU, 2/1 vs North Alabama

7. Lipscomb 8-13, 3-5 #274
  1

The Bisons had dropped four straight before picking up a much needed win at home over North Florida Saturday. Ahsan Asadullah paced the way with 23 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals in the win.

This week: 2/1 vs Stetson

8. FGCU 6-16, 3-4 #325
  4

Right when you start feeling good about the Eagles, they start losing again. Two close losses to North Alabama and NJIT drops them to 8th in the power rankings, and they have two very tough games on the road this week.

This week: 1/30 @ Jacksonville, 2/1 @ Liberty

9. Kennesaw State 1-19, 0-7 #346
   no change

Only one thing has been certain this season and that’s KSU’s spot in the basement. They have dropped 11 straight and their win over Gardner-Webb in December by 24 points has become one of the biggest anomalies of the ASUN basketball season. Perhaps their toughest two games left on the schedule coming up this week.

This week: 1/30 @ Liberty, 2/1 @ North Florida