We have surpassed the halfway point in conference play and begin to move quickly towards the CUSA Tournament in Huntsville. Here are our updated Power Rankings based on games played through February 11.
Note: National rankings are courtesy of KenPom.com. Arrows denote change in power rankings since previous ranking.
1. Jacksonville State #113 (17-7, 9-2)
no change
What the Gamecocks have done is impressive. You maybe didn’t respect them a couple weeks ago, but then they go and knock off their toughest challenges to the regular season title, Liberty and Middle Tennessee, by double figures each. Jax State has now won eight straight since starting conference play 1-2. They will have to take that success on the road now with four of the next six away from Jacksonville.
This week: 2/13 @ Sam Houston, 2/15 @ Louisiana Tech
2. Liberty #74 (19-5, 7-4)
3
The Flames had a stretch where they went 2-3 to begin conference play and coming on the heels of Isaiah Ihnen’s season-ending injury. Outside of those couple of weeks, Liberty is 17-2. Not a bad season. If Coach McKay’s squad will continue to contend Jax State for the regular season title, the Flames must find a way to win at least one on the two-game road swing this week.
This week: 2/13 @ New Mexico State, 2/15 @ UTEP
3. Middle Tennessee #127 (16-8, 7-4)
no change
After racing out to a 5-1 record to open league play, the Blue Raiders have come down to reality a little bit by dropping three of their past five including a home tilt against NMSU. Middle is still right in the mix at the top of the league standings, having split with Jacksonville State and facing Liberty on their home floor in the final weekend of the regular season. Just one game for them this week as they play at Western.
This week: 2/15 @ Western Kentucky
4. UTEP #146 (16-7, 6-4)
2
The Miners were swept on their road trip at Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee before rebounding to knock off NMSU in their only game last week. UTEP will be looking to take care of business on their home floor against FIU and Liberty this week before the road trip to Kennesaw and Jax State.
This week: 2/13 vs FIU, 2/15 vs Liberty
5. Louisiana Tech #118 (15-6, 4-4)
1
The Bulldogs finally picked up their first road win in conference play at FIU on Saturday, coming off a 24-point beatdown at Liberty last Thursday. The combo of Daniel Batcho and Sean Newman is dynamic and can knock off any team in the league when they are on.
This week: 2/13 vs Kennesaw, 2/15 vs Jacksonville State
6. Western Kentucky #115 (14-10, 5-6)
1
The perfect example of how difficult it is to predict CUSA, Western Kentucky won three straight and were coming off a 101-69 route of New Mexico State entering last week’s road trip to Kennesaw and Jacksonville. Of course, they drop both of those contests to fall below .500 in conference play. The Hilltoppers have five of their final seven at home as they try to stop out of the bottom four and the first round play-in game in Huntsville.
This week: 2/15 vs Middle Tennessee
7. Kennesaw State #161 (14-10, 6-5)
3
The Owls are coming off a four-game homestand where they nearly turned a lot of heads in conference play. The stretch began with a tough loss to Liberty before wins over FIU and WKU. Kennesaw then nearly took out Middle Tennessee before falling by one. It will be a tough stretch to close the season with five of their final seven on the road including trips to Louisiana Tech, Liberty, and Jacksonville State.
This week: 2/13 @ Louisiana Tech, 2/15 @ Sam Houston
8. New Mexico State #169 (12-11, 5-5)
no change
Remember that 4-0 start in league play? Yeah, it’s hard to remember as the Aggies have dropped five out of six. That one win was at Middle Tennessee, which looks like quite the surprise right now. NMSU takes on Liberty and FIU at home this week.
This week: 2/13 vs Liberty, 2/15 vs FIU
9. FIU #251 (8-16, 2-9)
1
The Owls halted their seven-game losing streak with an overtime win against Sam Houston on Thursday night. Those two teams split the season series this year so it will be a tightly contested battle down the stretch to see who finishes 9th and who is 10th, though not sure it matters much as both will have to play in the first round in Huntsville.
This week: 2/13 @ UTEP, 2/15 @ New Mexico State
10. Sam Houston #177 (8-16, 1-10)
1
Sam Houston is a team that no one will want the luxury of having to face them in Huntsville. Their record is much worse than this team truly is. Their 10 conference losses have all come by single digits with three losses in overtime and three others by four points or less.
This week: 2/13 vs Jacksonville State, 2/15 vs Kennesaw
