Iowa State, Marquette, Wisconsin move up in latest men’s basketball Power 37

March Madness is the best three weeks in sports. Feast week is one of the best weeks in this sport. Games occur at all hours from places all over North America, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Caribbean. Expect drama, upsets and resume wins that will have shelf life throughout the season.

Here is this week’s Power 37, ranked by Andy Katz.

The March Madness Power 37

(Previous Power 37 ranking listed first)

1. Kansas (Prev. 1, 5-0): The Jayhawks dominated UNC Wilmington. But a massive test with Duke in Las Vegas awaits. 
2. Gonzaga (Prev. 2, 5-0): The offense has been rolling, but it was the defense in the 43-point win over Long Beach State that was impressive. 
3. UConn (Prev. 3, 4-0): The Huskies beat up on lesser competition, but the next month will be a brutal slate. 
4. Auburn (Prev. 4, 4-0): The Tigers are once again a tough team to stop on the transition break and already have a marquee win against Houston. 
5. Kentucky (Prev. 5, 5-0): The Wildcats followed up the Duke win by scoring 97 and 108 in its next two games. 
6. Duke (Prev. 6, 4-1): The Blue Devils won at Arizona and showed they are ready for the hype. 
7. Iowa State (Prev. 9, 3-0): The competition finally changes for the better in Maui. 
8. Alabama (Prev. 8, 4-1): The Tide had an impressive bounce-back win from the road Purdue loss with a win over Illinois in Birmingham. 
9. Marquette (Prev. 16, 6-0): The Golden Eagles may be the best team in the Big East. David Joplin dropped 29 in the win over Georgia in the Bahamas, which shows this team has plenty of big-time scorers. 
10. North Carolina (Prev. 10, 4-1): The Tar Heels have elite guards, and they were on display during a road win in Hawaii. 
11. Tennessee (Prev. 11, 6-0): The Vols defense locked down Virginia and Baylor in the Bahamas. 
12. Indiana (Prev. 12, 4-0): The Hoosiers get a chance to renew an old rivalry by playing Louisville in the Bahamas. 
13. Houston (Prev. 13, 3-1): The Cougars took out their frustrations over the Auburn loss by blasting Louisiana and Hofstra. 
14. Purdue (Prev. 7, 5-1): The Boilermakers had an amazing defensive showing in a win over Marshall. 
15. Wisconsin (Prev. 18, 7-0): The Badgers were the champs in the Greenbrier Tip-Off with wins over UCF and Pitt. 
16. Oregon (Prev. 17, 5-0): The Ducks took down rival Oregon State behind a career-high night from Nate Bittle, who had 23 points. 
17. Florida (Prev. 19, 6-0): The SEC may be sleeping on this Gators squad that can score. 
18. Cincinnati (Prev. 20, 5-0): Time to take the Bearcats seriously. They destroyed Georgia Tech in Atlanta. 
19. Baylor (Prev. 15, 4-2): I don’t know what to make of the Bears just yet. The losses are to elite teams in Gonzaga on the road and against Tennessee in the Bahamas. 
20. Illinois (Prev. 21, 4-1): The Illini did lose to Alabama in Birmingham but they showed flashes of why they will contain in the Big Ten. 
21. Texas A&M (Prev. 27, 4-1): The win over Ohio State has turned the corner for this squad. 
22. Ohio State (Prev. 28, 4-1): The Buckeyes are thinning on the bench up front but are still finding ways to protect the rim and score inside. 
23. Xavier (Prev. 29, 5-0): The Musketeers have an all-Big East caliber player in Ryan Conwell. 
24. Drake (Prev. NR, 5-0): The Bulldogs won the Charleston Classic with wins over Miami, FAU and Vanderbilt. They are emerging with Bradley as the team to beat in the Valley.
25. Arkansas (Prev. 26, 4-1): The Hogs have been led by Kentucky transfer Adou Theiro. They will be just fine as a contender in the SEC. 
26. Mississippi State (Prev. 33, 5-0): The Bulldogs picked up a few quality wins over Utah and SMU last week. 
27. Ole Miss (Prev. 32, 5-0): The Rebels have coasted so far, but the competition will increase significantly with BYU and beyond. 
28. Creighton (Prev. 14, 4-1): I could penalize the Bluejays more, but I’m going to hedge that Nebraska’s loss was more of a make-up than a time to panic.
29. Texas (Prev. 31, 5-1): The Longhorns won the Legends Classic with a win over Saint Joseph’s in Brooklyn. 
30. Michigan State (Prev. NR, 4-1): The Spartans are back in the poll preparing to make noise in Maui. 
31. Penn State (Prev. 35, 5-0): The Nittany Lions, off to their best start in the past five years, are one of the top surprises in the first month of the season. 
32. Texas Tech (Prev. 23, 5-1): The Red Raiders responded to a loss to Saint Joseph’s with a five-point win over Syracuse in Brooklyn. 
33. Pitt (Prev. 34, 6-1): The Panthers have wins over West Virginia and LSU but lost to Wisconsin. Pitt is going to be a contender in the ACC. 
34. BYU (Prev. 36, 5-0): The Cougars are not having trouble scoring, and their defense has been pretty stellar, too. 
35. Saint Mary’s (CA) (Prev. NR, 6-0): Don’t look now, but Gonzaga’s toughest competitor in the WCC isn’t going anywhere. 
36. Georgia (Prev. NR, 6-1): Coach Mike White has the Bulldogs ready for prime time. Georgia beat St. John’s in the Bahamas after losing to Marquette. Georgia already took down a hot North Florida and the Bulldogs rival Georgia Tech. 
37. Vanderbilt (Prev. NR, 6-1): Coach Mark Byington has turned the ‘Dores around. Vanderbilt lost the Charleston Classic title game to Drake but beat Nevada and Seton Hall along the way. They already own a win against Cal, too. 

Dropped out: Rutgers (22), Arizona (24), UCF (25), St. John’s (30), VCU (37)

Let’s do some stock up and down this holiday week:

Stock up:

Cooper Flagg, Duke: The freshman continues to meet the moment statistically. Sure, he had those two late turnovers in the loss against Kentucky. But he still scored 26. He was stellar in the road win at Arizona with 24.

John Tonje, Wisconsin: He scored 41 against Arizona and a week later dropped 33 in the win over Pitt. The Missouri (and Colorado State) transfer has been the perfect filler for AJ Storr. 

Kennesaw State: Getting Rutgers to play a home game for Ace Bailey was good scheduling. Beating the Scarlet Knights was program-changing. Bravo for taking full advantage of the situation. 

Stanford: Did anyone really think coach Kyle Smith wouldn’t have the Cardinal as a factor? Stanford won its first six games and, in a watered-down ACC, should be a contender for a top-five finish. 

The Atlantic 10: Five teams enter the week undefeated. There are familiar names in Dayton and St. Bonaventure. And to some extent, the consistency of Loyola-Chicago. However, the retooling at Rhode Island and Davidson is clearly going well, as both schools have gotten off to solid starts. 

Pitt: Sure, the Panthers lost on Sunday to Wisconsin, but Pitt is looking to be a top 3-4 ACC team this season. 

Michigan: Coach Dusty May is clearly on the right path with the Wolverines and should have them in a position to be an NCAA Tournament team. 

Coach Ben McCollum, Drake: The four-time NCAA champ at Northwest Missouri State has the Bulldogs rolling. Drake won the Charleston Classic and entered the holidays 6-0. 

Coach Chris Holtmann, DePaul: The Blue Demons feel relevant for the first time in forever as DePaul started 6-0. 

Nebraska: The Huskers picked up the rivalry W against Creighton and quickly changed the narrative after the disappointing loss to Saint Mary’s in South Dakota. 

Tanner Christensen, Hawaii: The 6-10 transfer from Utah Tech will be a beast in the Big West. He had a double-double against North Carolina with 10 and 10. He’s averaging 15.6 points and 7.2 boards. He gives the Rainbow Warriors a chance in the Big West. 

Geronimo Rubio De La Rusa, Columbia: The senior guard is dominating the ball and dropping buckets, averaging 24 a game. He scored 37 points in a win against Stony Brook for the 7-0 Columbia Lions. 

Stock down

The ACC: The league is strong at the top with Duke, North Carolina and clearly Pitt. There could and should be others, like eventually Wake Forest, Clemson, and maybe NC State and Stanford. But the league lacks quality wins against the five peer/power schools. The Duke road win at Arizona was critical for the league’s resume. 

Arizona: The Wildcats haven’t been able to finish in games against similar foes, losing at Wisconsin and home to Duke. 

Villanova: The Wildcats continue to whiff on marquee games, the latest being against Maryland. 

Rutgers: Bad scheduling by the Scarlet Knights. Playing Kennesaw State on the way to Las Vegas for Ace Bailey made no sense. And Rutgers got burned by losing the game. 

March Madness Team of the Week:

Tennessee: The Vols are back to being one of the SEC favorites. Tennessee dominated Virginia, beating the Cavs by 22, and then handled Baylor by 15. Tennessee still has notable games against Syracuse, Miami and Illinois to add to a strong resume. 

March Madness Player of the Week

Kam Jones, Marquette: Jones was my pick for Big East player of the year. Well, he had a week that was deserving of the honor. Jones had a triple-double in the win over Purdue at home with 17 points, 13 rebounds and ten assists. He followed that up with 10 points and seven assists in a neutral-site win over Georgia in the Bahamas. 

The March Madness Week Ahead

1. The Maui Invitational: The field is once again loaded with elite teams. There are four in the top 10 with: UConn, Auburn, Iowa State and North Carolina. Michigan State, Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton could all find a way to make some noise in Maui, too. A year ago, Purdue used the Maui win as a launching pad to a title-game run. Don’t be surprised if a team from this field does that again. 
2. Kansas vs. Duke, Las Vegas: The Blue Devils had one of the best wins of the season to date at Arizona. The Jayhawks have already beaten Michigan State in a neutral and North Carolina at home. Take down Duke, and the Jayhawks will continue to possess one of the top resumes. 
3. The Battle 4 Atlantis: Gonzaga rolls into the event as one of the hottest teams in the country. The Zags could end up as the No. 1 team in the country with a title run and a Kansas loss. Indiana hasn’t been severely tested yet. If the Hoosiers can win this field, then that could send a strong message to the rest of the Big Ten. Arizona needs a reset and would do well to get two quality wins. 
4. The Players Era Event, Las Vegas: The first two rounds are set with a championship third day on Saturday. San Diego State and Rutgers need to come out of the event feeling more confident about themselves, let alone picking up some key wins. Notre Dame and Texas A&M could help themselves with a few, as well. Houston, Alabama, Oregon and Creighton are the marquee teams. 
5. Illinois vs. Arkansas, Kansas City: The Illini played well in spurts against Alabama in Birmingham and are still looking for that signature win. The same is true of the Hogs. 
6. Pitt at Ohio State: The Panthers look the part of the third-best team in the ACC. This is the second-straight Big Ten matchup for the Panthers, who lost to Wisconsin in the Greenbrier final Sunday. 
7. Purdue vs. NC State, San Diego: The Boilermakers made a massive statement with the win over Alabama at home but then got humbled at Marquette. This is another opportunity to prove where they stand in a rematch of the Final Four meeting. The Wolfpack have been quietly cruising early in the season. 
8. BYU vs. Ole Miss, San Diego: Both teams are potential NCAA squads with all-American candidates in BYU’s Egor Demin and Ole Miss’ Matt Murrell. 
9. New Mexico vs. Arizona State, Palm Springs: The Lobos get another shot at a power conference W on a neutral court. They beat UCLA and lost at St. John’s. This would add to the resume. The Sun Devils have the profile of a possible bubble team, as well. 
10. USC vs. Saint Mary’s, Palm Springs: The Trojans are still finding their way here early in the season, but the Gaels will pose quite a test. Saint Mary’s already knocked off Nebraska in South Dakota, a team that won at Creighton.