| Rank | Team | Last Week | Change |
| 1. | Cleveland State | 4 | +3 |
| 2. | Youngstown State | 1 | -1 |
| 3. | Milwaukee | 2 | -1 |
| 4. | Northern Kentucky | 5 | +1 |
| 5. | Purdue Fort Wayne | 3 | -2 |
| 6. | Robert Morris | 6 | – |
| 7. | Wright State | 7 | – |
| 8. | Oakland | 8 | – |
| 9. | Detroit Mercy | 10 | +1 |
| 10. | IU Indy | 9 | -1 |
| 11. | Green Bay | 11 | – |
By virtue of winning its sixth game in a row, coupled with a pair of losses from the top two teams, Cleveland State has vaulted its way to the top of the Power Rankings this week. The Vikings have, throughout the season, been an defensive force. But in this six-game surge, CSU has been extremely disciplined in keeping the offensive turnovers to a minimum, not to mention continuing to clean the offensive class. Moreover, the Vikes have been able to call upon players up and down the rotation to step up and make key contributions, from freshman Je’Shawn Stevenson to big man Dylan Arnett, who was perfect from the field in the win against IU Indy
On paper, Youngstown State should have had the game against Purdue Fort Wayne in hand, especially after taking care of business on New Year’s Day against IU Indy. Instead, the Penguins’ chilly shooting in what has been dubbed the Ice Age Classic (Thanks, Horizon Boy!) was their ultimate undoing against the Mastodons, snapped their eight-game winning streak, the first such streak since arriving in Division I 40+ years ago. Perhaps a return to Northern Kentucky, head coach Ethan Faulker’s alma mater and first coaching stop, will help them bounced back.
Every team has a bad game, and Milwaukee is no exception. The Panthers got mauled by Oakland, having been held to a paltry 49 points. Fortunately, Milwaukee’s offense bounced back in took down Detroit Mercy at Calihan Hall to split the Michigan trip. Jamichael Stillwell’s record-setting double-double streak was snapped by the Grizz, but he’s aiming to create a new streak with another double-double against the Titans.
Northern Kentucky got the boost it needed this week, beating Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday and overcame a 10-point, first-half deficit to roll Green Bay. The ongoing progression of the Norse has been evident, as Trey Robinson continues to take the lead role, as he always has, keeping Northern Kentucky focused during this week’s sweep. Add in Sam Vinson, whose defensive skills coming in extremely handy in the win over the Phoenix, and the Norse are poised, once again, to make some noise at the top of the standing.
If not for the loss to NKU, Purdue Fort Wayne would be higher up in the Power Rankings. That said, the Mastodons taking down Youngstown State was a nice comeback win after the Norse setback. Even with the ongoing absence of Eric Mulder, Purdue Fort Wayne’s strong backcourt of Quentin Morton-Robertson, Jalen Jackson and Rasheed Bello has stood pat. Chandler Cuthrell and Deangelo Elissee have also come through to fill in the gap left in Mulder’s absence.
While Robert Morris‘s luck in overtime games ran out against Detroit Mercy, the Colonials made sure the Michigan trip wasn’t a waste, taking down Oakland in convincing fashion. The frontcourt duo of Amarion Dickerson and Alvaro Folguieras have been key, but it was Kam Woods who shined through in the win over the Golden Grizzlies, dropping 29 points and giving Oakland headaches all game.
Wright State needed something to snap out of its three-game funk, and a struggling Green Bay was just the ticket. Brandon Noel, as always, led the Raiders in scoring, followed by Logan Woods. But the big news this week for Wright State was Andrea Holden, who was expected to redshirt his first year but instead is now in the lineup. His debut was an impressive one, with 11 points and seven boards, and he adds yet more depth up front for the Raiders.
The roller coaster that has been Oakland’s season continues. The Grizz finished its grueling non-conference slate with a 30-point drubbing at the hands of Arkansas. Undaunted, Oakland, three days later, took down Milwaukee and clamp the usually-productive Panther offense down. The Golden Grizzlies were riding high but were then brought down crashing to Earth, compliments of Robert Morris.
It was only a matter of time before Detroit Mercy got back into the win column, and it only took overtime against Robert Morris to make that happen. The Titans, however, ran into a Milwaukee team reeling from the Oakland loss and looking for someone to take it out on. Detroit Mercy fought, but the Panthers were just too much. To make matters worse, in the final minute of the game, Orlando Lovejoy, the hero of the win over the Colonials, went down with an injury. The Titans live by the “next man up” philosophy, but if Lovejoy is out for an extended period, that could seriously come to the test.
IU Indy shouldn’t be on a seven-game losing streak. There have been multiple opportunities to snap that. And yet, here the Jaguars are, with the latest missed opportunity coming at the hands of Cleveland State. You’d expect IU Indy to get off the schnide at some point, although Paul Zilinskas leaving the CSU game early. Still, the Jags seem close to breaking out. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer.
So, here we are again. Green Bay is last in the Power Rankings again. What did you expect? 12 losses in a row won’t help your cause. Doug Gottlieb added a new face to the roster, the 6-8 Yonaton Levy, as a possible answer to the depth issue in the frontcourt. But Levy’s been thrown in the deep end of the college hoops poll, and his debut was shaky against Wright State. And his showing against Northern Kentucky amounted to nine minutes, two boards and five fouls. But the second-half collapse against the Norse wasn’t the new guy’s fault; that was more of a team effort. Milwaukee looms, looking to put another on its rival down I-43. Brace yourselves, Phoenix fans.
