Catching up on College Basketball with the football season ending
Now that the College Football season has officially ended, Krysten Peek gives you a refresher on the bigger storylines in college basketball so far this season.
Video Transcript
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KRYSTEN PEEK: The college football season is over after the Georgia Bulldogs easily handled TCU, winning back-to-back titles. For those wanting to get an early start on college hoops and March Madness and teams to keep tabs on during conference play, here's what you've missed so far this season.
Kentucky is not the Kentucky of past years. Even with one of the top recruiting classes coming in and landing key transfers, Coach Cal and the Wildcats are struggling this year. After being ranked number four to start the season, Kentucky dropped out of the top 25 in week 5 and have yet to return after losing to Missouri. And most recently getting run out of the gym on the road to number seven Alabama.
Kansas State is proving to be a dangerous team and are led by Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson, who's averaging 19 points and 7 rebounds per game. The Wildcats went from unranked to number 11 after beating Texas and Baylor on the road. K State is currently 14 and 1 and are fifth in the nation in assists, moving the ball very well on offense.
Texas has parted ways with Chris Beard after he was arrested in early December on a domestic violence charge. Associate Head Coach Rodney Terry has stepped up as the interim head coach, and the Longhorns are holding on to the strong start they had under Beard. Texas has only lost one game since Beard's dismissal and are the number 10 team in the nation but have a tough stretch coming up in conference play.
The most intriguing teams at the top making noise midway through the season are number one Houston, number three Purdue, and number six UConn. Houston hasn't fallen outside the top five all season and are led by a veteran backcourt with Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead. They've also added a potential lottery pick in freshman Jarace Walker, who is a plug and play guy who can defend multiple positions.
Purdue is extremely tough to defend with the inside presence of 7 foot 4 Zach Edey, who is leading the team with 22 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. Purdue's only loss of the season came in a 1-point loss to Rutgers in the first game of the new year.
And UConn is one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, led by sophomore Jordan Hawkins who is shooting 35% from 3 on four attempts per game. If this team gets hot, they will be a very dangerous team come tournament time.
Number two Kansas is still rolling and has the potential to repeat after cutting down the nets last year. Upperclassman Jalen Wilson is leading the team in scoring with 20 points per game, while junior point guard Dujuan Harris is averaging 6.4 assists and dishing out 10 or more assists twice this year.
It's a long road to March with plenty of games left in the season. And for continual coverage on all college hoops news, keep it right here on Yahoo Sports.