College Hoops Barometer: Declawed Wildcat

Do elite teams not exist this season, or is there simply incredible parity in college basketball? That is the question to be pondered as the fifth team to ascend to the No. 1 spot this year suffered a loss Monday. Oklahoma secured the top spot in the polls for less than a day; the Sooners were subsequently downed by Georges Niang and Iowa State by a score of 82-17. The Cyclones are certainly no slouch themselves, with a top-25 ranking of their own. Still, with no team grabbing the No. 1 ranking by the throat, this could be as wide open of a year as any when it comes down to tourney time.

Sidenote: in all honesty, the rankings mean little. As has been espoused in prior columns for football, the rankings merely provide fodder for the media. Arguments over which teams have the better resume really only matter when it comes down to which teams make the NCAA Tournament and which teams get left out in the cold. Otherwise, the Road to the Final Four, whether a No. 1 seed, a No. 8 seed or a No. 16 seed, is still paved with the same material: wins.

We'll leave the Big Dance for another time, though. After all, it's only January, and conference play is just starting to heat up. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of this week's College Hoops Barometer.

UPGRADE

Josh Scott, F, Colorado - The senior forward has been a staple at Colorado for the last four years, and he has shown growth in each and every season on the hardwood in Boulder. Scott is averaging career-highs of 17.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He has been particularly stellar of late, notching double-doubles in four-straight contests for the Buffs. Perhaps most impressively, Scott is shooting a career-best 57.5% from the field. Scott has been a double-double machine throughout his collegiate career, but he has taken his game to new heights during his final season.

Dorian Finney-Smith, F, Florida – Speaking of double-doubles, Finney-Smith has managed three in the last four games for the Gators. The senior had just three double-doubles all of last season, despite posting similar numbers in terms of scoring and rebounding. Perhaps this is just the spark that Finney-Smith and the Gators need, as they embark on a new era under coach Mike White. Finney-Smith is still managing personal bests in points, rebounds and assists this season. He is averaging 13.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. As Florida enters the meat of conference play, the Gators will need to rely even more heavily upon the experience of Finney-Smith.

Eli Carter, G, Boston College – Carter's third collegiate stop has been his best thus far. After a promising freshman campaign at Rutgers, he left the program and headed south to Gainesville, where he spent two largely anonymous seasons with the Florida Gators. As a graduate student, he opted for Boston College, and Carter has emerged this season as a huge scoring threat. Of course, opportunity could also be playing a role in his ascension. Carter is playing a career-best 32.6 minutes per game, while attempting 15.3 shots per game. That includes seven treys per contest. Carter showed his scoring prowess in Saturday's loss to Pitt, pouring in 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting. Carter hit five three-pointers for the game. The Eagles are not very good this season, and as a result, Carter should continue to dominate the ball. He is also averaging 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.

Tyler Roberson, F, Syracuse – Roberson was instrumental in Syracuse's stunning upset over Duke at Cameron on Monday. The junior scored 14 points in the 64-62 win, but his real impact came on the glass. Roberson snatched 20 rebounds for the game, including an astounding 12 offensive boards. Roberson's mammoth output was not just an aberration, though. In fact, he has tallied double-doubles in each of the last three games for the Orange. Perhaps not surprisingly, Syracuse has prevailed in all three of those contests.

CHECK STATUS

Isaiah Zierden, G, Creighton - Zierden exploded for 31 points at DePaul on Sunday, setting a career-high in the 91-80 win. Zierden nailed eight three-pointers, and is shooting 41.6 percent from long range as a junior. Though Zierden is always capable of the occasional explosion, he is averaging 12.4 points per game this year, and has gone over the 20-point mark on just two occasions. As such, while scoring outputs like Sunday can certainly happen, it would be wise not to expect such outbursts to become the norm. He is averaging 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, showing that while he can contribute in other categories, his chief skill and asset is his scoring.

Jordan Roper, G, Clemson – It was quite a week for Roper and the Tigers, who defeated three ranked opponents in a span of seven days. The fun got started on January 10 against Louisville, when Roper had 10 point and four assists in the 66-62 win over the Cardinals. Just three nights later, the Tiger stunned the Duke Blue Devils, and Roper did a little bit of everything in that triumph. He amassed seven points, four rebounds, nine assists and three steals in the 68-63. To cap off a scintillating stretch, Roper contributed 18 points, six assists and five thefts in Saturday's 76-65 win over Miami. It is clear Roper can impact the game in a variety of ways, even if his numbers do not always jump off the stat sheet.

Wes Clark, G, Missouri – There are times when Clark looks like the best player on the court. In Saturday's loss at South Carolina, Clark came fairly close to accumulating a triple-double. The junior had 26 points, six rebounds and eight assists in the 81-72 loss. Other times, however, Clark looks rather pedestrian. In his two previous games combined before Saturday, Clark totaled 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. That type of inconsistency has plagued the talented Clark throughout his collegiate career, though certainly lack of talent around him along with a program in flux can also be blamed. Still, poor outputs are far too frequent for a player of his caliber.

Daniel Ochefu, F/C, Villanova – Ochefu has not been himself lately, and a nagging lower back injury could be the culprit. After four consecutive games of scoring in double figures, including a mammoth 20-point, 18-rebound performance against Seton Hall, Ochefu has failed to score more than six points in each of the last three games for the Wildcats. He has battled foul trouble in two of those contests, while also turning the ball over five times at Butler on Jan. 10. Though he did snatch 13 rebounds in a win over Marquette, it is clear that Ochefu has not been 100 percent recently. The Wildcats need a healthy Ochefu, as they managed to just squeak out wins in two of those last three games.

DOWNGRADE

Angel Rodriguez, G, Miami – It's been a struggle of late for the 'Canes, who were ranked in the top 10 before consecutive losses to Virginia and Clemson. As Rodriguez goes, so do the Canes, so it should come as no surprise that A-Rod has been subpar. In Saturday's loss at Clemson, Rodriguez shot just 1-of-7 from the floor. His three-point shooting in particular has been atrocious. Over his last four games, Rodriguez is a putrid 2-for-22 from long distance. Rodriguez is at his best when he is slashing to the basket, using his ability to penetrate while finding the tremendous athletes that Miami has at its disposal for easy buckets in the lane. perhaps Angel needs to get back to basics instead of relying on the outside shot. After all, he has never hit above 35-percent of his treys in any season while in college.

Jordan Loveridge, F, Utah – There was a time when Loveridge was among the elite forwards in the Pac-12. As a sophomore, he notched six double-doubles en route to career-best averages of 14.7 points and seven rebounds per game. It has been a struggle since then, though, as his junior year was marred by injury and inconsistency, and he has yet to get back on track as a senior. He missed seven games last season but never looked quite right even when on the court, tallying just one double-double for the entire campaign. That trend has continued this year. After a hot scoring start, Loveridge has failed to find double figures in the scoring column in six-straight games, and nine of the last 10 contests. Perhaps most troubling has been his lack of rebounding, though. Loveridge has always been on the smaller size for a forward at 6-foot-6, but he seemed to make up for it in athleticism, body control and sheer effort. Whether he has fallen in love with the three-point shot or merely been unwilling to mix it up with the big boys and risk injury remains to be seen, but he is averaging a career-low 3.7 rebounds per contest. Loveridge has simply not been the same since injuring his knee early on last season.

Sebastian Saiz, F, Mississippi - Saiz had been playing for a month with a partially detached retina, initially suffered on December 19 against Memphis. Saiz had been effective even despite the injury, securing two double-doubles since that time, including an impressive 21-point, 16-rebound performance in a win over Alabama on January 7. However, it was recommended that Saiz take care of the issue sooner rather than later, so he has opted for surgery, which will sideline him indefinitely. Amare Stoudemire played with and returned from the same injury, though it remains to be seen what approach Saiz and the Rebels will take. Ole Miss will certainly miss their second-leading scorer and leading rebounder.

Nate Mason, G, Minnesota - It has not been a good couple of weeks to be a Minnesota sports fan. The Blair Walsh Project shanked a chip shot field goal against the Seattle Seahawks to send the Minnesota Vikings home for the season (Laces Out, Dan). The Golden Gophers have not helped matters on the hardwood, falling to 0-6 in Big Ten play. Minnesota has barely been competitive in some of those games, but Mason has been particularly troubled recently. Though he is averaging 12.3 points per game as a sophomore, Mason scored just 13 combined points in the last two games for the Golden Gophers. He turned the ball over six times over that span, whole notching just five assists. Clearly that is not a good assist-to-turnover ratio. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be much help in sight, as the Gophers will likely continue to struggle in an ultra-competitive conference.