The Men’s Other Top 25: Missouri Valley begins asserting self behind Mountain West and Atlantic 10

While the Mountain West and Atlantic 10 dominate the top 10 of this week’s Men’s Other Top 25, the Missouri Valley has a couple of teams displaying strong resumes just outside the top 10. Belmont jumped

all the way from 22 to 11. Murray St. was one spot behind at 12.

The Bruins are 15-3 and have won seven of their last nine games with each of the two losses coming by a single point. They sit 61^st in the NET, 65^th in KenPom and 73^rd in BartTorvik. It is top-100 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, per KenPom.

The Racers are also 15-3 and are winners of 11 straight. They have wins over George Washington, Akron and Bradley. Ryan Miller’s team is 60^th in the NET, 81^st in KenPom and 87^th in Torvik. Sitting 2-2 in the first two quadrants, Murray is 13-1 in Quad 3 and 4 games.

Keep an eye on the Belmont at Murray St. game on Jan. 31.

All 10 of the teams in last week’s top 10 stayed there with minor shifting. Utah St. stayed at No. 1 for a fourth straight week. Saint Louis and Saint Mary’s remained two and three, respectively. George Mason moved up one spot to fourth, while undefeated Miami (OH) cracked the top five for the first time this year.

Five teams joined the Other Top 25 this week: Liberty at 17, High Point at 18, UNC-Wilmington in a tie for 19, Utah Valley at 21, and Hofstra at 25.

The Flames have claimed seven straight wins, most notably over Dayton back on Dec. 20. HPU is similarly streaking with eight wins in a row. UNCW erased a 24-point deficit to beat Stony Brook on Saturday for its sixth straight win. The Seahawks are 16-2 and have won 15 of their last 16 games with the lone defeat coming by one point to Howard.

The Wolverines have won nine of their last 10 games. They’re a perfect 9-0 at home. The Pride has won eight in a row and most recently came away with a 67-64 win over Monmouth on Saturday.

Here is the full ranking:

Others Receiving Votes:

Hawaii 11; South Florida 11; Buffalo 10; Northern Iowa 8; Colorado St. 8; Charleston 6; UC San Diego 5; San Francisco 5; Stephen F. Austin 3; East Tennessee St. 2; UC Irvine 2; Wyoming 1; Florida Atlantic 1

Dropped from ranking:

UC San Diego – T-17; Northern Iowa – 19; Colorado St. – T-20; Davidson – 23; Buffalo – 25