ROTHSTEIN 45: WEEK 15

This week’s Rothstein 45 is now live!
Check out our rankings below:
1. Alabama: Nate Oats needs to be mentioned as a National Coach of the Year candidate.
2. Houston: The most talent this program has had under Kelvin Sampson.
3. Purdue: Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer were just a combined 2-13 from the field in Sunday’s loss at Northwestern.
4. Kansas: Ernest Udeh is emerging.
5. Texas: 13-4 under Rodney Terry.
6. Arizona: Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo combined for 12 points and four rebounds in Saturday’s loss at Stanford.
7. UCLA: Jaylen Clark controls the ceiling in Westwood.
8. Virginia: Armaan Franklin feels like an X-Factor.
9. Baylor: Adam Flagler is starting to take his game to another level.
10. Marquette: Had 24 assists on 35 made field goals in Saturday’s win at Georgetown.
11. Kansas State: Markquis Nowell is a combined 4-22 from three-point range in his last three games.
12. Tennessee: Lost back-to-back games on buzzer beaters.
13. Xavier: Was awful against Butler and still had a chance to win.
14. Gonzaga: Might be underrated for the first time in a long time.
15. Miami: Jim Larranaga is a combined 15-19 against Duke and North Carolina.
16. Indiana: Starting to separate itself as the second-best team in the Big Ten.
17. Iowa State: Lost two straight.
18. Creighton: Can win with defense or offense.
19. Saint Mary’s: Logan Johnson is playing the best offensive basketball of his career.
20. NC State: Has won five of its last six games.
21. Providence: Shot 33.3 percent from the field on Saturday against St. John’s and only lost by five.
22. UConn: Three of its next four games are at home.
23. TCU: Took Baylor to the wire without Mike Miles and Eddie Lampkin.
24. Pitt: Competing for its first ever ACC regular season title.
25. San Diego State: Adam Seiko is an X-Factor.
26. Rutgers: Losing Mawot Mag for the season was a big blow.
27. Northwestern: Chris Collins looks like the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
28. Duke: Was robbed on Saturday against Virginia.
29. Iowa: On track to play in seven of the last nine NCAA Tournaments.
30. Oklahoma State: Nobody has better chemistry than the Cowboys right now.
31. Florida Atlantic: Still in good shape for an at-large bid if it doesn’t win the Conference-USA Tournament.
32. Illinois: Coleman Hawkins is averaging 8.6 rebounds in his last five games.
33. Michigan State: Was dominant on Sunday against Ohio State.
34. North Carolina: Monday’s game against Miami will tell us a lot.
35. Clemson: Gave up 15 made three-point shots on Saturday against North Carolina.
36. Maryland: 12-2 this season when Hakim Hart scores in double figures.
37. New Mexico: Jaelen House has to get healthy.
38. Mississippi State: You don’t want to see this team in the NCAA Tournament.
39. Arkansas: Nick Smith Jr. is back.
40. Missouri: Deandre Gholston’s buzzer beater against Tennessee felt like a March moment.
41. West Virginia: Will visit Baylor on Monday.
42. USC: Saturday’s loss at Oregon State will follow the Trojans all the way to Selection Sunday.
43. Nevada: Only a game behind San Diego State in the Mountain West standings.
44. Boise State: Marcus Shaver is thriving as a COVID senior.
45. Texas A&M: Has two big opportunities this week against Arkansas and Missouri.
Jon Rothstein has been a college basketball insider for CBS Sports since 2010 and a contributor to the CBS Broadcast Network since 2016. He joined FanDuel in 2022 as a Content Creator. Rothstein is also the host of the College Hoops Today Podcast via Compass Media Networks.