ROTHSTEIN 45: Week 4

This week’s Rothstein 45 is now live!

Check out our rankings below:

1. Houston: Saturday’s close win against Kent State could be a blessing in disguise.

2. Arizona: Breathtaking offensively — again.

3. Purdue: Fletcher Loyer has made 15 three-point shots in six games.

4. Texas: Hosts Creighton on Thursday night in Austin. 

5. Virginia: Shooting 44.8 percent from three-point range.

6. Creighton: Ryan Nembhard might be the best point guard in college basketball.

7. UConn: The trajectory is upward.

8. Gonzaga: Julian Strawther has to continue to emerge as a secondary scoring option behind Drew Timme.

9. Alabama: Victories over both North Carolina and Michigan State will travel all the way to Selection Sunday. 

10. Indiana: Jalen Hood-Schifino is just 4-16 from three-point range.

11. Baylor: A massive week looms with games against Marquette and Gonzaga.

12. Arkansas: Anthony Black is special.

13. Illinois: Freshman guard Jayden Epps has emerged as a double figure scorer. 

14. Tennessee: Had 24 turnovers against Kansas and still won by 14.

15. Kansas: Post play is non existent.

16. Auburn: Won its last two games by a combined six points.  

17. Duke: Dereck Lively II had just four points and nine rebounds in three games at the PK85.

18. Michigan State: Pierre Brooks is starting to get into an offensive rhythm.

19. Kentucky: Antonio Reeves could be an X-Factor.

20. Iowa State: Elite defensively. 

21. North Carolina: 10-41 from three-point range in its last two games.

22. San Diego State: Let one slip away against Arkansas.

23. UCLA: Amari Bailey is averaging 15.5 points in his last two games.

24. Maryland: Julian Reese has made a massive jump.

25. TCU: Beat Iowa by double figures without two starters.  

26. Wisconsin: An absolute nuisance to play against.

27. Xavier: Gave up an average of 80.7 points in three games in Portland.

28. Iowa: Payton Sandfort is in a funk offensively.

29. Ohio State: Went 2-1 in Maui.

30. Saint Louis: Let a golden opportunity slip away on Sunday at Auburn.

31. Mississippi State: Elite defensively.

32. UNLV: 7-0.

33. Texas Tech: Should be 10-2 when it opens Big 12 play on Dec. 31st at TCU.

34. St. John’s: Joel Soriano (12.7) is leading the country in rebounding.

35. West Virginia: Pounded Florida into submission.

36. Miami: Norchad Omier is a walking double-double.

37. Marquette: A big week looms with games against Baylor and Wisconsin. 

38. Arizona State: Frankie Collins has 12 assists to three turnovers in his last two games.

39. Michigan: The rubber is about to meet the road.

40. Charleston: Four graduate students are in the rotation.

41. Virginia Tech: All five starters are averaging in double figures.

42. Kansas State: Markquis Nowell is playing the best basketball of his career.

43. Penn State: Top five scorers are all shooting 40 percent or better from three-point range.

44. Memphis: DeAndre Williams is always in the right place at the right time.

45. Oklahoma: Won six straight after losing the opener to Sam Houston.

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.