Red Hot Teams Highlight Weekly Power Rankings
Winning streaks are nice, and they are the highlight of this week's power rankings
8 games, 3 games, and 2 games.
Currently, the three longest winning streaks in the WAC.
The team on the 8-game winning streak beat the team on a 2-game winning streak. And the team on a 3-game winning streak hasn’t played either of the other two teams.
Interesting.
Utah Valley hasn’t lost since Dec. 14 at Jacksonville State.
Seattle U finally won a close game in last week’s 66-64 win over ACU and the Redhawks followed up with two 20-point wins.
And Bryce Drew changed his starting lineup after the Utah Valley loss, changing the trajectory of GCU’s season.
So, there is a change at the top of the weekly WAC Hoops Power Rankings.
1 - Utah Valley
Eight straight wins. 5-0 in WAC play. Scored 56 points in the second half on Saturday in a 96-80 win over rival Utah Tech.
Dom Nelson earned Newcomer of the Week honors and Tanner Toolson earned Player of the Week honors.
The Wolverines face the gauntlet over the next two weeks. It all starts on Thursday on national television when Utah Valley heads to Riverside to take on California Baptist on ESPNU.
Two nights later, Utah Valley takes on Seattle U at the Redhawk Center. And on Feb. 1, Utah Valley face Grand Canyon at Global Credit Union Arena.
Many people believe the Wolverines will not be undefeated in league play after the next two weeks.
2 - Grand Canyon
It is amazing what a simple change can do for a team.
Following the loss at Utah Valley, Bryce Drew made a change in his starting lineup.
Drew thrust Makaih Williams into the starting lineup.
And off the Lopes went.
With Williams in the starting lineup as the floor general, Tyon Grant-Foster coming off the bench, and Traivar Jackson burning his redshirt, GCU coasted to a pair of blowout wins over ACU and Tarleton this week.
The change moved Ray Harrison off the ball…a role he is much more comfortable in. It also allowed Bryce Drew to build up depth with the reigning WAC Player of the Year coming off the bench.
The loss to Utah Valley on Jan. 9 may have awakened a sleeping giant.

3 - Seattle U
It is amazing what a close win can do for a team. Just ask Seattle U head coach Chris Victor, who said the close win over ACU was huge for his squad.
Just look at this week’s results. First, there was the 20-point win over Utah Tech where the Redhawks dominated the final 10 minutes at Redhawk Center.
Two nights later, the Redhawks dominated Southern Utah from start to finish in another 20-point win.
Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe is a beast, and John Christofilis is just waiting to go off. Keep an eye on the Redhawks who go to UT Arlington on Thursday and return home to host Utah Valley on Saturday.

4 - California Baptist
Saturday was gut-check time for the Lancers. Back-to-back road losses at Utah Valley and at Tarleton State were rough, especially considering the offense wasn’t necessarily there in either game.
But, Dom Daniels Jr. and company rose to the occasion, taking control at ACU in the final five minutes to split the West Texas road trip. Not an easy task. Just ask Grand Canyon.
Now, the Lancers have an opportunity to get back in the race. CBU hosts Utah Valley on Thursday night on ESPNU and then heads to Cedar City to take on Southern Utah on Saturday.

5 - Tarleton State
It was a split-of-a-week for the Texans. There was the home win over California Baptist where the Texans clamped down on defense.
However, on Saturday, the Texans had to fly to Phoenix to face GCU, and while the game didn’t totally get out of hand for most of the night, the Texans just didn’t have the size to matchup.
Freddy Hicks is still getting his feet under him after missing all of November and December. But, if Chris Mpaka fouls out, like he did early in the second half on Saturday, the Texans are in trouble, especially against teams that can score.
The good news for the Texans is there aren’t many teams in the WAC with the size GCU has.
Tarleton State is is at ACU on Thursday and has Saturday off.
6 - Utah Tech
I like this Utah Tech squad. They were the more physical team through the first 20 minutes on Saturday at Utah Valley.
However, the problem lies in the depth, which Jon Judkins really doesn’t have. This is especially true in the size category.
Beon Riley is a beast but has to play out of position a lot of the time.
Noa Gonsalves is also dynamic but gets stuck playing 30-plus minutes because there is simply nobody else capable of his leadership, and scoring.

Hakim Byrd is a super quick guard who gets lost sometimes.
If there was some depth, the Trailblazers may have beat both Utah Tech and Utah Valley this past week.
Keep an eye on that.
The Trailblazers have Thursday off before hosting GCU on Saturday at Burns Arena.
7 - Southern Utah
There is concern in Cedar City. Health seems to be an issue among the Thunderbirds right now.
That, and playing a full 40 minutes, and finding other scoring options besides Jamir Simpson and Dom Ford.
The T-Birds have had a challenging start to WAC play. SUU started at GCU, then hosted Tarleton State and UT Arlington and had to go to Seattle U.
Crazy thing is the T-Birds get their second shot at GCU just 17 days after hanging with the Lopes in Phoenix for about 25 minutes.
Can Rob Jeter’s team get healthy and right the ship enough to not have to play in St. George in March?
8 - UT Arlington
Many fans, and followers are still scratching their heads at the end of that Utah Valley game at College Park Center.
That is the story of the Mavs season thus far. At least in conference play. But, similar to Seattle U, once the first win comes, more will follow. Mavs fans should truly believe that.
UT Arlington hosts Seattle U on Thursday and goes to ACU on Saturday. Two big opportunities for the Mavs.
9 - ACU
All I will say about the Wildcats is once Hunter Jack Madden starts scoring, the Wildcats will win some games.
In four conference games, all losses, Hunter Jack Madden has scored a total of 9 points. All 9 of those points came in the 66-64 loss at Seattle U.
In the other three games, Hunter Jack Madden didn’t score a point. The average margin of defeat in those three games was a little over 15 points.
Now, the anomaly was Thursday’s 30-point loss at GCU. But, as you can see, the Wildcats are closer to winning when Hunter Jack Madden scores points.
If the ACU guards continue to struggle offensively, it will be a long season, longer than normal, for the Wildcats.