This week’s Ballislife Nationwide Participant of the 12 months Ladder is right here, and there are a few new additions who’re more likely to be mainstays for the remainder of the season. We did the lengthy intro final week, so let’s simply dive into what we’re all right here for.
Final week: No. 1
Boozer retains his high spot on the ladder after main Duke to 2 top-15 wins final week, downing No. 15 Florida on Dec. 2 and No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday. Boozer tallied 29 factors and 6 rebounds in opposition to the defending nationwide champion Gators earlier than main Duke in all three main offensive classes in opposition to Sparty, tallying 18 factors, a season-high 15 rebounds and 5 assists.
Boozer has already all however locked up the Nationwide Freshman of the 12 months dialog, regardless of getting into the season because the least talked about in a trio additionally that includes Darryn Peterson (Kansas) and AJ Dybantsa (BYU) that may probably be chosen with the highest three picks within the 2026 NBA Draft.
With a median of 23 factors and 9.3 rebounds by way of 10 video games, Boozer is monitoring towards a landslide within the Nationwide Participant of the 12 months dialog as nicely. For context, the hole between Boozers’ KenPom POY rating (2.535) and the following closest participant within the nation (Joshua Jefferson, 1.823) is bigger than the hole between Jefferson and the participant with the Tenth-best KPOY rating (Koa Peat, 1.206).
Final week: No. 2
There was a gap for a number of gamers under Lendeborg on final week’s ladder to overhaul him for the present runner-up place, if solely as a result of Michigan solely performed as soon as this previous week. That was one other dominant 40-point win for the now second-ranked Wolverines, however Lendeborg was held barely under his normal stat line with 14 factors and eight rebounds.
Lendeborg might not at all times put up the gaudiest scoring totals due to the stability in Michigan’s scoring, however there’s little doubt about who the engine behind Dusty Could’s operation is. If Michigan retains successful and doing it within the style they’ve been, with fashion and Lendeborg’s high-flying flash, he stays probably the most lifelike season-long challenger to Boozer’s decisive early lead.
With video games in opposition to two energy convention opponents that Michigan ought to simply deal with in Villanova and Maryland this week, Lendeborg has a chance to place two extra big-time performances on his resume.
Final week: Not ranked
Arizona’s Koa Peat would have been No. 6 on final week’s inaugural ladder, however the issue is we solely went to 5. Now that Arizona is formally the No. 1 group within the nation after hammering No. 20 Auburn by 29 factors on Saturday, it’s inarguable that Peat belongs on the rostrum proper now. The freshman tallied 18 factors on an uber-efficient 8-of-11 capturing, along with dispensing 5 assists and grabbing 4 rebounds.
Peat has one of the crucial dominant non-Boozer performances of the season to this point, as he tallied 30 factors on 11-of-18 capturing in his collegiate debut in opposition to defending nationwide champion Florida in Las Vegas. Peat put collectively a season’s value of highlights that evening on the Strip, ending a pair of eye-opping slams whereas executing a handful of artful finishes across the rim and mid-range jumpers.
Final week: Not ranked
Toppin was one other participant left off final week’s preliminary ladder by only a hair, because the Pink Raiders’ 30-point loss to then-top-ranked Purdue was nonetheless too contemporary in my thoughts to present him the sting over another stars from Feast Week. Toppin has principally been his normal self this season, however the truth that a few of his contemporaries on this checklist have come again right down to Earth now means they’re enjoying at a degree under Toppin’s baseline.
Apart from the trio of superfreshmen, Toppin was the following hottest selection amongst preseason NPOY choices and he hasn’t actually performed something that ought to make anybody draw back from that. The diploma to which Boozer has dominated the dialog has been shocking, however Toppin continues to be getting his 20+ factors and 11+ rebounds per recreation and his Pink Raiders haven’t slipped since that Purdue debacle.
I doubt he’ll slip off this checklist once more, simply based mostly off the consistency we’ve seen him show courting again to his freshman marketing campaign at New Mexico two years in the past.
Final week: No. 3
Jefferson constructed upon his breakout Feast Week with a powerful 24-point displaying in a 132-68 (!) win over Alcorn State final week, making 10-of-13 makes an attempt from the sector whereas additionally dispensing 10 assists and grabbing three rebounds. Jefferson now has 4 double-doubles in complete this yr. In two of them, he recorded 10+ rebounds and within the different two he recorded 10+ assists, proving he’s arguably the best Swiss Military knife in all of school hoops up to now.
Jefferson did have his quietest efficiency of the season in opposition to No. 1 Purdue on Saturday, however that was partially as a result of Iowa State was so dominant as a group that the sport was successfully over early within the second half. As famous within the Boozer part, Jefferson’s 1.823 KPOY rating nonetheless ranks second within the nation.
