Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Tracking The Unbeatens: There are now just nine teams without a loss

Getty Images

Getty Images

Andy Lyons

Getty Images

Getty Images

Andy Lyons

Every Monday from now until every team in the country has a loss on their resume, we will be Tracking The Unbeatens, and predicting when, exactly, that unbeaten streak will end. You can follow along here.

Who lost last week?: Incarnate Word (at UTEP), Seton Hall (at Wichita State) and Northern Iowa (at VCU)

Kentucky (11-0): Kentucky is the best team in the country right now, although it will be interesting to see what happens with Alex Poythress out for the year with a torn ACL. My guess: Kentucky gets tougher to beat. They’ll take a bit of a hit on the defensive end of the floor, but getting more minutes for more offensive-minded players like Trey Lyles, Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker and Aaron Harrison will help this group. If they’re going to lose this season, it might come in their next two games: UCLA in Chicago and Louisville on the road.


  • Next Game: Dec. 20 vs. UCLA (Chicago)
  • First Loss?: Dec. 27 at Louisville

Duke (8-0): The Blue Devils didn’t play this week, but they did lose Semi Ojeleye to a transfer. Regardless, they look like the clear-cut, second-best team in the country right now.


  • Next Game: Dec. 15 vs. Elon
  • First Loss?: Jan. 17 at Louisville

Arizona (10-0): Stanley Johnson looked the part of an all-american on Saturday during Arizona’s depantsing of Michigan in Tucson. Perimeter shooting is still an issue, but if you can’t match their size inside, you’re going to take a beating in the paint.


  • Next Game: Dec. 16 vs. Oakland
  • First Loss?: Jan. 22 at Stanford

Virginia (9-0): Virginia got through their toughest week of the non-conference by knocking off Maryland and VCU on the road. They didn’t play last week during finals.


  • Next Game: Dec. 18 vs. Cleveland State
  • First Loss?: Jan. 3 at Miami

Louisville (9-0): The Cardinals have now beaten Ohio State and Indiana in the last two weeks, meaning that they’ve passed their first two real tests of the season. They get a road date with a Western Kentucky team that just beat Ole Miss, but as long as they’re not looking forward to Kentucky, we should have both the Cards and the Cats undefeated on the 27th. Buckle up.


  • Next Game: Dec. 14 at Western Kentucky
  • First Loss?: Dec. 27 vs. Kentucky

Villanova (10-0): The Wildcats have looked quite impressive early on this season, but when you look at who they’ve beaten -- Illinois, Michigan and VCU -- it doesn’t look as good as it did at the time. This group is the best in the Big East, but the league looks tougher by the day.


  • Next Game: Dec. 20 vs. Syracuse
  • First Loss?: Jan. 19 at Georgetown

Washington (8-0): The Huskies have wins over UTEP and at home against San Diego State, which are both good wins but not necessarily the kind of performance that will make you believe that this group can contend in the Pac-12. Robert Upshaw is a game-changer defensively, Nigel Williams-Goss is criminally underrated and their four-point win over Eastern Washington on Sunday is a lot more impressive than it sounds.


  • Next Game: Dec. 17 vs. Grambling
  • First Loss?: Dec. 20 vs. Oklahoma (In Las Vegas)

Colorado State (10-0): The Rams did it. They knocked off Colorado at Colorado, meaning that not only are they probably the best team in the state, they may just be the best team in the Mountain West. Road games have been this team’s kryptonite in recent season, and hopefully that Colorado game is an indication they’ve fixed that.


  • Next Game: Dec. 19 at Denver
  • First Loss?: Jan. 3 at New Mexico

TCU (10-0): The Horned Frogs made a statement when they went into Oxford and knocked off Ole Miss. Then Western Kentucky did the same thing. They shouldn’t be tested until Big 12 play.


  • Next Game: Dec. 20 vs. UT San Antonio
  • First Loss?: Jan. 7 at Kansas State

There five potential meetings between undefeated teams the rest of the season, although it seems unlikely that we will get more than one.


  • Kentucky at Louisville, December 27
  • Duke at Louisville, January 17
  • Duke at Virginia, January 31
  • Louisville at Virginia, February 7
  • Arizona at Washington, February 13

Follow @robdauster