National Player of the Year Watch: Week 5

Duke forward Mason Plumlee is among the leading candidates for the AP National Player of the Year award. Each week throughout the season, we will check in on Plumlee’s progress as well as the performance of other top candidates for college basketball’s top honor.

Mason Plumlee, Duke: After a weak start to ACC play, Plumlee poured in three strong performances in the past week to make his case for National Player of the Year. After being dominated by N.C. State's Richard Howell in their first matchup this season, Plumlee scored 30 points and added nine rebounds in Duke's 98-85 victory against the Wolfpack last Thursday. The senior followed that performance up with back-to-back double-doubles, posting 19 points and 10 rebounds against Boston College and 18 points and 11 boards in a 73-68 victory against North Carolina Wednesday night. Plumlee struggled for most of the first half, especially on the defensive end, but finished the game strong and displayed his arsenal post moves.

Strong games against Howell and the Tar Heels' James Michael McAdoo—two of the ACC's top big men—should bode well for him as the Blue Devils enter the home stretch of conference play. Plumlee will have another major test at hand when his No. 2 Blue Devils travel north to face Maryland Saturday. Plumlee will match up with another formidable opponent in the post, Terrapin 7-footer Alex Len.

Doug McDermott, Creighton: McDermott has continued to produce with his usual consistency, but his Creighton team has not. McDermott dropped 24 points and added 13 rebounds against Illinois State and scored 15 points and pulled down 12 boards against Northern Iowa, but the Bluejays lost both games. As Creighton continues to tumble through the rankings—the Bluejays have fallen outside of the AP top-25 and now sit at No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll—McDermott's stock for National Player of the Year continues to fall as well. You cannot deny his numbers, but for a player coming from a mid-major to win an award of this magnitude, he would likely have to be propelling his team to a high national ranking and a deep NCAA Tournament run in order to beat out players that compete against much more talented programs and display similar success. Right now that is simply not happening, so unless Creighton makes a late-season push and McDermott puts this team on his back, his run at college basketball's top honor may be quickly drawing to a close.

Trey Burke, Michigan: Like McDermott, Burke's team lost both of its games last week as well. Burke scored 19 points, but did so on 21 shots as his Wolverines fell 65-62 in overtime to Wisconsin Saturday in one of the most exciting games of the college basketball season. He shot 7-of-11 from the field for 18 points in Michigan's next contest, but his team suffered a 23-point drubbing at the hands of No. 8 Michigan State. as the Wolverines exit the most difficult stretch of their conference schedule, a matchup against an 8-15 Penn State squad should be just what the doctor ordered for Burke, who has been good, but not good enough, as of late. That being said, Michigan has still lost three of its last four games after previously holding the No. 1 ranking, and as a point guard it is hard to escape responsibility for a stretch like that, regardless of what appears on the stat sheet beside your name.

Victor Oladipo, Indiana: With consistent play and a little help from his faltering competitors, Oladipo has burst into the discussion for National Player of the Year. The junior guard posted 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting and added eight rebounds in the Hoosiers' 81-63 victory against Ohio State Sunday and added 13 points and eight boards in his team's blowout win against Nebraska Wednesday night. Oladipo has been one of the main reasons Indiana has risen back to No. 1 in the AP top-25, scoring in double digits in six of his last seven games, including two performances of more than 20 points. What might be more impressive about Oladipo's recent play has been his efficiency from the field—he has shot below 50 percent from the floor only once in his last eight games.

On the outside looking in: Oladipo's Hoosier teammate Cody Zeller played well in his team's two most recent wins, scoring 24 points and grabbing eight rebounds against Ohio State and following it up with a 16-point performance against Nebraska. Miami's Shane Larkin has propelled the Hurricanes to an 11-0 start in the ACC and has his team getting serious consideration as the best in the country. The guard poured in 22 points in Miami's road victory against Florida State Wednesday night. Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams scored 17 points, dished out eight assists and had six steals in his team's win against St. John's but struggled in the Orange's loss to Connecticut, fouling out and turning the ball over four times.

And out in the Summit League, South Dakota State's Nate Wolters has been grabbing some attention recently after he went for 53 points last Thursday in the Jackrabbits' victory against Fort Wayne on 17-of-28 from the floor. Wolters, who ranks fourth in the nation in scoring at 22.8 points per game, followed that performance up with 36 points, six rebounds and seven assists in an 88-83 loss to Oakland Saturday. In addition to his scoring success, Wolters also averages 5.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game on the season as his team is just a half-game behind Western Illinois in the Summit League standings.