National Player of the Year Watch: Week 6

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: This was simply not Mason Plumlee's week. Plumlee had returned to his old form in Duke's previous three ACC contests before a matchup with Maryland in College Park last weekend. The senior was completely outplayed by sophomore Alex Len on both ends of the floor and managed just four points and three rebounds on the evening. Plumlee spent a large portion of the game's second half on the bench due to his ineffective play, and after the game head coach Mike Krzyzewski commented on Mason, saying he "looked exhausted." The Terrapins outrebounded Plumlee's Blue Devils by a 40-20 margin in an 83-81 upset victory.

Plumlee will have a chance to bounce back tonight when Duke faces a road test against a weak Virginia Tech squad. His stock for National Player of the Year appears to be falling fast, and if Plumlee wants to maintain pace against other leading candidates, he'll need to start with a big game tonight.

Trey Burke, Michigan: The Wolverines' 79-71 victory against Penn State was much closer than Burke's squad would have bargained for, but the sophomore point guard was the main reason his team was able to avoid its fourth loss in five contests. Burke played 39 minutes Sunday, scoring 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added five assists and two steals. His consistent play continues to keep him near the top of most pundit's ballots for National Player of the Year. Now that his team has survived the toughest portion of its schedule, Burke will have three easy Big Ten contests before the Wolverines close their season with a showdown against top-ranked Indiana.

Victor Oladipo, Indiana: Victor Oladipo is quickly gaining steam as one of the most popular names in college basketball. Although the guard played just 14 minutes against Purdue Saturday before spraining his ankle, scoring three points and pulling down five rebounds, Oladipo did more than just play through pain when his Hoosiers defeated No. 4 Michigan State Tuesday night. The junior—whose injury status come gametime remained up in the air—scored 19 points, pulled down nine rebounds and added five steals in his team's 72-68 victory against the Spartans. Oladipo was all over the floor in the game's final minutes, forcing crucial turnovers and capping the win off with a thunderous dunk. As long as Indiana remains atop the college basketball world, Oladipo's stock for National Player of the Year will continue to rise with his strong play.

Doug McDermott, Creighton: Doug McDermott was good this week, but he wasn't great. The junior dropped in 21 points and added 10 rebounds in the Bluejays bounceback win against Evansville, but just 26 minutes—his fewest since Jan. 8—in Creighton's victory against Souther Illinois. This wouldn't be terribly surprising were the game a blowout, but the Bluejays only won by 14 and McDermott managed just 10 points and seven rebounds, which constitutes his third-lowest scoring output of the season. McDermott continues to make it into the top four of most National Player of the Year ballots, but the strong play of Burke and Oladipo has definitely pushed Creighton's star forward to the background of this discussion. With players from high-major conferences playing their best basketball of the season right now, it appears unlikely that a talented player from an unranked mid-major will be able to sneak in and steal college basketball's top honor.

On the outside looking in: Gonzaga has risen to No. 3 in the AP top-25, and much of that has to do with the play of redshirt junior Kelly Olynyk. The Canadian 7-footer is averaging 17.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs and recorded 26 points on 13-of-17 shooting and added nine rebounds Saturday in a win against San Francisco. Olynyk followed up that performance with 14 points in just 18 minutes in Gonzaga's blowout win against Santa Clara last night. While his numbers are impressive by themselves, what may be most impressive is that he accomplishes this averaging just 25.6 minutes per game—nearly 10 fewer than leading candidates like Burke and Plumlee.

Indiana's Cody Zeller has continued his consistent play inside for the No. 1 Hoosiers, but his play continues to be overshadowed by his teammate, Oladipo.  Zeller poured in 17 points in Indiana's win against Michigan State, but needed 16 field goal attempts to get there. Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart has kept his Cowboys relevant in the Big 12, netting 28 points in an overtime win against Oklahoma Saturday. The freshman is averaging 15.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game on the season. Miami's Shane Larkin also deserves credit for being a major reason why the Hurricanes have risen to No. 2 in the country.