The college basketball season is still very young, but that doesn't mean that teams can't already be surprising the country. Between a few major upsets, some fun mid-major battles, and some games between the top teams in the country, KenPom rankings have already moved a lot for some teams.

1. Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma suffered the worst loss of the young season, losing to East Texas A&M at home on opening night. Since then they've beaten Mississippi Valley State and North Alabama, although they only beat North Alabama by nine.

Oklahoma started the preseason ranked 29th in KenPom, but after just three games, they've fallen all the way to 67th. The Sooners were a team that many thought could be a surprising team in the SEC, but so far, they're still trying to figure out how they need to win games.

They've really struggled shooting the ball from three, making only 30 percent of their attempts. The issue is that they currently are taking 57 percent of all their field goals as three point attempts. This Oklahoma team has guards who can score in Pop Isaacs, Xzayvier Brown, and Dayton Forsythe, but it hasn't been happening on an efficient level.

2. UCLA Bruins

UCLA has been one of the best teams to start the season, getting a win on opening day against Arizona and following it up with two dominant performances in buy games.

The Bruins started the season ranked 25th in KenPom, and they've risen to 16th currently with the potential to go even higher.

They've done it by winning the turnover margin and three point shooting margin. On the season, UCLA is turning it over on just 12.2 percent of offensive possessions, while they're forcing turnovers on 25.2 percent of defensive possessions.

UCLA is also shooting the ball incredibly well from three, sitting at 43 percent as a team on the season. The backcourt duo of Trent Perry and Jaylen Petty are a combined 15/30 from three through three games. Freshman-phenom Nikola Kusturica is 6/14, and backup center Sergej Macura is 5/7.

Defensively, UCLA runs a defensive system that's predicated on taking away the paint and forcing offenses to take tougher threes. It's working perfectly so far as opposing offenses are taking nearly 50 percent of their shots from three, but they're making just 22.6 percent of them.

3. Kentucky Wildcats

Concern is starting to mount once again in Lexington as Kentucky has started the season 2-1, but they haven't looked the best so far.

Kentucky started the preseason ranked 24th in KenPom, and they've dropped to 36th currently.

The Wildcats squeaked by James Madison by nine points and followed it up with a 20 point loss to Kansas during the Champions Classic. Kentucky has struggled defensively through three games so far, giving up 1.18 points per possession to James Madison and 1.16 points per possession to Kansas.

Kentucky's defense wants to take away the paint and force teams to take threes. They're doing a pretty good job at forcing those shots, however teams are still able to make them. Offenses are shooting 33 percent from three against Kentucky. The Wildcats have also struggled to defensive rebound, giving up 11.7 second chance points per game.

Kentucky still has the firepower on offense to be successful, indicated by having the 14th best offense on KenPom. Zoom Diallo and Malachi Moreno have been efficient scorers for Kentucky, giving them a legitimate two-man game to lean on.

4. Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Minnesota Golden Gophers may be frisky this season. They've started 4-0, and although three of those games have been buy games, they've looked dominant in those. On top of that, Minnesota went to Cincinnati and got a true road win over the Bearcats.

Minnesota started the season ranked 41st in KenPom, and they've jumped up to 33rd.

Minnesota hasn't made the NCAA Tourament since 2019, and although there's still plenty of season left, this team looks like they have potential to break the streak.

Minnesota has been dominant defensively, forcing teams into a lot of tough jumpers while also being one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the country. Offensively, Minnesota has run their patented motion-offense under Niko Medved that utilizes a lot of spacing and cutting within the flow.

Isaac Asuma and Kyan Evans have been one of the best backcourts in the country so far, combining to average 28.5 points, 12.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 2.3 steals per game while being efficient shooters.

It's worth noting that Minnesota is doing this without Cade Tyson as well, as he's attempting to gain eligiblity for a fifth season.

5. UC Riverside Highlanders

The mid-majors deserves some love too, and UC Riverside has had a great start to the season. They're currently 3-0, including a true road win over San Jose State and a home win over Denver.

UC RIverside started the season ranked 209th in KenPom, and they're up to 178th.

Their success has started with the defensive side of the ball where they've been able to force turnovers on 28 percent of opponent possessions, the seventh best rate in the entire country. They currently have ten different players averaging at least one steal per game, and out of those ten, six have played in all three games so far.

It's primarily been a two-man show on offense for the Highlanders. Tyus Parrish-Tillman is averaging 19.0 points per game and Tony Duckett is averaing 16.0 points. As a team, UC Riverside is shooting 38.8 percent from 3, and it's been enough to get the job done with how good their defense has been.