Tennessee, Kentucky, FAU, Providence, Memphis are up; Creighton, Baylor, UCLA,

The 2023-24 college basketball season is about to settle in to conference play with most of the big non-conference games now in the books.

A handful of teams have established themselves as legitimate NCAA championship contenders and as we move towards March, more teams will make a move toward the Big Dance, while others will eliminate themselves.

Here’s a look at our Stock Watch as far as who’s trending up and who’s trending down.

Who’s Trending Up?

Since a loss to North Carolina on Nov. 29, Rick Barnes’s group has won five straight and chimed in this week at No. 6 in AP Top 25 Poll.

Northern Colorado transfer Dalton Knecht, who didn’t own a single Division 1 scholarship offer out Prairie View High School (CO), has seemingly come out of nowhere and is averaging 15.7 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Vols.

Tennessee (9-3) is also No. 6 on KenPom.

The Wildcats have won three straight since that stunning loss to UNC-Wilmington at Rupp Arena, and moved up one spot to No. 8 in the poll. John Calipari’s club owns back-to-back wins over North Carolina and in-state rival Louisville.

Kentucky (9-2) features five players averaging in double-figures — including former Camden High School star D.J. Wagner — and three others — including fellow Camden product Aaron Bradshaw and Philadelphia native Justin Edwards — averaging more than 7.7 points per game.

On the recruiting front, Kentucky also continued its Camden pipeline last week by adding five-star Camden wing Billy Richmond.

“We’ve got another good group coming in next year, then some of the 25s, I’m feeling really, really good about,” Calipari told reporters about recruiting. “You’re talking about three years — this year, next year then the year after that with really good players.”

Last year’s Cinderella is back again for another run at the Dance.

The Owls (10-2) are up seven spots in the poll to No. 7 after winning three straight, including a thrilling double-overtime victory over No. 4 Arizona on Dec. 23 in which Johnell Davis poured in 35 points with 9 rebounds and New Jersey native Jalen Gaffney tied his career-high with 20.

Under first-year coach Kim English, the Friars were picked 7th in the Big East preseason poll, but currently lead the league at 11-2 overall, 2-0 in the conference.

Villanova is the only other unbeaten in Big East league play.

The No. 25 Friars have won four straight, including back-to-back wins over No. 6 Marquette and against Butler in overtime. They host Seton Hall on Jan. 3.

Penny Hardaway’s club has won five straight, with victories over three Top 25 teams in No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 13 Clemson and a beatdown of No. 22 Virginia.

The Tigers moved up four spots to No. 19 in the poll

St. John’s transfer Davis Jones is averaging 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds and New Jersey native Jahvon Quinerly adds 13.3 points and 4. 8 assists.

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After starting the season a perfect 9-0, Scott…