It didn't seem possible that Duke's Cooper Flagg could live up to the years-long hype—let alone exceed it—in what surely will be his one and only season of college basketball. However, he has done exactly that, beginning to run away with the crown for National Freshman of the Year while leading arguably the best team in the country.

Flagg does have fierce competition, though, as there are nearly a dozen major-conference freshmen averaging at least 15 points per game.

Our top 10 freshmen roughly halfway through the regular season are ranked based on a combination of individual production and team success.

Contrary to consideration for National Player of the Year trophies like the Wooden Award, though, one needn't play for a title contender to have a real shot at winning this one. Oklahoma was a No. 10 seed when Trae Young was named the USBWA National Freshman of the Year in 2018, and LSU missing the tournament altogether didn't keep Ben Simmons from winning in 2016.

Team success is much more of a potential bonus than a prerequisite.

So while Rutgers' Dylan Harper wasn't top 10 in our updated NPOY rankings from last week, rest assured that he is comfortably in the top three here.

One thing that doesn't factor into the rankings, though, is NBA draft stock. It might be mentioned where applicable, but by no means should this be viewed as some kind of draft big board of top freshmen. (Though, the vast majority of our top 10 will at least be in the mix for a lottery pick.)

Statistics are current through the start of play Wednesday, Jan. 8.

Honorable Mentions

Ian Jackson, North Carolina (15.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG)

After a slow start to the year (8.0 PPG in first five games), Jackson has blossomed into the high-volume star we expected him to be, recently reeling off four consecutive games with at least 23 points.

Kon Knueppel, Duke (12.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.7 APG, 36% 3PT)

A soon-to-be lottery pick enjoying a solid season, but who is also very much the second fiddle to freshman teammate Cooper Flagg. That doesn't disqualify Knueppel from ranking in the top 10, but it does make it a little easier to leave him off in favor of guys putting up bigger numbers.

Asa Newell, Georgia (15.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.1 BPG, 1.1 APG)

Though the Bulldogs lost the game, Newell went for 10 offensive rebounds and a total of 13 points and 13 boards in his SEC debut against Ole Miss. He also put up 17 points in a win over Kentucky his next time out. He has scored at least a dozen points in all but one game this season, and that is going to generate more and more buzz if he keeps doing it in this outrageously loaded league.

Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn (11.0 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.7 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 42% 3PT)

Pettiford only plays about 21 minutes per game off the bench, but he loves to make the most of them against quality opponents. Of the five times he has scored more than 10 points, four came against Duke, Iowa State, Houston and Purdue.

Labaron Philon, Alabama (12.6 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.4 SPG)

In the last four games leading up to Wednesday's matchup with South Carolina, Philon had accumulated 62 points and 18 assists with zero turnovers. Alabama is averaging better than 90 points per game, and this freshman point guard is the biggest reason the Crimson Tide don't appear to be missing Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen or Latrell Wrightsell from last year's equally proficient offense.

VJ Edgecombe, Baylor (12.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 2.5 SPG, 1.0 BPG)
Robert Wright III, Baylor (12.4 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.2 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 41% 3PT)

Duke's quartet and Illinois' trio of freshmen get a lot of national love, but Baylor has quite the dynamic duo of its own. Edgecombe's value added on the defensive end (and his potential as a lottery pick) likely makes him the better candidate in the end, but Wright has been phenomenal running the offense, leading the team in assists.

Blake Harper, Howard (18.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.2 SPG, 40% 3PT)
Josh Harris, North Florida (15.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG)

I know full well that neither of these players has any hope of actually being named national freshman of the year, putting up big numbers for teams that might not even be contenders in the MEAC and A-Sun. But we would be remiss if we didn't at least draw some attention to them.

Dylan Harper might end up being the only freshman who scores more points than Blake Harper, and he's filling up the stat sheet with more than just points. It's also preposterous what Josh Harris is doing in just 22.3 minutes per game. On a per-40 basis, the young star of the Ospreys is averaging 27.7 points and 13.0 rebounds. For what it's worth, Zach Edey's career per-40 marks were 29.3 and 15.4, respectively.

Nos. 10-6: Tre Johnson, Liam McNeeley, Boogie Fland, Derik Queen and Ace Bailey

10. Tre Johnson, Texas: 18.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 40% 3PT

Johnson started the year like a bat out of hell, averaging 21.1 points and shooting 44 percent from distance through his first nine games. But he missed two games in mid-December with a hip injury, and that might still be impacting his play, as he's missed all eight of his three-point attempts thus far in SEC play. He's still on the Freshman of the Year radar, but 18.4 PPG doesn't hit nearly the same way that 21.1 did.

9. Liam McNeeley, Connecticut: 13.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, 38% 3PT

Speaking of hot starts derailed by injury, McNeeley blossomed into a star in December, specifically in the win over Gonzaga (26 points, eight rebounds, four assists). On New Year's Day against DePaul, though, he suffered a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss 'weeks' of action. If he comes back good as new, though, maybe there's still a chance.

8. Boogie Fland, Arkansas: 15.6 PPG, 5.9 APG, 3.4 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 38% 3PT

John Calipari has had some seriously special freshman point guards over the course of his coaching career, and Fland is at least making a spirited argument for best of the best. The fact that he was held in check in Arkansas' two toughest games of the season (Illinois and Tennessee) hurts his case here, but if he lights up Florida on Saturday and/or Kentucky on Feb. 1, his case for this award could get compelling in a hurry.

7. Derik Queen, Maryland: 16.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.1 BPG

Queen has had some Herculean performances for the Terps, averaging 21.2 points and 9.2 rebounds in their five games against KenPom top 50 opponents. And it's hardly a coincidence that their worst loss of the season (at Washington) coincided with what was by far his worst individual performance (four points, one rebound, four fouls). He checks in just a few spots behind another 6'10" freshman in the DMV area who is just about single-handedly carrying his team to relevance.

6. Ace Bailey, Rutgers: 19.1 PG, 7.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG, 1.0 SPG, 34% 3PT

With Dylan Harper unavailable last week against Indiana, it became Bailey or Bust for the Scarlet Knights. Or, rather, Bailey and Bust, as this soon-to-be top-three draft pick exploded for 39 points, eight rebounds and four blocks with no turnovers...while Rutgers lost by 10. Had he done something similar Monday against Wisconsin, it would've become a tough call between Bailey and Harper in these rankings. Instead, he was held to nine points before fouling out and narrowly misses the top five.

5. Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma

Season Stats: 17.9 PPG, 4.4 APG, 3.6 RPG, 2.2 SPG

MVP Performance: 30 points, four assists, three rebounds vs. Michigan (Dec. 18)

At 3.6 turnovers per game and with multiple giveaways in each game of the season, sloppiness with the ball has become a knock on Jeremiah Fears' game for the Oklahoma Sooners.

It's kind of a small price to pay for everything else that he does for this team, though, including his elite ability to generate takeaways on the other end of the floor.

In the come-from-behind victory over Michigan near the end of nonconference play, Fears scored 14 of his career-high 30 points in the final nine minutes, including the game-winning four-point play.

That was his highest scoring performance of the season, but they've all been pretty productive, with at least 10 points, multiple assists and at least one steal in every game to date. He's also averaging better than five made free throws per game, his turnovers at least partially fueled/offset by his reckless abandon when slashing to the rim.

In addition to that Herculean performance against the Wolverines, Fears went for 20 points, seven assists and four steals in the Battle 4 Atlantis opener against Providence, followed by 26 points, five rebounds and five assists the next day in the win over Arizona.

Putting Fears in the same breath as Trae Young and Blake Griffin in Oklahoma freshmen lore might be a little aggressive, but this young man is special and has been the driving force on both ends of the floor for this second-weekend-of-the-NCAA-tournament hopeful.

4. Thomas Sorber, Georgetown

Season Stats: 15.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 2.3 BPG, 1.3 SPG

MVP Performance: 19 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, two steals, two assists at Seton Hall (Dec. 22)

One season ago, Georgetown had one of the worst defenses in the entire country, particularly inside the arc, where D-I opponents shot 57.4 percent against the Hoyas. Only Pacific and IUPUI were worse in that regard.

This year, Georgetown has resurfaced as a legitimate NCAA tournament hopeful, fueled primarily on the defensive end. Opponents are shooting 41.1 percent on two-point attempts against the Hoyas, good for the fifth-best mark in the nation.

With nearly three times as many blocked shots as his closest teammate and almost as many blocks (35) as the rest of the team combined (37), there's no question Thomas Sorber has been the driving force of that turnaround.

The rim protection is just one piece of the puzzle with Sorber, too. He also leads the Hoyas in both points and rebounds and pitches in around four combined assists and steals per game, just for good measure.

There was some skepticism about Sorber early in the year because he was racking up numbers against Georgetown's extremely weak nonconference schedule. However, he's averaging 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 2.5 assists through four Big East games, including an impressive 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks Tuesday night in a close loss at Marquette.

There might not be a freshman in the country who is more singularly key to his team's success than Sorber is for Georgetown.

3. Dylan Harper, Rutgers

Season Stats: 21.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 37% 3PT

MVP Performance: 37 points, two steals, two assists, two rebounds vs. Alabama (Nov. 27)

Yes, Dylan Harper went for a triple-double (16 points, 12 assists, 11 rebounds) in a recent win over Columbia, and, no, it wasn't his most impressive performance of the season.

Factoring quality of opponent into the equation, it probably wasn't even a top-five gem from Harper this season, speaking volumes to why he still may well go No. 1 overall in the upcoming NBA draft, even while Cooper Flagg has been every bit as good as advertised.

Just about the only thing that has been able to slow down Harper is flu-like symptoms. He missed Rutgers' game against Indiana last Thursday with an illness, before trying to play at nowhere close to full strength against Wisconsin this past Monday.

Before that zero-point performance in 15 visibly gassed minutes against the Badgers, Harper had scored at least 14 points in each game and was averaging north of 22 points per contest.

That said, while team success typically isn't a major factor for freshman of the year purposes, the fact that Rutgers games are infinitely more noteworthy to draft scouts than to bracketologists is kind of hard to ignore here, when there are two guys thriving for possible No. 1 seeds also very much in the running for top freshmen.

It's not Harper's fault that he's one of only two players on his team who can score with any degree of regularity, and we're not exactly penalizing him for it. Just giving the first-year stars of Duke and Illinois a bit of extra credit for playing on teams who figure to matter in March.

2. Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois

Season Stats: 16.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.3 SPG, 41% 3PT

MVP Performance: 24 points, six rebounds, five assists vs. Wisconsin (Dec. 10)

Kasparas Jakucionis has been so darn impressive over the past six weeks that we didn't even bother to list Will Riley or Tomislav Ivisic among the honorable mentions this time, even though each of those Fighting Illini teammates is averaging well north of 10 points per game.

It has become impossible to argue that either one is anywhere close to as valuable as KJ.

The Lithuanian star entered Wednesday's game against Penn State averaging 19.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists over his last nine contests. He scored at least 14 points in each of those games, shooting 50.5 percent from the field, 46.3 percent from three-point range and 89.8 percent from the free-throw line.

It wasn't until Illinois' sixth contest of the season that Jakucionis started to take over games by himself. And it was in the overtime loss at Northwestern in early December that it seemed to click that he could be one of the most valuable players in the nation if he just puts the team on his back every now and again.

When Illinois earned a No. 1 seed four years ago, Ayo Dosunmu averaged 20.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists en route to the Bob Cousy Award and unanimous first-team All-American honors.

Jakucionis might even be a bit better than that.

1. Cooper Flagg, Duke

Season Stats: 17.5 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.6 SPG, 1.3 BPG, 31% 3PT

MVP Performance: 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals, two blocks, zero turnovers vs. Auburn (Dec. 4)

The naysayers in the crowd had been complaining for some time about the lack of highlight-worthy moments produced by Cooper Flagg, in a "sure, he puts up numbers, but he's not that special" type of scoffing tone with which most people seem to open their social media apps every morning.

That is, rather emphatically, no longer a valid argument after this sequence Tuesday night in the 29-point victory over Pitt.

That gem came in the middle of Flagg's sixth double-double, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in yet another blowout victory for the Blue Devils.

It was his ninth game with at least 18 points, and he's doing it much more efficiently these days than he did earlier in the year.

Say what you will about the tournament worthiness of the non-Duke portion of the ACC this season, but through five conference games, Flagg is averaging 20.0 points, shooting 57 percent inside the arc and 50 percent beyond it. While also playing elite defense, crashing the glass and dishing out close to four dimes per game.

There's no denying that this is a great, deep freshman class, with plenty of talented competition. But at this point, Flagg is the runaway favorite for freshman of the year and easily one of the top three candidates to win the Wooden Award.

Should he do so, Flagg would join Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson as the only freshmen to pull it off.