We learned a solid amount about the college basketball world in our first week of play but there’s still a ton of teams to sort through. No real upsets occurred but we saw great basketball and some super intense games throughout. In this upcoming week, we don’t see any premier matchups until a bit later when some of the early season tournaments begin to start up and the season really gets underway. As of now, however, let’s get into our reactions to this week’s AP Poll.
|
RANK
|
TEAM
|
RECORD
|
POINTS
|
PREVIOUS
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga (55) | 2-0 | 1,517 | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA (6) | 2-0 | 1,450 | 2 |
| 3 | Kansas | 2-0 | 1,400 | 3 |
| 4 | Michigan | 2-0 | 1,252 | 6 |
| 5 | Villanova | 1-1 | 1,232 | 4 |
| 6 | Purdue | 2-0 | 1,223 | 7 |
| 7 | Duke | 3-0 | 1,143 | 9 |
| 8 | Texas | 1-1 | 1,058 | 5 |
| 9 | Baylor | 1-0 | 1,010 | 8 |
| 10 | Illinois | 2-0 | 920 | 11 |
| 11 | Memphis | 2-0 | 886 | 12 |
| 12 | Oregon | 2-0 | 802 | 13 |
| 13 | Kentucky | 1-1 | 773 | 10 |
| 14 | Alabama | 2-0 | 743 | 14 |
| 15 | Houston | 2-0 | 655 | 15 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 2-0 | 646 | 16 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 2-0 | 575 | 18 |
| 18 | North Carolina | 2-0 | 506 | 19 |
| 19 | Ohio State | 2-0 | 438 | 17 |
| 20 | Maryland | 3-0 | 306 | 21 |
| 21 | Auburn | 2-0 | 286 | 22 |
| 22 | St. Bonaventure | 2-0 | 280 | 23 |
| 23 | Connecticut | 2-0 | 236 | 24 |
| 24 | Florida | 2-0 | 141 | NR |
| 25 | Southern California | 2-0 | 63 | NR |
Losses Up Top Do Not Affect Teams Yet
We saw giants like Kentucky, Villanova, and Texas all fall to some of the best teams in the country. Both Kentucky and Texas fell three spots from losses to Duke and Gonzaga respectfully while Villanova only fell one after their overtime bout with UCLA on Friday. These losses clearly haven’t affected the teams in the eyes of the voters and this theme should carry on for some time.
Florida Deserves to be Higher
Coming in at the 24 spot this week was Florida. The Gators upset Florida State at home by a healthy margin but only just got in the rankings. If the voters truly watched that game in depth they’d see a top 20 team in the country right now, one that played with intense defense Sunday and completed an all-around great game. They do have a chance to move up this week if they can beat a solid mid-major program in Milwaukee.
Houston, Ohio State, and North Carolina All Should Have Fallen
Three of the bigger name teams all struggled in Week 1 but didn’t see any effect in the poll. Starting with Houston, the Cougars went to overtime with Hofstra in their first game. Yes, first game inconsistencies are always acceptable but they looked really poor. Next game they do get to face off with a struggling Virginia team and they could land a valuable win over a Power 5 opponent.
Continuing with Ohio State, they looked the worst of all this week and only fell two spots. It’s really seeming like Ohio State is headed for a down year after only beating Akron by one and having a tough time with Niagara. Ohio State took down Bowling Green in a blowout win which was a must. Now they take on Big East opponents like Xavier and Seton Hall, before finishing November off with a battle with Duke in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Finally, North Carolina didn’t have such a good week ever. They started with a nice blowout win but then had to dig deep and pull away late against a Brown team that they should have beaten handily. The Tar Heels still have a ton of talent but early signs of last year’s team are very discouraging and better play is necessary. This week they have a huge opportunity to prove the voters correct if they can take down top 10 Purdue in Mohegan Sun Arena.
Be sure to tune in every week for our takeaways from the AP Top 25 poll.
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Main Image Credit: From FloridaGators.coms
