A historic week in college basketball just went down as all top-six teams lost last Saturday. Besides Saturday, other big games went down, all of which contributed to the rankings. Following all these upsets, the AP voters had a near-impossible task to rank where each program should be. Did they get it somewhat right, however? Let’s find out.
Be sure to check out last week’s AP poll reaction!
|
RANK
|
TEAM
|
RECORD
|
POINTS
|
PREVIOUS
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga (46) | 24-3 | 1,504 | 1 |
| 2 | Arizona | 25-3 | 1,360 | 2 |
| 3 | Baylor (4) | 24-5 | 1,342 | 10 |
| 4 | Duke (11) | 25-4 | 1,306 | 7 |
| 5 | Auburn | 25-4 | 1,268 | 3 |
| 6 | Kansas | 23-5 | 1,224 | 5 |
| 7 | Kentucky | 23-6 | 1,215 | 6 |
| 8 | Purdue | 24-5 | 1,129 | 4 |
| 9 | Providence | 24-3 | 1,021 | 11 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 23-5 | 865 | 13 |
| 11 | Villanova | 21-7 | 861 | 8 |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 22-7 | 850 | 9 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 21-7 | 770 | 17 |
| T-14 | Arkansas | 23-6 | 759 | 18 |
| T-14 | Houston | 24-4 | 759 | 14 |
| 16 | Southern Cal | 25-4 | 557 | 16 |
| 17 | UCLA | 21-6 | 498 | 12 |
| 18 | UConn | 21-7 | 480 | 21 |
| 19 | Saint Mary’s | 24-6 | 449 | 23 |
| 20 | Illinois | 20-8 | 383 | 15 |
| 21 | Texas | 21-8 | 364 | 20 |
| 22 | Murray State | 28-2 | 333 | 19 |
| 23 | Ohio State | 18-8 | 191 | 22 |
| 24 | Iowa | 20-8 | 99 | 25 |
| 25 | Alabama | 19-10 | 90 | 24 |
Gonzaga Should Not be No. 1
Since beating Texas Tech on December 18, Gonzaga has not played a ranked team until Saturday. They promptly lost to a six-loss WWC Saint Mary’s in this game. That’s no discredit to the Gales, but Gonzaga clearly isn’t ready to get back into the big-time competition again. Duke has already beat this team once. Furthermore, in a rematch, the Blue Devils would have the advantage yet again. Now, the Bulldogs should be fine come March. However, they are not the top team in the country at the moment.
Auburn Should be Lower… For Now
The Tigers are 3-3 in their last six games, and those three wins have come against teams that are not going to make the tournament. Furthermore, Auburn has lost all three games on the road, so it’s clear they aren’t comfortable in a more hostile setting, which is what the postseason is. This rut for Auburn needs to end, and they should clean it up against South Carolina and Mississippi State this week.
Top-10 Matchup will Solidify Seeding
No. 8 Purdue and No. 10 Wisconsin face off in Madison on Tuesday for more than just the Big 10 regular-season title. Both teams have shown some inconsistencies in the rankings this season, and a win will solidify a top seed for one, while the other will have to win some big games in the Big 10 tournament. This is the must-watch game of the week in a whiteout Kohl’s Center for almost all the marbles.
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