Wild week leads to changes across AP Top 25 poll
The stability of the Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll these past several weeks blew up during a tumultuous week of big victories and upsets.
Kentucky, Division I’s only undefeated team, remained entrenched at No. 1 after two routs. The Wildcats (29-0) were a unanimous choice for the fifth straight week after receiving all 65 first-place votes from a media panel Monday.
Two more weeks on top and Kentucky will become the eighth team, and first since UNLV in 1991, to go wire-to-wire in the AP poll. Virginia (27-7) held at No. 2 following two lopsided wins.
Then the fun begins. This was a week in which 15 of the 25 teams from the previous poll lost, including two that lost twice.
Gonzaga and Wisconsin both lost, so the next three teams behind them moved up: Duke one place to No. 3, Villanova and Arizona each up two spots. The Badgers fell to sixth after losing to Maryland and the Bulldogs dropped four spots to No. 7 after losing to BYU.
The Zags’ (29-2) unbeaten run through the WCC and their 41-game home winning streak were both gone with a 73-70 upset to the Cougars on Saturday. GU’s previous loss was in overtime at No. 5 Arizona.
Top-seeded Gonzaga will open the WCC tournament Saturday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Friday’s No. 8 San Francisco-No. 9 Pacific game at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. GU won the WCC regular-season title by four games.
No. 8 Wichita State moved back into the top 10 after winning its Missouri Valley Conference showdown with Northern Iowa. Kansas dropped a spot to No. 9 after losing to Kansas State.
Maryland’s wins over Wisconsin and Michigan moved the Terrapins into the top 10 for the first time since 2003.
Northern Iowa’s first trip to the top 10 lasted one week; the Panthers were down to No. 11 after the loss to the Shockers. Notre Dame also fell out of the top 10, down three spots to No. 12 after losing to Syracuse.
Despite all the changes, the top seven – in various orders – have remained the same for seven weeks. It’s the first time that’s happened since 1992-93, when they held up for eight weeks.