Now we know the full extent of the damage the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers suffered at the hands of No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats. Two of the SEC heavyweights shared a court on Saturday and the Wildcats beat up the Volunteers physically and mentally in the game of the week. Now, the former No. 1 team dropped four spots, while the nations most famous squad moved back up to the top spot on Monday.
The No. 1 Duke Blue Devils have a slight lead in the ACC and they have now reclaimed their spot atop the perch of the AP Top 25 Rankings. They are followed closely behind the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs and No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers. Currently, the Blue Devils are (3-1) in games between the top four ranked teams. They also face the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels this week for another chance at a Top 10 win.
Despite losing over the weekend, the No. 24 Maryland Terrapins remained in Top 25 for the fifth straight week. They are 1 of 4 teams with 7 or more losses in the field. The Purdue Boilermakers and Wisconsin Badgers have seven losses apiece. However, the Louisville Cardinals lead the Top 25 with eight losses.
The Mid Majors fared well in the latest Top 25 AP Poll. In addition to the Bulldogs from the West Coast Conference, the No. 6 Nevada Wolf Pack have risen, while dominating the Mountain West Conference. Meanwhile, the No. 9 Houston Cougars have remained a strong contender by maintaining the best record in college basketball. They are the lone member of the American Athletic Conference in the Top 25. The Buffalo Bulls returned to the national rankings after a short hiatus.
Read: Bracketology No. 1 Seed Projections
AP Top 25 Rankings
- Duke Blue Devils (ACC)
- Gonzaga Bulldogs (WCC)
- Virginia Cavaliers (ACC)
- Kentucky Wildcats (SEC)
- Tennessee Volunteers (SEC)
- Nevada Wolf Pack (MWC)
- Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (ACC)
- Houston Cougars (AAC)
- Michigan State Spartans (Big Ten)
- Marquette Golden Eagles (Big East)
- Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12)
- LSU Tigers (SEC)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (Big 12)
- Purdue Boilermakers (Big Ten)
- Florida State Seminoles (ACC)
- Villanova Wildcats (Big East)
- Louisville Cardinals (ACC)
- Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12)
- Virginia Tech Hokies (ACC)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (Big Ten)
- Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten)
- Kansas State Wildcats (Big 12)
- Maryland Terrapins (Big Ten)
- Buffalo Bulls (Mid-American)
Top 25 Conference Breakdown
The ACC and Big Ten each have six teams in the current top 25. Meanwhile, the Big 12 has four teams in the rankings. However, they don’t have any team higher than the No. 12 Kansas Jayhawks. The SEC has three teams, while the Big East only has a pair of teams in the AP Top 25 rankings.
ACC (6 Teams): Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State, Louisville, Virginia Tech
Big Ten (6 Teams): Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maryland
Big 12 (4 Teams): Kansas, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas State
SEC (3 Teams): Kentucky, Tennessee, LSU
Big East (2 Teams): Marquette, Villanova
WCC (1 Team): Gonzaga
MWC (1 Team): Nevada
AAC (1 Team): Houston
Mid-American (1 Team): Buffalo
