AP men’s college basketball Top 25: Arizona, Iowa State, UConn lead way, Vandy enters top 10
Arizona strengthened its hold on the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press men’s college basketball Top 25 on Monday, receiving 60 of 61 first-place votes.
The Wildcats (16-0, 3-0 Big 12) picked up 28 additional first-place votes this week after Michigan (14-1, 4-1 Big Ten) sustained its first loss of the season, to Wisconsin on Saturday.
Iowa State (16-0, 3-0 Big 12), one of five remaining undefeated Division I teams, moved up a spot to second, matching the highest ranking in school history. UConn (16-1, 6-0 Big East) climbed a spot to No. 3, Michigan dropped to No. 4 and Purdue (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten) rounded out the top five.
The biggest development behind them was Vanderbilt climbing from 11th to 10th — meaning the Commodores (16-0, 3-0 SEC) are a top-10 team for the first time since 1993.
Virginia (14-2, 3-1 ACC) was the biggest climber in the poll, moving up seven spots to No. 16 after wins over Cal and Stanford. And there was plenty of movement at the bottom: Iowa, Kansas, SMU and UCF all dropped out of the Top 25, while No. 19 Florida, No. 22 Clemson, No. 23 Utah State and No. 25 Seton Hall took their spots.
Here’s the full poll, along with the ballot of The Athletic’s C.J. Moore:
AP men’s Top 25: Jan. 12
Rank
Team
Record
Prev
CJ’s vote
1
16-0
1
1
2
16-0
3
2
3
16-1
4
4
4
14-1
2
3
5
15-1
5
5
6
15-1
6
10
7
15-1
7
8
8
16-0
10
9
9
17-1
8
7
10
16-0
11
6
11
15-1
9
11
12
14-2
12
12
13
13-3
16
13
14
14-2
17
15
15
13-3
14
14
16
14-2
23
18
17
12-4
15
17
18
11-5
13
16
19
11-5
NR
19
20
12-4
20
23
21
14-2
18
NR
22
14-3
NR
20
23
14-1
NR
21
24
11-5
21
NR
25
14-2
NR
NR
NR
15-1
NR
22
NR
11-5
22
24
NR
12-4
24
25
Others receiving votes: Saint Louis 92, Kansas 60, Iowa 58, Miami (Ohio) 49, Villanova 40, Wisconsin 37, Miami 30, Texas A&M 23, UCF 18, Saint Mary’s 17, SMU 15, Auburn 14, George Mason 8, NC State 3, USC 1, St. John’s 1
Nebraska, Vanderbilt continue to rise — and win
Vanderbilt and Nebraska both strengthened their cases to move up last week. Vandy got its first ranked win over Alabama and then beat LSU by double digits, its 13th double-digit win this season. The Commodores are up to No. 5 at KenPom and look the part of a top-10 team.
Nebraska got two Quad-1 road wins over Ohio State and Indiana and has one of the best resumes in the sport, with nine top-100 wins and two wins over currently ranked teams (a road win over Illinois and a home win over Michigan State). The teams in front of them did not lose this week, but I felt like it was time to readjust and move both up.
Are we underrating Illinois?
If there’s a team that feels underrated in my poll, it’s the Illini. Since moving freshman Keaton Wagler to point guard following a loss to UConn, the Illini are performing as the third-best team in college hoops, according to Bart Torvik, trailing only Arizona and Michigan. At KenPom, the Illini are No. 7 for the season.
The Illini will likely get their chance to move up into the top 10 in two weeks when they travel to Purdue. They have three very winnable games before that one. Win another four in a row and they could creep up near the top five.
Newcomers to the bottom of the Top 25
New to my Top 25 this week were Florida, Clemson, Utah State and Saint Louis. Florida has won six of its last seven and is back up to No. 12 at KenPom. If you take the preseason bias out at Torvik’s ratings, Florida is No. 11. Florida and Kansas are the only five-loss teams in my rankings, but it’s hard to find teams more deserving. The numbers for both are strong because of their strength of schedule.
Clemson has played a strong schedule and ranks as high as No. 14 in strength of record. The Tigers are 4-0 in the ACC, with three of those wins coming on the road and the fourth against a legit SMU team that is still receiving votes.
Both Utah State and Saint Louis have played weaker schedules but are performing like Top-25 teams. Utah State is ranked 13th in the NET and outscoring Mountain West teams by 39 points per 100 possessions. Saint Louis has the third-best scoring margin in college basketball and looks to have the best defense Josh Schertz has ever coached. The Billikens would be undefeated if not for a wacky ending against Stanford earlier this season when they fouled up 3 with 4.3 seconds left and Stanford made the first free throw, missed the second, and kicked out the rebound for a buzzer-beating 3.
