NCAA Top 25: Only Three Remain Undefeated

Another week of college hoops and another week with three undefeated teams remaining. NCAA Top 25 teams Duke, Michigan and Arizona all took care of business this week and have kept their places in the Top 5, along with perfect records on the season. The rest of the Poll had some serious movement with Ohio State, Cincinnati, New Mexico and Georgetown all losing, causing quick drops in polling numbers with everyone else below them moving up. Kansas State and Wichita State made some serious upward movements with big wins.

Top 10:
No. 1  – Duke: The Blue Devils picked up wins on the road against Davidson, 50:67, and started their ACC schedule at home with a win against Wake Forest, 80:62. Not part of the current poll is their conference win on Tuesday at home over Clemson, 68:40.

No. 2 – Michigan: The Wolverines picked up a first place vote in the AP Poll this week with two huge wins over Big Ten rivals Northwestern (away – 66:94) and Iowa (home – 95:67). The wins give Michigan a 15-0 record as they head into an important week in the Big Ten with games against No. 15 Ohio State (away – Jan. 13) and No. 8 Minnesota (away – Jan. 19).

No. 3 – Louisville: Louisville broke a tie with Arizona for the No. 3 spot this week in the AP Poll, but remain in No. 4 in the Coaches’ poll. The Cardinals only had one game this week, an 80:62 home win against Providence.

No. 4 – Arizona: Arizona brought their record to 14-0 when they took care of Colorado 92:83 last Thursday and  picked up another close win when snuck past Utah at home, 60:57. They have a three-game road tour over the next week and a half with Pac-12 match-ups against Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona State.

No. 5 – Indiana: Only one game this week, a 74:51 beating of Penn State in College Station, PA. Their next big test will be against No. 8 Minnesota on Sat., Jan. 12.

No. 6 – Kansas: The Jayhawks had their hands full with Temple on Sunday, having to come from behind late in the contest to put away the unranked Owls. Kansas has Iowa State on Wednesday and travels to Texas Tech on Saturday.

No. 7 – Syracuse: Picked up two Big East wins this week at home against Rutgers, 78:53, and on the road against South Florida, 44:55. This week they square off against Providence (8-6) and Villanova (10-4).

No. 8 – Minnesota: The Golden Gophers continued their upward climb grabbing one spot in the AP Poll when Ohio State fell out of the Top 10, and moved into the Top 10 of the Coaches’ Poll moving up three spots. The Gophers improved to 14-1 on the season with their only loss being to Duke on Nov. 22nd. Last week they earned Big Ten wins at home over Michigan State, 76:63, and Northwestern, 69:51. They’ll be tested this week when they square off against No. 12 Illinois on Wednesday and No. 5 Indiana on Saturday.

No. 9 – Gonzaga: The Zags picked up their 15th win of the season running through three road opponents. The win, and Ohio State’s fall from the Top 10, earned Gonzaga a one spot bump in the AP Poll and two places (from No. 10 to No. 8) on the Coaches’ Poll. They pulled ahead in the final seconds of a non-conference game against No. 22 Oklahoma State, 68:69, then opened their West Coast Conference schedule with a big win over Pepperdine, 62:78, and then downed Santa Clara, 74:81, to go 2-0 in conference play and 15-1 overall. The only game the Bulldogs have come up short on is the loss to Illinois on Dec. 8.

No. 10 – Missouri: Missouri, fresh off their overtime loss to UCLA on Dec. 28, held off a scrappy Bucknell squad to earn their 11th win on the season and pick up two places in the AP Poll, they remain in 12th on the Coaches’ Poll. The Tigers grabbed their first SEC win Tuesday with an 84:68 victory over Alabama (8-5) at home.

Big Movers: Kansas State made one of the biggest moves of the week, moving up seven places in the AP Poll and four spots in the Coaches’ Poll. Much of KStates’ move in the AP numbers is due to the drop of four Top 25 teams, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Michigan State and New Mexico, and part of the move was picking up two wins on the week against South Dakota, 70:50, and Oklahoma State, 73:67.

-Oklahoma State dropped out of the Top 25 with their losses to Kansas State and Gonzaga, resulting in an eight place free-fall on both polls.

-Wichita State shot up the AP Poll from No. 32 to No. 23 this week with road wins over Drake (6-8, 63:75) and Bradley (10-5, 63:69), to improve their season record to 14-1.

-New Mexico dropped five places in the AP Poll and three places with the Coaches, without stepping foot on the court in competition. They play next against UNLV on Wednesday.

-Michigan State lost to No. 8 Minnesota and dropped four places with the AP voters.

-Pittsburgh went from No. 24 with 219 AP votes to earning only one AP vote this week, or a 12-place drop and a nine place drop on the Coaches’ Poll, all after losses to Cincinnati at home, 61:70, and on the road against Rutgers, 67:62. Pitt defeated No. 19 Georgetown on Tuesday on the road, 40:64, and will face Marquette on Sat., Jan. 12.

The Associated Press Top 25 Poll

Division I Coaches’ Top 25 Poll

Comparison Poll