Thoughts on the AP Poll: Week 16

Duke is No. 5—Can It Stay There?

Duke benefited from the struggles of several teams directly above them in the rankings last week, climbing three spots to No. 5. San Diego State, Kansas and Villanova all suffered road defeats—only the Wildcats lost to a ranked opponent—and are now ranked sixth, eighth and ninth, respectively. The Blue Devils have a huge slate this week, playing three games in five days, headlined by the rescheduled rivalry game at North Carolina and a rematch against still-unbeaten Syracuse. The No. 1 Orange dodged a couple of bullets last week, beating Pittsburgh on Tyler Ennis' 35-foot heave at the buzzer and beating N.C. State on a late layup at home.

Florida Surpasses Arizona as Two Teams Trending in Opposite Directions

With Brandon Ashley healthy, the Wildcats were a perfect 22-0. Now that the sophomore is out for the season with a broken foot, No. 4 Arizona is 2-2 and struggling to score on offense. A double-overtime loss at rival Arizona State cost the Wildcats their No. 2 ranking. Stepping into that slot are the Florida Gators, who haven't lost since a buzzer-beater at Connecticut Dec. 2. The Gators are strong, athletic and physical on defense, and got an added shot in the arm when the NCAA cleared freshman Chris Walker to suit up Jan. 29. Loaded with experience and talent, the Gators will be a handful come March, as evident by their convincing win at Kentucky Saturday night.

Is There a Dominant Conference in College Basketball?
Not if you look at the top 10. Syracuse and Duke represent the ACC at No. 1 and No. 5, and no other conference has multiple teams in the top 10. Three top-10 teams aren't in the traditional power conferences—No. 3 Wichita State, No. 6 San Diego State and No. 10 Saint Louis—and the American Athletic Conference—No. 7 Cincinnati—and the Big East—No. 9 Villanova—have been vastly diluted as a result of the breakup of the original Big East. Strange as it may seem, the Big Ten, perhaps the deepest conference in the country, has no team in the top 10, while the loaded Big 12 has just No. 8 Kansas. The top 10 picture is sure to change between now and March, but don't be surprised if one of the teams currently on the outside looking in is hoisting the trophy in North Texas.