Although the SEC/Big 12 Challenge provided a break from conference play for college basketball fans, the AP Poll remained as fluid as always.
Duke falls out of the top 25
It’s official. For the first time since 2007, the Blue Devils are out of the AP Top 25 poll. Duke's drop comes on the heels of an 80-69 loss to then-No. 15 Miami—the team's fourth loss in five games.
The Duke women remained unranked when the latest women's poll was released later Monday afternoon, meaning Blue Devil teams are out of the top 25 in their respective sports for the first time since Dec. 29, 1986. The women’s team fell out of the rankings two weeks ago, and four straight ACC wins were not enough to get Joanne P. McCallie's squad back into the top 25, instead managing just two voting points. Monday's poll thus Duke's 29-year streak of having at least one basketball team ranked in the top 25—the second-longest active streak in the country behind only Tennessee. The Lady Volunteers dropped two games last week, but clung on to the No. 23 spot in the women's poll, extending their streak to 563 straight weeks.
Chaos reigns supreme in the top 25
The top of the college basketball poll has been a revolving door all season and this week proved to be much of the same. More than half the teams in the top 25 dropped a game, including losses by five teams in the top 10. Last week's third-ranked Iowa team lost its first Big Ten game against then-No. 8 Maryland, moving the Terrapins up four spots in this week's poll. In another top-10 matchup, then-No. 7 Xavier defeated Providence, moving the Musketeers to No.6 and the Friars to 11.
Wisconsin snapped then-No. 19 Indiana's 12-game win streak with an 82-79 overtime win. Just two days later, then-No. 23 Oregon handed Arizona its first home-loss in 49 games—which had been the longest home-win streak in the country. The Ducks ascended seven spots in this week's poll and the Wildcats fell five positions to No. 23.
SEC/Big 12 Challenge proves to be worth the wait
The third year of the inter-conference challenge brought its share of excitement with the top teams from each going head to head. After losing to Iowa State earlier in the week, Kansas needed overtime to topple Kentucky 90-84 at home. The Wildcats stayed at No. 20 with the defeat, while the Jayhawks find themselves at No. 7 in this week's poll.
Iowa State had trouble of its own Saturday as the Cyclones fell to then-No.5 Texas A&M in an entertaining back-and-forth contest. West Virginia also failed to record a road victory in the challenge as the Mountaineers fell to Florida 88-71. Iowa State and West Virginia find themselves at No. 13 and No.14 in this week's rankings.
ACC upsets continue to shake-up rankings
Four ranked ACC teams lost this past week, with two of them slipping out of the poll. Besides Duke, then-No. 25 Notre Dame dropped an 81-66 decision to Syracuse without the services of star point guard Demetrius Jackson. The Orange are now 5-2 since the return of head coach Jim Boeheim and have shown the capability to hang with some of the best teams in the country.
After toppling Duke, the Hurricanes could not finish the week on a high note, losing 85-69 against N.C. State and falling two spots in the poll. Thanks to three 3-pointers in the final 15 seconds to beat Wake Forest and a stout defensive performance in a 63-47 victory against then-No.16 Louisville, the Cavaliers avoided dropping in the polls and check in at No. 9 this week.
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