Parity continues to reign supreme as another week of college basketball brought another shifting of the top 10 of the AP Poll.
Blue Devils ranked ahead of showdown against North Carolina
After a two week hiatus, Duke is back in the top 25 at No. 20 and trending up. The Blue Devils started a tough four-game stretch with a 72-65 victory against Louisville followed by a 63-62 win against Virginia. The pair of victories were the team's first against ranked opponents this season and provided a huge boost for Duke's subpar resume. But the going won't get any easier for the Blue Devils as they hit the road to take on the fifth-ranked Tar Heels Wednesday followed by a rematch against No. 18 Louisville Saturday.
Villanova remains at No. 1; four top five teams tumble
The Wildcats embraced the challenge of the top spot this week and came away with victories against St John's and DePaul. Villanova now sits at 22-3 on the season—including a 12-1 record in Big East play—and extended its reign in the top spot for another week.
But the other teams in last week's top five were not nearly as fortunate.
The carnage started early in the week when formerly No. 5 Xavier struggled on the road in a 70-56 loss to Creighton Tuesday. The Musketeers managed to miss 20 of their 21 shots from beyond the arc and had a tough time getting any sort of offense going. Previously No. 4 Iowa became the second team to fall as they were defeated by Indiana 85-78 to fall into a temporary tie atop the Big Ten standings. Saturday brought two more upsets as then-No. 2 Maryland fell by 13 at home to a rising Wisconsin team and Oklahoma's Buddy Hield couldn't muster up enough magic to help his team beat Kansas. Hyped as the rematch of the epic three-overtime battle early this season, the Jayhawks used a huge performance Devonte' Graham to come away with the road win.
Kansas was one of the biggest risers of the week moving up to No. 2 in this week's poll. Meanwhile, Oklahoma, Iowa, Maryland and Xavier find themselves at No. 3, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 8 respectively.
Pac-12 remains tight at the top
West Coast basketball may not attract as many viewers with its late start times, but the race for the Pac-12 regular season crown remains one of the more intriguing battles in the country. With freshman Alonzo Trier back in tow, Arizona has won three straight conference games and sits at No. 12 in this week's poll. But the Wildcats can't rest easy as No. 16 Oregon also sits at 9-4 despite losing road games to California and Stanford this week. Colorado, Utah, Southern California and the Golden Bears all remain in striking distance just one loss back of conference-leading Arizona.
Flyers flying under the radar
Perhaps the best team no one has talked about this season has been Dayton—who came away with a pair of two-point victories against Duquesne and Rhode Island to run its win-streak to nine. Led by head coach Archie Miller and senior Dyshawn Pierre, the Flyers have shown some of the characteristics of a team that can progress deep into March despite playing against subpar competition. Dayton landed at No. 15 in this week's poll
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