Heading into the final week of the regular season, things are starting to shape up across college basketball, as seen in the latest AP poll:
Duke stays at No. 5 despite top-5 upset
Then-No. 3 Villanova lost on Saturday at Creighton 89-83 in overtime. Bluejays guard Marcus Foster poured in 28 points to earn Creighton’s highest ranked win ever.
Although its defense has improved rapidly in a five-game winning streak, Duke remained at No. 5 in the latest AP poll. Villanova dropped to No. 4 and now sits second in the Big East behind No. 3 Xavier.
Big-12 showdown
No. 8 Kansas and No. 6 Texas Tech met in Lubbock on Saturday with a piece of the Big 12 Title at stake. The Jayhawks emerged with a 74-72 win behind 26 points from Devonte’ Graham to clinch their 14th straight Big 12 Championship, setting an NCAA record for most consecutive regular season conference championships.
Kansas rose to No. 6 on the strength of its win, while the Red Raiders fell to No. 12 after also losing at Oklahoma State earlier in the week.
Scandal strikes Arizona
Then-No. 14 Arizona was rocked on Saturday when a report claiming that the FBI had wiretaps of Wildcats head coach Sean Miller talking about paying recruits. Miller did not coach the team on Saturday night against Oregon, but the player implicated, star freshman DeAndre Ayton, did take the floor. Arizona lost in overtime 98-93 despite Ayton scoring 28 points, but may have a difficult road ahead as the investigation continues.
The Wildcats remain in first in the Pac-12 but fell to No. 19 in the newest poll with just one week left in the regular season.
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COMPLETE RANKINGS:
1. Virginia
2. Michigan State
3. Xavier
4. Villanova
5. Duke
6. Kansas
7. Gonzaga
8. Purdue
9. North Carolina
10. Cincinnati
11. Wichita State
12. Texas Tech
13. Ohio State
14. Auburn
15. Michigan
16. Tennessee
17. Rhode Island
18. Clemson
19. Arizona
20. West Virginia
21. Nevada
22. Saint Mary's
23. Kentucky
24. Middle Tennessee
25. Houston
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