In a wild week in college basketball, the top three teams in the AP top-25 poll fell. The Blue Zone rounds up how that changed the rankings:
Chaos leaves new No. 1
It was a crazy week, to say the least. Villanova fell to sudden giant-killer St. John’s and Virginia fell to Virginia Tech, sending the Cavaliers to the top spot in the poll for the first time since 1982. Villanova dropped to No. 3 after their shocking loss to the Red Storm.
Ex-No. 3 Purdue also lost twice this week, sending it down to No. 6. One of those losses came to then-No. 4 Michigan State, which moved to No. 2. The Spartans were not far behind Virginia in first place votes, garnering 21 to the Cavaliers' 30.
After skid, Duke falls to No. 12
After their third loss in four games to North Carolina, the Blue Devils dropped from No. 9 to No. 12. With the 82-78 victory in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels jumped to No. 14. Duke got back on track with a win in its first road game in three tries Sunday at Georgia Tech, but a number of concerns still remain for the Blue Devils.
Duke struggled mightily on the glass against North Carolina, yielding 15 second-half offensive rebounds and losing the rebound margin despite having a significant height advantage. The Blue Devils have also yet to pick up their second quality true road win.
Their only win against a ranked team on the road was at then-No. 25 Miami, which fell out of the rankings this week after losing to Boston College. Duke also has picked up three tough losses to the Eagles, St. John’s and N.C. State away from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Cincinnati, Clemson move up the ladder
Despite not having a win against a ranked team this season, Cincinnati has continued to sneak up the rankings, all the way to No. 5. The Bearcats sit behind just Virginia in basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency rankings and have held three of their last five opponents to 48 points or fewer.
Another sneaky riser: Clemson. Another strong defensive team, the Tigers have rolled off four straight wins since scoring 36 points in a loss to Virginia and moved to No. 11 in this week’s edition of the AP poll.
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COMPLETE RANKINGS:
1. Virginia
2. Michigan State
3. Villanova
4. Xavier
5. Cincinnati
6. Purdue
7. Texas Tech
8. Ohio State
9. Gonzaga
10. Auburn
11. Clemson
12. Duke
13. Kansas
14. North Carolina
15. Saint Mary's
16. Rhode Island
17. Arizona
18. Tennessee
19. Wichita State
20. West Virginia
21. Texas A&M
22. Michigan
23. Oklahoma
24. Nevada
25. Arizona State
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.