NCAA

College Basketball Top-25 Breakdown and Other Headlines: Week 13

by
Zach Pretzer
February 12, 2018

Credit: UVA Basketball

Every Monday, I will be posting a breakdown of the AP Top-25, as well as other headlines from power conference teams around the country.

*AAC, A10, and WCC included in power conferences*

Last Week’s Rankings

AP Top-25

Virginia
MSU
Villanova
Xavier
Cincinnati
Purdue
Texas Tech
Ohio State
Gonzaga
Auburn
Clemson
Duke
Kansas
UNC
St Marys
Rhode Island
Arizona
Tennessee
Wichita State
West V
Texas A&M
Michigan
Oklahoma
Nevada
ASU

Top-25 Breakdown

It was a cluster at the top of the poll, no one knew who the clear number one would be. Virginia lost at home to VTech and MSU does not have the resume to be #1. Virginia ended up claiming #1 because they have one less loss than Michigan State and, to me, they have the better resume. #3 Villanova and #4 Xavier meet this week to see who is the best team in the Big East. Gonzaga moves into the top ten after beating St Marys. Lastly, our new teams this week are Texas A&M and Arizona State, two teams who have finally got their momentum back after their hot starts this season. One complaint I have is that Nevada is still ranked, and New Mexico State sits outside the poll. NMSU upset Miami and Nevada does not have a win anywhere near Miami’s skill level other than their win over severally injured Rhode Island.

Top-25 Notes

#20 West Virginia outlasts Trae Youngs 32 points in a much-needed win over #23 Oklahoma in Norman. West Virginia was then upset by Oklahoma State later in the week.
#18 Tennessee barely holds on to get a major win in Rupp Arena over Kentucky. However, Alabama wins big. It was the biggest margin that a top-25 team has ever lost by, as they upset Tennessee by 28.
#22 Michigan falls to team fighting for a tournament spot in a game that you almost saw a loss coming at Northwestern. Michigan remained in the top-25.
ST JOHNS DOES IT AGAIN AS THEY UPSET THEN #1 VILLANOVA.
#8 Ohio State storms back to upset Purdue and take the lead in the Big Ten conference. They now have wins over the top three teams: MSU, Michigan and Purdue. Then, Michigan State outlasts Purdue in a crucial Big Ten game that could potentially be the deciding factor for a #1 seed.
#14 UNC wins round one of the greatest rivalry in college basketball, as they beat Duke 82-78. UNC then closed a great week as they cooled off NC State’s hot streak with a win.

Other Headlines

Syracuse grabs a huge win on the road at Louisville to move closer to making the tournament in March.
Mississippi State has showed up out of nowhere, as they got their best win of the season over Alabama to go along with their just six losses. Miss State did pick up their seventh loss in an overtime loss to Missouri in a fantastic game.
Penn State beats Maryland in a game that basically eliminates one team and brings the winning team closer to tournament contention.
Seton Hall plays flat and misses a ton of free throws on their way to a loss at home to Marquette. Then, the free throw bug hung around as they received a terrible loss from Georgetown.
In a fantastic bubble game, Kansas State knocks off Texas in an extremely tight game in Texas. Texas then lost again to TCU by 16, as they drift out of the tournament field for now.
VCU is likely not making the NCAA Tournament this year after a loss to Richmond ended their hopes. Also, Utah ends Stanfords hopes as the Utes stay alive.
Houston easily beats SMU who played without their star Shake Milton.
UCLA upsets Arizona as the Bruins seem to be finding a rhythm.
Washington was hot until they got dominated by Oregon 65-40 and fell to Oregon State in double overtime.
Maryland and Northwestern went to battle in a very important game and Maryland came out on top by 15.
Providence’s season gets very weird, as they were blown out by Depaul at home. They may not make the tournament with this loss.
BYU does not have the resume to be a tournament team quite yet, but they are in the conversation with just seven losses to their name. They needed overtime to beat a very good San Fran team for their last test. They get one last crack at Gonzaga, which could be the game that could get them an at large bid to the tournament. Speaking of Gonzaga, as you may know, they got revenge this week as they beat St Marys by 13 to regain the lead in the WCC.