Every Monday, I will be posting a breakdown of the AP Top 25, as well as bracket headlines from power conference teams around the country.
*AAC, A10, and WCC included in power conferences*
AP Top-25
- Virginia
- Michigan State
- Villanova
- Xavier
- Duke
- Texas Tech
- Gonzaga
- Kansas
- Purdue
- UNC
- Cincinnati
- Auburn
- Wichita State
- Arizona
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Nevada
- West Virginia
- St Marys
- Houston
- Middle Tennessee
- Florida State
Top-25 Breakdown
I am seeing a lot arguments today being made for Michigan State to be number one, and I firmly disagree. I actually think they should be #3, at best, after Villanova’s win over Xavier this weekend. The Spartans not only had trouble with bottom of the barrel teams in the Big Ten, but they went down 27 to struggling Northwestern, who was playing without their BEST PLAYER. If the Spartans were to trail by even 20 points to a tournament team in the second half of a game in March, there is no way they could come back in my eyes. In other news, Houston is ranked after their upset of Cincinnati, and Middle Tennessee is ranked for the first time in program history.
Top-25 Notes
- #12 Auburn goes 1-1 this week, beating Kentucky and receiving a bad upset from South Carolina.
- In a Thursday Night of upsets in the Big Ten, Wisconsin beats #9 Purdue, and Penn State beats #16 Ohio State. Then on Sunday, Ohio State loses again to rival #17 Michigan in a game that the Wolverines controlled all game, and Purdue outlasts a great game from Penn State. In two other ranked matchups on Sunday, #13 Wichita State ends #11 Cincinnati’s home win streak of 39 with a very gritty win, and #5 Duke takes care of business on the road at #15 Clemson.
- #14 Arizona goes on the road to beat ASU in a great game of PAC 12 basketball. Arizona is battling for a two seed.
- #8 Kansas once again comes back to beat #21 West Virginia for the season sweep.
Bracket Headlines
- Baylor makes it even harder for Texas to find a ticket to the big dance as they beat them in double overtime at Texas. Baylor also upset Texas Tech, as they move into tournament contention.
- Butler receives a tournament set back as they fall to Georgetown on their home court, which hurts their resume, but they made it up by taking care of Providence later in the week. The Friars of Providence don’t have much to worry about because they upset Villanova earlier this week.
- Trae Young once again couldn’t do enough in two games this week, as Oklahoma falls to Texas Tech and Texas. The Sooners are sliding down the seed line, losing eight of their last ten.
- Missouri is rising at the perfect time, as they cooled down the super-hot Texas A&M Aggies by four. Watch out for a potential Michael Porter Jr. return, which could carry this team to new heights.
- Nebraska’s tournament dreams may be shot after a bad loss to Illinois.
- Kansas State stays hot and they make Oklahoma State’s chances to make the tournament very slim.
- Davidson maintains their slim chance for an at-large bid with a road win over VCU.
- Temple falls to Wichita State and gets blown out by Houston, making it pretty impossible for the Owls to receive an at-large bid.
- In PAC 12 bubble games, USC beats Oregon and Utah beats Washington. The winners are just inside the tournament field in my eyes as the losers are just outside of the field.
- St Bonaventure gets the win they needed for a tournament bid as they upset Rhode Island.
- Syracuse moves closer to the bubble line with a win over Miami.
- Kentucky gets back on track with a solid win over Alabama in Rupp Arena.
- Arkansas locks down their spot in the NCAA Tournament with a 19-point win over Texas A&M.
- Notre Dame inches closer on the bubble with a road win over BC.
- Creighton falls to Marquette at home for a loss that hurts, but they will still easily get an at-large bid.
