The 22-0 Wildcats were the unanimous pick for the top spot in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll after beating No. 16 BYU and rival Arizona State last week. Arizona is off to the best start in school history and the Wildcats are on the cusp of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in five seasons under coach Tommy Lloyd. The big question is whether the Wildcats can reach the Final Four for the first time in 25 years.
Behind Arizona, the top five underwent a shakeup: Michigan (20-1) moved up one spot to No. 2 after beating No. 9 Nebraska and No. 10 Michigan State, while No. 3 UConn (21-1) fell one spot despite not losing this week. Duke (20-1) held steady at No. 4, and Illinois (19-3) jumped four spots to No. 5 after beating No. 12 Purdue and Nebraska. It is the highest ranking for the Illini since 2021.
Other notable movement:
- The aforementioned Cornhuskers (20-2) fell four spots after losing their first two games of the season.
- Aside from Illinois, No. 11 Kansas (16-5), No. 15 Vanderbilt (19-3) and No. 22 St. John’s (16-5) were the biggest climbers, each moving up three spots.
- No. No. 21 Arkansas (16-6) suffered the biggest fall, dropping six spots after a home loss to Kentucky.
- Alabama (14-7) dropped out of the Top 25, while No. 25 Tennessee (15-6) took its place.
Here’s the full poll, along with the vote from The athletic’CJ Moore:
| Rank | Team | File | Previous | CJ’s voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22-0 | 1 | 1 | |
2 | 20-1 | 3 | 2 | |
3 | 21-1 | 2 | 3 | |
4 | 20-1 | 4 | 4 | |
5 | 19-3 | 9 | 5 | |
6 | 22-1 | 6 | 9 | |
7 | 20-2 | 8 | 8 | |
8 | 19-2 | 10 | 6 | |
9 | 20-2 | 5 | 7 | |
10 | 19-3 | 7 | 10 | |
11 | 16-5 | 14 | 13 | |
12 | 18-4 | 12 | 11 | |
13 | 16-5 | 11 | 15 | |
14 | 17-4 | 16 | 19 | |
15 | 19-3 | 18 | 12 | |
16 | 17-4 | 13 | 16 | |
17 | 16-6 | 19 | 14 | |
18 | 18-3 | 17 | 17 | |
19 | 21-1 | 21 | 18 | |
20 | 18-4 | 22 | 22 | |
21 | 16-6 | 15 | 21 | |
22 | 16-5 | 25 | 24 | |
23 | 22-0 | 24 | NO | |
24 | 15-6 | 20 | 25 | |
25 | 15-6 | NO | 20 | |
NO | 14-7 | 23 | 23 |
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 83, Alabama 48, Iowa 39, UCF 39, Kentucky 28, Villanova 15, NC State 9, Auburn 8, Utah State 6, Miami 4, Georgia 3, Santa Clara 1, George Mason 1, Wisconsin 1.
Duke is doing better and better
I agree with Duke for the first time this season, and I’m getting on this team. Jon Scheyer probably won’t get National Coach of the Year consideration because Duke was expected to be good, and we’re almost holding it against coaches who can recruit at a high level when it comes to these awards, but he’s done a great job figuring out how to make his offense elite and get his team playing and defending together at a high level. He has the talent, but that could be a challenge with such a young squad.
The Blue Devils’ numbers are too good for me to rank them lower than No. 4, and you could justify ranking them above UConn, which is ranked 10th according to statistical rating systems such as Ken Pom and BPI. I prefer UConn’s resume — four wins over teams in my top 16, compared to three for Duke — but I’ll take the loss if I doubt Duke. The Blue Devils are cruising through the ACC and have made that shot look bad.
Don’t panic at Purdue
I’m slightly above the consensus on Purdue, which I have at No. 11 this week. The Boilermakers have lost three in a row, but the season summary is solid. Looking at the resume and quality rankings that the NCAA Tournament selection committee considers, their lowest rank is 12th on record, and they are between No. 6 and No. 9 in every other ranking system. Two of Purdue’s three recent losses were on the road (UCLA and Indiana) and the other was against a team I ranked fifth (Illinois). All three were close games.
Purdue’s other loss is at home against No. 7 Iowa State. You could even argue that Purdue should be above Michigan State, but the quality of the losses (Duke, Nebraska and Michigan to Michigan State) was the dividing line for me. Under Purdue, I’d listen to an argument for Florida, which has better predictive numbers (up to #6 on both Bart Torvik And Evan Miya), but that’s it.
The statistics of Miami (Ohio) lag behind the rankings
Utah State, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, New Mexico, San Diego State, VCU, Tulsa, Akron, Grand Canyon, Boise State, South Florida, McNeese State, Belmont, George Washington, Illinois State, George Mason, Liberty, Yale and Dayton. That is possible at Torvik sort teams by their average in quality-based metrics (BPI, KenPom and Torvik), and those are the teams outside of a major conference and outside of the current Top 25 that are ranked above Miami (Ohio).
The RedHawks rank 36th in their average resume-based rankings, trailing only Utah State and Saint Mary’s in that group. As I wrote last week, I’m fine with anyone who wants to rank Miami (Ohio). But if I were to rank the RedHawks, it would conflict with the process I use every week.
Matches between ranked teams this week
(All times ET)
- No. No. 11 Kansas at No. 13 Texas Tech: Monday, 9 p.m., ESPN
- No. 3 UConn at No. 22 St. John’s: Friday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox
- No. 4 Duke at No. 14 North Carolina: Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
- No. 5 Illinois at No. 10 Michigan State: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Fox
- No. 8 Houston at No. 16 BYU: Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
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