On Monday afternoon, there will be a unanimous No. 1 team in an AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll for the seventh straight season. The Arizona Wildcats will earn all 61 first-place votes in the poll after receiving 60 last week, made possible after Iowa State — which earned the other first-place vote last Monday — lost twice in two games this week.
Arizona’s death grip on No. 1 is one of several notable changes heading into Monday’s poll. I also expect UConn to rise to No. 2 while extending its streak of top-five appearances to 11 weeks. The risers will also likely include Purdue, Duke and Houston.
The fall of previously undefeated teams will largely be the underlying theme of Monday’s Week 11 poll. Not only will Iowa State (who went from 16-0 to 16-2 this week) fall from No. 2 to the top five – but so will Vanderbilt (who also went from 16-0 to 16-2 this week). The Commodores’ two losses come in the same week they climbed to the highest spot in the poll, No. 10, once again putting them outside the top 10.
There’s also a lot of other movement expected in the polling on Monday, and I expect – perhaps naively – that voters will wise up and rank some worthy mid-major teams in Saint Louis and Miami (OH). The latter improved to 19-0 with a thrilling win over Buffalo on Saturdaywhile the former crushed Richmond at home to reach a 17-1 record – his best start to the season since the 1993-94 season.
Both have not reached the rankings this season. That should change on Monday.
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