AP Top 25 Poll released entering NCAA Tournament, March Madness

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•03/14/22•

Jonathan Wagner

March madness is officially here. Conference tournaments are now in the rearview mirror, and the full NCAA Tournament bracket has officially been released. This past week was filled with upsets across all of the different conference tournaments, leading to some big changes within the AP Top 25 ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

The most surprising conference tournament champion this past week was Virginia Tech. The Hokies entered the ACC Tournament as the seventh seed, but beat Clemson, Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Duke on their way to the title. Iowa, the fifth seed in the Big Ten, also went on an impressive run, beating Northwester, Rutgers, Indiana, and Purdue in one of the most upset-filled conference tournaments this season.

Kansas entered the Big 12 Tournament as the top seed, and the Jayhawks took care of business, beating Texas Tech in the Championship Game. Top seeded Arizona also won the Pac-12 Tournament, coming out on top in a close game against UCLA. Finally, Tennessee put an end to Texas A&M’s magical run in the SEC Tournament. The Volunteers dominated the Aggies throughout, bringing home the crown.

Following all of the conference tournament surprises, here is the full AP Top 25 Poll with the NCAA Tournament rapidly approaching.

Full AP Top 25 entering the NCAA Tournament

  1. Gonzaga (26-3)
  2. Arizona (31-3)
  3. Kansas (28-6)
  4. Baylor (26-6)
  5. Tennessee (26-7)
  6. Villanova (26-7)
  7. Kentucky (26-7)
  8. Auburn (27-5)
  9. Duke (28-6)
  10. Purdue (27-7)
  11. UCLA (25-7)
  12. Texas Tech (25-9)
  13. Providence (25-5)
  14. Wisconsin (24-7)
  15. Houston (29-5)
  16. Iowa (26-9)
  17. Arkansas (25-8)
  18. Saint Mary’s (25-7)
  19. Illinois (22-9)
  20. Murray State (30-2)
  21. UConn (23-9)
  22. USC (26-7)
  23. Boise State (27-7)
  24. Colorado State (25-5)
  25. Texas (21-11)

There was not a whole lot of significant movement within the top 25, but outside of the top two teams, there were changes throughout. There aren’t many new teams, though, as North Carolina was the lone team to drop out of the top 25 after conference tournament week. Boise State took their place, coming in at No. 23 in the rankings.

The teams just outside of the top 25 include Virginia Tech (63 votes), South Dakota State (33), San Diego State (33), LSU (25), Loyola Chicago (18), Memphis (18), North Carolina (16), Michigan State (14), and Texas A&M (13).