Turbulent weekend of college basketball leads to changes in new AP Top 25 Poll

Jonathan Wagner

Week in and week out, this college basketball season continues to deliver plenty of excitement. Over the weekend, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge brought plenty of upsets and great games that came down to the wire. After 13 AP-ranked teams lost during the last week, a new AP Top 25 Poll has been released with major changes to the updated rankings.

Ultimately, the Big 12 edged out the SEC with a 7-3 record in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Undoubtedly, the biggest upset of the weekend was unranked Oklahoma knocking off No. 2 Alabama, 93-69. The Big 12 got another boost when unranked West Virginia defeated No. 15 Auburn, 80-77.

No. 4 Tennessee dominated against No. 10 Texas in one of the most highly-anticipated games of the week, though the 82-71 score doesn’t quite do full justice. Unranked Mississippi State defeated No. 11 TCU 81-74 in overtime, while Missouri upset No. 12 Iowa State 78-61 to give the SEC a couple more victories, both of which caused some movement in the new AP Top 25 Poll.

Just 12 AP-ranked teams escaped the week unscathed. 12 teams lost exactly once, including five teams ranked inside the top ten. In addition to losing against West Virginia on Saturday, Auburn also lost against Texas A&M earlier in the week. The Tigers went 0-2 on the week, falling to 16-5 on the year.

The SEC/Big 12 Challenge surely brought a lot of surprises, but the excitement didn’t stop there. The trek towards the postseason continues, with this week’s AP Top 25 Poll showing that there is a lot to still be settled over the course of the next month.

Updated AP Top 25 Poll

Purdue (21-1) (62 first-place votes)
Tennessee (18-3)
Houston (20-2)
Alabama (18-3)
Arizona (19-3)
Virginia (16-3)
Kansas State (18-3)
Kansas (17-4)
UCLA (17-4)
Texas (17-4)
Baylor (16-5)
Gonzaga (18-4)
Iowa State (15-5)
Marquette (17-5)
TCU (16-5)
Xavier (17-5)
Providence (17-5)
Saint Mary’s (19-4)
Florida Atlantic (21-1)
Clemson (18-4)
Indiana (15-6)
San Diego State (17-4)
Miami (16-5)
UConn (16-6)
Auburn (16-5)

Indiana and San Diego State were the only two teams to enter this week’s AP Top 25 Poll, taking the places of College of Charleston (previously No. 18) and New Mexico (previously No. 25).

Missouri was the top vote-getting team outside of the top 25, finishing with 74 votes. Other teams to receive at least one vote were College of Charleston (68), Illinois (56), New Mexico (47), North Carolina (47), NC State (39), Boise State (31), Duke (24), Rutgers (17), Texas A&M (16), Northwestern (13), Memphis (10), Arkansas (9), Pittsburgh (9), West Virginia (2), Nevada (2), Oral Roberts (2) and Saint Louis (1).