College Basketball Rankings: Predicting the AP Poll Top 25 after big weekend

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The month of January is coming to a close over the next week and each team across college basketball continues to build a resume they hope will be worthy of Top 25 consideration and an NCAA Tournament bid by March.

Trying to predict how the voters will view each win and loss leads to a shuffled up version of the Top 25, with some movement in the middle and plenty of intersecting resumes.

The top teams on the board last week continues their winning ways. However, a large group of teams in the middle of the pack lost to conferences foes and opened the door for others to jump ahead of them.

Here is how I think the new AP Top 25 will look on Jan. 29:

1. UConn (Last week: 1)

Nov 27, 2023; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies center Donovan Clingan (32) reacts after being fouled by New Hampshire Wildcats in the second half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

UConn picked up a dominant win on Sunday against Xavier, showing that they might have grown even stronger during the week off between games. They continues to lead the Big East and hold down the top spot here.

The Huskies will face off against Providence before heading on the road to play St. John’s this week.

2. Purdue (Last week: 2)

Purdue's Zach Edey — Purdue’s Zach Edey (John E. Sokolowski/USA Today Sports)

Purdue remains No. 2 overall in the Top 25 projections after picking up Big Ten wins over Michigan and Rutgers this week.

The Boilermakers will get a rematch against Northwestern this week before heading on the road to face Wisconsin.

3. North Carolina (Last week: 3)

north-carolina-head-coach-hubert-davis-gives-rj-davis-injury-update — North Carolina senior RJ Davis has been on of college basketballs biggest stock risers over the past two weeks (Bennett/Getty Images)

North Carolina just keeps rolling through the ACC schedule behind its veteran group of players, picking up wins over Wake Forest and Florida State.

The Tar Heels will go on the road against Georgia Tech before ending the week with a rivalry game against Duke.

4. Houston (Last week: 4)

LJ Cryer Houston — Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Houston had a great week in the Big 12, beating BYU and Kansas State to keep things rolling and stay near the top of the Top 25 once again.

The Cougars will head on the road twice this week, first against Texas and then against Kansas.

5. Tennessee (Last week: 5)

(Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK) Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht (3) dribbles the ball during an NCAA college basketball game between Tennessee and Tarleton State at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.

Tennessee continues to look the part, coming out fresh after a bye week to beat in-state rival Vanderbilt on Saturday.

The Volunteers play against South Carolina in the midweek before a roadtrip to play rival Kentucky.

6. Wisconsin (Last week: 13)

Tyler Wahl — © Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports

Wisconsin makes a big jump into the Top 10 thanks as much to the slip-ups of those around them as the consistency they have shown in the Big Ten. They picked up two wins against Minnesota and Michigan State to make the leap.

The Badgers will play on the road against Nebraska before hosting Purdue this week.

7. Kansas (Last week: 7)

Hunter Dickinson is one of the top transfers in college basketball (Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio)

Kansas keeps taking hits with a loss against Iowa State ended the week on a sour note after a midweek win over Cincinnati had them looking to start a run. However, with everyone else dropping games around them, the sky is not falling.

The Jayhawks will have Oklahoma State and Houston at home this week.

8. Kentucky (Last week: 6)

Kentucky Wildcat Antonio Reeves — (Photo: Dr. Michael Huang/KSR)

Kentucky suffered a shocking blowout loss against South Carolina to start the week and did not look much better in the first half of the game against a struggling Arkansas, but they pulled it out to finish 1-1 on the week.

The Wildcats will face Florida before hosting Tennessee in a rivalry game.

9. Duke (Last week: 12)

Duke F Kyle Filipowski — Rob Kinnan | USA TODAY Sports

Duke took care of business as expected against Louisville in the midweek, but rise in the Top 25 thanks to their win against Clemson over the weekend — which did not come without controversy.

The Blue Devils will play Virginia Tech on the road before travelling to play rival North Carolina this week.

10. Marquette (Last week: 14)

Marquette G Tyler Kolek — Benny Sieu | USA TODAY Sports

Marquette continues the battle to crack the Top 10, which has been within reach most of the season, after picking up wins against a DePaul team which just fired its coach and Seton Hall.

The Big East schedule continues with a pair of road games against Villanova and Georgetown.

Ranking 11-25

11. Illinois (Last week: 10)
12. Arizona (Last week: 9)
13. Auburn (Last week: 8)
14. Texas Tech (Last week: 20)
15. Creighton (Last week: 17)
16. Utah State (Last week: 18)
17. Iowa State (Last week: 23)
18. Oklahoma (Last week: 11)
19. Baylor (Last week: 15)
20. Alabama (Last week: NR)
21. Dayton (Last week: 16)
22. FAU (Last week: 22)
23. TCU (Last week: NR)
24. New Mexico (Last week: 25)
25. South Carolina (Last week: NR)

Projected to drop out: BYU (Last Week: 21), Colorado State (Last week: 24)