ESPN releases updated power rankings after turbulent week of college basketball

It was another crazy week in college basketball as yet another No. 1-ranked team fell. That led to quite a shakeup in ESPN’s latest power rankings, which dropped Monday.

UConn is now No. 1 in Jeff Borzello’s rankings, taking the top spot over Purdue, which fell to No. 2 following an overtime victory over Nebraska filled with struggles. Alabama took one of the biggest leaps, going from No. 7 to No. 4 while Houston — which the Crimson Tide defeated this week — dropped to No. 7 from the No. 3 spot.

Here are ESPN’s full, updated power rankings:

1. UConn
2. Purdue
3. Virginia
4. Alabama
5. Arizona
6. Texas
7. Houston
8. Tennessee
9. Kansas
10. Arkansas
11. Baylor
12. Duke
13. Gonzaga
14. Maryland
15. Indiana
16. Illinois

Alabama had one of the biggest wins of the season by knocking off then-No. 1 Houston 71-65 on Saturday. With that victory, the Crimson Tide became the first team to beat two different No. 1-ranked teams before the new year since 1965-66. The Tide also fought off North Carolina in a four-overtime thriller Nov. 27.

UConn — which is the No. 1 team in the NET rankings and KenPom — is off to an impressive 11-0 start to the season, including a 75-54 victory over Florida on the road in Gainesville last week. The Huskies also got a big week out of freshman Donovan Clingan, who earned Borzello’s Player of the Week honors after averaging 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in just 34 total minutes over two games. UConn is now gearing up to start Big East play on Saturday against Butler after the dominant non-conference slate.

Iowa State and Auburn both fell out of the rankings after they were No. 14 and No. 15, respectively, last week. The Cyclones fell to in-state rival Iowa 75-56 on Thursday to fall to 7-2 on the season before defeating McNeese State on Sunday, and the Tigers dropped their first game of the year to Memphis 82-73 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta Saturday night.