Last week's top-10 teams lost 10 times in one of the wildest weeks of an already crazy season to bring about what is becoming a weekly reshuffling at the top of the AP poll.
Blue Devils drop to No. 17 after uninspiring loss to Pittsburgh
Duke took care of business at home Thursday with a solid 80-65 victory against Florida State, but was thoroughly outplayed by the Panthers Sunday in front of a raucous road crowd on senior day. The Blue Devils were outrebounded 39-20 as the Panthers dominated on the interior and cruised to a 76-62 win after leading by as much as 23 in the second half. Duke dropped from No. 15 to No. 17 with the loss, while Pittsburgh solidified its NCAA tournament hopes with their first signature win of the season.
Kansas rises to the top again
Villanova’s two-week run atop the rankings ended after a loss on the road to Xavier, opening the door for the Jayhawks to retake the No. 1 ranking that it held for two weeks earlier in the year. Kansas eked out a 66-60 win at Baylor—which remained No. 19—before clinching a share of its 12th straight regular-season Big 12 title with a 67-58 win at home against Texas Tech.
The Jayhawks were the only top-5 team to emerge from the week unscathed, as the two teams tied at No. 3 in last week’s poll—Oklahoma and Virginia—lost to Texas and Miami, respectively. The Sooners dropped to No. 6, but the Cavaliers did not take as much of a hit and enter this week at No. 4 after a bounce-back win at home against formerly No. 7 North Carolina Saturday night.
The Musketeers were primed for a big jump up the rankings after beating the Wildcats, but lost at Seton Hall Sunday and remain at No. 5. Villanova dropped to No. 3 but remained in first place in the Big East.
The top of the Big Ten crumbles
Iowa had a disastrous week, losing to two unranked opponents in Wisconsin and Ohio State to drop from No. 8 to No. 16 and fall into a four-way tie for second place in the Big Ten. No. 14 Maryland also joined this group with a loss to newly minted No. 15 Purdue, with Michigan State and Wisconsin rounding out the slew of teams at 11-5 in conference play. The Spartans climbed the most this week, rising to No. 2 after two wins last week, and the Badgers are one of the hottest teams in the nation after a rough nonconference performance but remain unranked this week. Indiana has emerged from the wreckage behind them and now holds a two-game lead at 13-3 in the conference with matchups against the Terrapins and Hawkeyes to end the season.
Arizona cools down out West
The Wildcats had a nightmarish road trip this week after rising to No. 9 is last week's poll with losses to Colorado and then-No. 22 Utah. The defeats dropped Arizona back down to No. 18, while the Utes rose to No. 13 after their big win. With just a week to go in the regular season, both teams still find themselves chasing No. 9 Oregon for the top spot in the Pac-12 tournament.
Miami cracks the top 10
The Hurricanes bounced back from a 96-71 thrashing at the hands of North Carolina last week to come away with big wins against Virginia and Louisville to enter the top 10 at No. 7 for the first time in seven weeks and move into a tie for first in the ACC with North Carolina. Miami will face another stiff challenge this week when they hit the road to take on Notre Dame before ending the season against Virginia Tech.
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