In the wildest week of the college basketball season thus far, 14 ranked teams suffered losses—including seven in the top 10. How far did the Blue Devils fall? And who is replacing Villanova atop the poll?
The ACC: A crazy conference
Among the 15 teams that make up a league many pundits have described as the deepest and toughest in college hoops, just five teams escaped without a defeat. No. 13 Louisville, the only ranked ACC team to win both of its games, took advantage of a pair of conference bottom-feeders, drubbing Pittsburgh 106-51 Tuesday before taking down N.C. State 85-60 at home Sunday. The Cardinals rose to No. 6, but rest of the league's top teams took a tumble.
No. 9 North Carolina was upset by Miami on the road, dropping the Tar Heels to No. 12, and after an impressive 71-54 win at No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 12 Virginia lost at No. 1 Villanova on a tip-in from Wildcat guard Donte DiVincenzo that just beat the buzzer, moving the Cavaliers up three spots to No. 9 with the week's carnage. The Fighting Irish's struggles continued with a shocking 62-60 loss at Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon thanks to a coast-to-coast lay-in from the Yellow Jackets' Josh Ogokie at the buzzer. Notre Dame fell to No. 20 and faces Duke Monday night in South Bend, Ind.
The No. 17 Blue Devils slid to No. 21 after they were upset last Monday by the Wolfpack, who were led by 32 points and six assists from star freshman Dennis Smith Jr. Duke bounced back with a gritty comeback win Saturday at Wake Forest, as Luke Kennard posted 30 second-half points and hit the game-winning triple with 6.6 seconds remaining to carry the Blue Devils to their first ACC road win of the year.
No team had a rougher week than No. 6 Florida State. The Seminoles—who are now ranked No. 15—lost by 22 points against the Yellow Jackets Tuesday and then struggled to find a groove on the road once again Saturday, as they fell to Syracuse by double digits.
Blueblood battle
For the second time in as many seasons, the nation's two winningest programs faced off as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. No. 4 Kentucky—which lost earlier in the week at Tennessee—hosted No. 2 Kansas in one of the marquee nonconference matchups of the college basketball season. After the Jayhawks topped the Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., last year, the rematch shifted to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., but the end result was the same. Kansas used a combined 41 points on 18-of-35 shooting from freshman Josh Jackson and senior Frank Mason III combined to sneak past Kentucky 79-73.
The Jayhawks had also suffered a road defeat earlier in the week against No. 18 West Virginia—their first conference loss of the season—and as a result dropped one spot to No. 3 in this week's poll. The Wildcats' two losses moved them down to No. 8 as they prepare for their biggest SEC matchup of the season next weekend when they visit No. 24 Florida, which moved up from No. 25 in last week's rankings.
Big East shakeup
Although No. 1 Villanova's last-second escape against Virginia in Philadelphia might have been the weekend's highlight, the nation's top team could not avoid its second loss of the season Tuesday night at Marquette by a score of 74-72. The Wildcats held a 17-point lead, but collapsed down the stretch and could not convert on a pair of chances at the rim just before the buzzer sounded. Villanova currently sits at No. 4 in the latest poll.
No. 11 Butler was dropped 85-81 by Georgetown Sunday afternoon and No. 16 Creighton continued its slide following the loss of point guard Maurice Watson Jr. to a torn left ACL, also losing to the Hoyas. The Bulldogs fell to No. 16 and the Bluejays tumbled to No. 22 this week.
The wild, wild west
With three of the top four teams losing Tuesday, only No. 3 Gonzaga was able to escape the night with a victory. The Bulldogs—thanks to a massive shakeup at the top of the rankings—become the new No. 1 after a trio of easy wins on the week to remain a perfect 22-0 on the season. Gonzaga will host No. 18 St. Mary's in 11 days as the only ranked opponent remaining on its regular-season schedule.
In Pac-12 play, No. 8 UCLA lost at USC—just the Bruins' second defeat of the season—dropping them to No. 11. No. 7 Arizona stayed hot with a pair of home victories against Washington State and Washington as the return of sophomore Allonzo Trier helped the Wildcats rise in the rankings once again, this time to No. 5. And after winning at Utah early in the week, Dillon Brooks and Oregon lost for just the third time this season to snap a 17-game winning streak. Colorado's 74-65 victory pushed the Ducks back to No. 13 in the poll this week.
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."