With conference play rapidly approaching, things are starting to shape up across college basketball, as seen in the latest AP poll:
Duke leapfrogs Gonzaga
After Tennessee was able to pull off a victory over Gonzaga that Duke could not just under three weeks ago, the Blue Devils were able to rise a spot to No. 2. Last week, Duke easily handled two non-conference opponents in Hartford and Yale, and it has won each of its last three games by at least 30 points and remains the No. 1 team in the country according to the KenPom.com rankings. The Blue Devils will next face Princeton Dec. 18 before taking on No. 11 Texas Tech Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden.
Tennessee jumps to No. 3, Zags lose top spot
After retaining the top spot in the poll for the second consecutive week last Monday, Gonzaga had a rough seven days, needing a Rui Hachimura buzzer-beater to scrape past unranked Washington before losing its unbeaten record to Tennessee. The upset dropped the Bulldogs to fourth, while the Volunteers—whose sole loss on the year came at the hands of newly crowned No. 1 Kansas Nov. 23—shot up to No. 3. Gonzaga now prepares to play at No. 12 North Carolina this Saturday, whereas Tennessee doesn’t have another currently ranked team on its schedule until Feb. 16 at No. 19 Kentucky.
Kentucky drops to 19th after loss to unranked Seton Hall
From the second the ball was tipped in the season-opening Champions Classic against Duke, Kentucky has not looked like the team many were expecting the Wildcats to be this season. Head coach John Calipari and company were able to string together seven consecutive wins even after that blowout loss to the Blue Devils, but their luck could only last so long, as an overtime defeat to Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden pushes Kentucky out of the top ten. While Duke fans may enjoy the suffering of their counterparts from Lexington, Ky., there is no doubt the Wildcats’ struggles make that opening victory a little less sweet.
Complete Rankings:
- Kansas
- Duke
- Tennessee
- Gonzaga
- Michigan
- Virginia
- Nevada
- Auburn
- Michigan State
- Florida State
- Texas Tech
- North Carolina
- Virginia Tech
- Buffalo
- Ohio State
- Wisconsin
- Villanova
- Mississippi State
- Kentucky
- Arizona State
- Marquette
- Iowa
- Furman
- Houston
- Syracuse
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