After Duke put the finishing touches on one of the best decades in program history, college basketball rang in 2020 in appropriate fashion with a pair of top-five upsets on back-to-back nights. The Blue Zone will be here every Monday at noon until March giving you the biggest takeaways from each poll:
Duke on cruise control
The Blue Devils breezed into the New Year with a pair of dominant wins last week, wrapping up 2019 with an easy victory against Boston College at home before opening 2020 with a strong performance at Miami. With its lone stumble this year against Stephen F. Austin fading in the rearview, Duke has hit its stride in the last several weeks and is making its case for being the No. 1 team in the nation, although top-ranked Gonzaga also took care of business with three wins this past week to retain the top spot.
The undefeated stay perfect
Auburn and San Diego State, the two remaining undefeated teams in the country, survived tests on the road over the weekend to preserve the two teams' unblemished records. The now-No. 5 Tigers defeated Mississippi State in their first SEC game of the season, winning for the 25th time in their last 26 games. And across the country in Utah, the now-No. 7 Aztecs—who were slight underdogs on the road—beat Utah State in what may prove to be their last significant test in Mountain West play before the postseason.
Top five stumbles
In a season that has seen the No. 1 team lose five times already, it should come as no surprise that other members of the top five proved vulnerable last week as well. Then-No. 4 Oregon was the first to fall as the Ducks lost to now-No. 25 Colorado in Boulder, Colo. on Thursday to a Buffaloes team that now has two wins against ranked teams on its resume and just two losses on the season. The following night, it was then-No. 5 Ohio State’s turn to trip up against an unranked opponent as the Buckeyes allowed Wisconsin to rally late and steal a win in Columbus, Ohio. It was Ohio State’s second loss in a row, both at home, as the Buckeyes also fell to then-No. 16 West Virginia last Sunday.
Complete Rankings
1. Gonzaga
2. Duke
3. Kansas
4. Baylor
5. Auburn
6. Butler
7. San Diego State
8. Michigan State
9. Oregon
10. Florida State
11. Ohio State
12. Maryland
13. Louisville
14. Kentucky
15. Dayton
16. Villanova
17. West Virginia
18. Virginia
19. Michigan
20. Penn State
21. Memphis
22. Texas Tech
23. Wichita State
24. Arizona
25. Colorado
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.