Could early-season top-10 teams return to AP Top 25 as season winds down? One did
Don’t look now, but the blue boods are back.
A couple of them, at least.
North Carolina has hogged the attention of being preseason No. 1 and not ranked, but both Duke and Kentucky were also top 10 in the preseason and have played most of the season outside of the AP Top 25 poll.
That changed this week on my ballot. The Wildcats, like the Tar Heels, were being considered an NCAA tournament bubble team just two weeks ago, but have since shored up their resume with big home wins over Tennessee and Auburn, and on the road against Mississippi State and Florida.
The Blue Devils are finally healthy and, combined with hitting a soft spot on their schedule, have reeled off four straight wins. It very likely would have been five games had it not been for the officials’ error at the end of regulation in their overtime loss at Virginia.
UK is back in the poll at No. 23. Duke was second behind Creighton as the top two teams left out. The Blue Devils received 78 votes.
Highest rise
Marquette jumped four spots from No. 10 to No. 6 simply because the four teams ahead of it lost so many games last week.
Connecticut has won six of its past seven games including 87-69 win over No. 20 Providence last week and moved up from No. 18 to No. 14.
Biggest drop
Virginia has always had a difficult time winning in Chapel Hill, so its loss to North Carolina was almost expected. But what the Cavaliers did in a 15-point loss at Boston College? That was the kind of head-scratcher that could be an indicator of bigger problems as the postseason nears. The Cavaliers slid to No. 13.
Welcome to the Top 25
Pitt sits atop the ACC standings having won eight of its past nine games. The Panthers would have made my ballot last week had it not been for a hiccup at Virginia Tech. They made their debut at No. 25.
Outta here
Northwestern found out what it’s like to play with a target. The Wildcats promptly dropped games to Illinois and Maryland to fall out of the top 25 just one week after being ranked for the first time in more than two years.
Creighton will be a tough matchup come NCAA tournament time. The Bluejays are back healthy and largely erased the bad taste from a six game losing streak in December. But after losing to both Marquette and Villanova last week, which means they’ve dropped three of their last four games, the Bluejays get bounced from No. 18 in the polls.
Iowa State is trending in the wrong direction. The Cyclones fell from No. 23 after losses to Texas and Oklahoma last week, which means they’ve lost five of their last six games.
AP Top 25
| Rk Team |
| 1. Houston |
| 2. Alabama |
| 3. Kansas |
| 4. UCLA |
| 5. Purdue |
| 6. Marquette |
| 7. Baylor |
| 8. Arizona |
| 9. Texas |
| 10. Gonzaga |
| 11. Kansas State |
| 12. Tennessee |
| 13. Virginia |
| 14. UConn |
| 15. Indiana |
| 16. Miami |
| 17. St. Mary’s |
| 18. San Diego St |
| 19. Xavier |
| 20. Providence |
| 21. Maryland |
| 22. TCU |
| 23. Kentucky |
| 24. Texas A&M |
| 25. Pitt |
C.L. Brown’s ballot
| Rk Team |
| 1. Houston |
| 2. UCLA |
| 3. Alabama |
| 4. Kansas |
| 5. Baylor |
| 6. Marquette |
| 7. Purdue |
| 8. Kansas State |
| 9. Arizona |
| 10. Gonzaga |
| 11. Texas |
| 12. Tennessee |
| 13. Indiana |
| 14. Miami |
| 15. Virginia |
| 16. UConn |
| 17. San Diego St. |
| 18. Xavier |
| 19. Providence |
| 20. Pitt |
| 21. Kentucky |
| 22. Duke |
| 23. Maryland |
| 24. St Mary’s |
| 25. Iowa State |
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 9:26 AM.