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College Basketball AP Poll Week 11: Winners and losers

By Connor Muldowney

Jan 10, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Baylor Bears guard Manu Lecomte (20) passes the ball during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Baylor Bears guard Manu Lecomte (20) passes the ball during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /
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Who are the biggest winners and losers of the Week 11 college basketball AP Poll which was released on Monday?

The college basketball season is moving along faster than anyone could have expected. We are a few weeks into conference play already and teams are making moves up and down the AP Poll. Week 11 is no different as there was major shuffling in the rankings.

There’s a new No. 1 as Baylor lost last week and Kansas was just waiting to take that top spot after sitting at No. 2. However, did the Jayhawks get the pleasure of stealing the nation’s top spot from the conference rival? You’ll find out soon enough.

Upsets were aplenty once again, proving that this year’s March Madness could be wilder and whackier than it’s been in the past decade. Plus, there are a couple of new teams in this week’s AP Poll. Welcome, Maryland and South Carolina.

Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from this week’s college basketball AP rankings.

Winner: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 20 up to No. 15)

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Notre Dame has taken a leap into the top 15. The Fighting Irish took advantage of losses by Purdue, Duke and Xavier and solid play of their own to make a five-spot climb this week and they are now the fourth-highest ranked ACC team.

Notre Dame went to Miami and pulled out a tough win to start Week 10 and then capped it off with a nice victory at Virginia Tech. Winning on the road in the ACC is not an easy task and they made an otherwise grueling schedule last week look simple.

Ever since Notre Dame lost back-to-back games against Villanova and Purdue, the Fighting Irish have been red-hot, winning seven straight. Mike Brey might have one of his best teams yet as he’s getting solid production from his bench and guys like V.J. Beachem, Steve Vasturia and Bonzie Colson are all playing well.

Can the Fighting Irish realistically contend for an ACC title? Well, they’re the only remaining unbeaten in conference play.