Fansided

College Basketball AP Poll Week 15: Winners and losers

By Connor Muldowney

Feb 11, 2017; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Luke Kennard (5) reacts after scoring against the Clemson Tigers in the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2017; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Luke Kennard (5) reacts after scoring against the Clemson Tigers in the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
Feb 12, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes (10) passes the ball against Northwestern Wildcats guard Sanjay Lumpkin (34) at the Kohl Center. Northwestern defeated Wisconsin 66-59. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 12, 2017; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes (10) passes the ball against Northwestern Wildcats guard Sanjay Lumpkin (34) at the Kohl Center. Northwestern defeated Wisconsin 66-59. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /

Loser: Wisconsin Badgers (No. 7 down to No. 11)

Wisconsin had a golden opportunity on Sunday evening. If the Badgers could take care of business against Northwestern at home without its top scorer, Scottie Lindsey, they would be able to jump into the top five in the AP Poll come Monday afternoon.

However, not even a full-strength Wisconsin squad could take down an ailing Northwestern team without its top scorer. That doesn’t look good for the Badgers because that just makes them look even more beatable with a tough stretch approaching. They will hit the road to take on a red-hot Michigan team, host No. 23 Maryland over the weekend and then travel to Ohio State and Michigan State the following week.

Sure, the Badgers fell only to No. 11 so it’s not like their chances of getting a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament have been crushed, but with the upcoming schedule and given that they haven’t been playing very well of late, they might be dropping even more.

In fact, Wisconsin almost lost earlier in the week when it needed overtime to put away the hapless Nebraska Cornhuskers on the road. Before that, they barely held off reeling Indiana, had a poor offensive showing against Illinois and beat Rutgers, Minnesota and Michigan by a combined 13 points.

The Badgers need to get it together fast.