College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 25 for Week 4

PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Duke forward Marvin Bagley III (35) slams home the ball over Florida forward/center Kevarrius Hayes (13) and Florida guard Egor Koulechov (4) in the championship game of the Motion Bracket at the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational between the Duke Blue Devils and Florida Gators on November 26, 2017, at Moda Center in Portland, OR. (Photo by Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 24: The Virginia Cavaliers celebrate after defeating the Rhode Island Rams 70-55 to win the NIT Season Tip Off tournament championship at Barclays Center on November 24, 2017 in the Brooklyn brough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Alabama Crimson Tide

5-1 Last Week: 25

Although Alabama lost in Week 3 to Minnesota, the Crimson Tide will remain at No. 25 because of Saint Mary’s and UCLA losing some tough games. Alabama has shown enough to remain in the rankings, especially by out-scoring Minnesota over the weekend with only three eligible players. The bench was ejected for going onto the floor and the Tide were dealing with injuries, so they had to play 3-on-5 against Minnesota and nearly won. Freshman Collin Sexton is the real deal.

Purdue Boilermakers

5-2 Last Week: 18

If Purdue didn’t finish the week with a win over No. 2 Arizona by 25 points, it likely would be outside of the Top 25, looking in. The Boilermakers lost a couple of close games against Tennessee and Western Kentucky in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Matt Painter has a talented team and many believe it’s one that could contend for the Big Ten title, but it will need to be more consistent.

TCU Horned Frogs

6-0 Last Week: NR

Jamie Dixon surprised just about everyone when he left his stable job with the Pittsburgh Panthers in the ACC to coach a program not necessarily known for its basketball in TCU. The move made sense, though, as Dixon, a native of Hollywood, Calif., played college ball at TCU and wanted to return the program to winning form. He will have the Horned Frogs back in the AP Top 25 this week after starting the season 6-0 even though they haven’t beaten anyone with a pulse yet.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

6-0 Last Week: NR

Texas Tech is just one of four undefeated teams left in the Big 12 and they’ve beaten Northwestern and Boston College so far this season. The Red Raiders didn’t just beat Northwestern, they dismantled them, sending them out of the Top 25 last week, 85-49. They had no problem with Wofford and Savannah State this week.

West Virginia Mountaineers

6-1 Last Week: 23

West Virginia was as close to losing a second game to start the season and dropping out of the rankings as you can get. The Mountaineers were down double-digits to Missouri in the second half on Sunday night, but stormed back to take a late lead and hold on. Bob Huggins’ team needs to learn how to put a full 40 minutes together because if they do, they will be tough to beat.