College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 25 for Week 7
Like many teams in the Top 25 last week, Notre Dame had just one game to prove itself. Unfortunately, the Fighting Irish faltered for the third time in five games, this time at Indiana in overtime, 80-77. Bonzie Colson is playing like a national player of the year, but the offense has slipped a bit in recent games. The voters could drop the Fighting Irish completely out of the rankings, but I don’t see it happening.
Florida State has to be one of the biggest surprises in college football to this point in the season and it’s because of that explosive offense. Terrance Mann leads the way, having an improved junior season and he could lead this team to ACC relevancy. However, the Seminoles lost their first game of the season to Oklahoma State by just one point after starting 9-0. Expect them to remain in the AP Top 25 this week, though.
Tennessee had a loss in its only contest of Week 6, but don’t expect that to drop the Volunteers from No. 20 to completely out. Why? They took the North Carolina Tar Heels down to the wire and gave up the game-winning 3-pointer with about 30 seconds left. Rick Barnes has turned this program around after it had laid dormant for years.
Blowout wins over Kennesaw State and Rice don’t exactly stand out for a team looking to move up in the Top 25, but Texas Tech will take advantage of teams like Florida, Notre Dame and Florida State dropping to move up slightly. The Red Raiders have been more impressive than expected, but they still need to prove more.
You might look at a loss to Rutgers and think that it’s enough to drop Seton Hall from No. 15 in the Week 6 rankings all the way out in Week 7, but that won’t be the case. The Scarlet Knights are much-improved from recent years and they’re tough to beat at home. Seton Hall had a strong stretch with wins over Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Louisville and VCU recently, so the Pirates will stay in the Top 25, likely between 20-22.