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College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 10 after slew of Saturday upsets

By Thomas Wheaton

EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 29: Michigan State Spartans forward Nick Ward (44) battles for rebound positioning during a college basketball game between Michigan State and Cleveland State on December 29, 2017, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, MI. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - DECEMBER 29: Michigan State Spartans forward Nick Ward (44) battles for rebound positioning during a college basketball game between Michigan State and Cleveland State on December 29, 2017, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, MI. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Several Top 25 teams fell victim to upsets on Saturday, including three in the Top 10. So how will it all shake out?

Upsets are what make college basketball fun, especially in March. It is only January however, which means that conference play has begun and the upsets will start to really flow in. Duke, Xavier, and Oklahoma all lost today, make that the No. 2, 5, and 7 ranked teams. A couple other teams outside of the Top 10 fell as well, like Texas A&M, Arizona, and North Carolina. The Top 25 will look a lot different as a whole, but let’s focus on the Top 10.

1. Michigan State-  After throttling Maryland in a 30 point rout, Sparty retains the top spot. Sitting at 15-1 the Spartans have yet to really be challenged this season. Their only loss came to Duke early on, and they have looked dominant since.

2. Villanova- Previously ranked No. 3, the Wildcats jump one spot thanks to Duke losing. They held the No. 1 spot two weeks back, but a loss to Butler dropped them. They climb one step closer to the No. 1 position after defeating Marquette. A big game against Xavier looms on Wednesday, however.

3. West Virginia- The basketball gods have looked down upon West Virginia this week. Previously ranked No. 6, the Mountaineers make the jump to thXavie top three because of losses ahead of them. This is all coming off of an impressive victory against Oklahoma, the former No. 7 seed.

4. Virginia- The Cavaliers also make a big jump, going from No. 8 to No. 4 after defeating the reigning champions, North Carolina. Victories over ranked opponents always look good, the combination of good fortune and a good win elevates Virginia in to the top five.

5. Duke- The Blue Devils just lost to North Carolina State in a game they will want to put past them as quickly as possible. They only drop to No. 5 because a couple of the teams below them lost as well.

6. Arizona State- The Sun Devils were upset on Thursday, not Saturday, but upset nonetheless. Losing to an underwhelming Colorado team looks pretty bad, but with all the upsets this week they picked a good time to take a game off.

7. Wichita State- The Shockers slide from No. 9 to No. 7 after handling Houston on Thursday. They are not the team that captured everyone’s heart several years ago in the NCAA tournament, but they are a good team poised to make some noise this season.

8. Xavier- Previously No. 5, the Musketeers fell to a good Providence team on Saturday. They slide to No. 8 but a big matchupwith Villanova this week will surely change this ranking. If Xavier can pull off the upset on Wednesday they will climb back up to No. 5 or No. 6.

9. Kansas- Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Kansas defeated TCU and move up as a result. It is a marginal move, going from No. 10 to No. 9 but moving up is much better than moving down, obviously. This Jayhawk team is built for March, however.

10. Oklahoma- Trae Young and the Sooners fall to No. 10 after losing to West Virginia. Because they were not the higher ranked team, it is not an upset but a loss is a loss. Oklahoma will bounce back, they are too talented to not.

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The Top 10 looks a little different, the same teams just in a different order. With several teams in the Top 10 losing and a couple more just outside of that loss as well, nobody moved in. However, this shake-up could be indicative of things to come for some of these teams.