College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 25 for Week 15

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 10: The Michigan State Spartans celebrate guard Miles Bridges' (22) game winner during a Big Ten Conference college basketball game between 4th-ranked Michigan State and 3rd-ranked Purdue on February 10, 2018, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, MI.(Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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WICHITA, KS – FEBRUARY 10: Darral Willis Jr. #21 of the Wichita State Shockers celebrates with teammate Rauno Nurger #20 of the Wichita State Shockers after a basket against the Connecticut Huskies during the first half on February 10, 2018 at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

West Virginia hasn’t been able to gain any traction after starting the season red-hot. In fact, the Mountaineers have lost 6-of-9 games since starting the year 15-1. They went on the road to beat Oklahoma in impressive fashion but squandered an opportunity to leap back into the top-15 with a win over Oklahoma State at home. Bob Huggins needs to figure things out before tourney time.

Is anyone truly sold on Wichita State yet? The Shockers are the newest addition to the American Athletic Conference and could prove themselves with a win against Cincinnati, and they will get a chance to do that this weekend and again to end the regular season. The Shockers had no problem beating Memphis on the road and then Connecticut at home.

Tennessee faced a tough week and it started things off the right way with a win at Kentucky, something the Volunteers haven’t been able to do much over the past couple of decades. They also recorded their first season sweep of the Wildcats since 1999. Tennessee basketball may be trending in the right direction, but it couldn’t finish the week strong, losing by 28 points at Alabama.

The weak schedule might be the difference between Rhode Island earning a top-five seed in the NCAA Tournament and sitting at around the No. 7 or No. 8 seed line. The Rams continue to win, though, and that can’t hurt. Rhode Island beat Davidson by 13 points in Week 14 and continues to look like a dark-horse contender.

With one last chance to prove themselves before the end of the regular season, the Saint Mary’s Gaels fumbled the opportunity against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at home. Saint Mary’s wasn’t able to hold off Gonzaga despite beating the Bulldogs earlier in the season on the road. They did improve to 23-2 earlier in the week with a blowout win over Loyola Marymount, though.