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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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) /

All Virginia needed to do was beat an unranked Virginia Tech team at home and it would have been No. 1 in the new release of the Week 15 AP Top 25 on Monday afternoon. However, the rival Hokies were able to pull off the massive upset of the 23-1 Cavaliers who hadn’t lost a game in ACC play and it looks like they will go from potential No. 1 to fringing on the top-five. Not having a great offense could come back and bite this team.

Cincinnati is dominating the American Athletic Conference this season, but they have yet to really beat a quality opponent. In fact, their best win this season has been at UCLA and the Bruins aren’t exactly setting the world on fire. The Bearcats blew the doors off a mediocre Central Florida team and then a decent SMU team on Sunday. They’ll likely jump a couple of spots.

Villanova will no longer be the top-ranked team in the Big East after losing to St. John’s in Week 14. It’s hard to believe St. John’s was winless in conference action before taking down the Wildcats on the road — this comes just a few days after pulling off a massive upset against Duke. Jay Wright’s team rebounded to beat Butler to end the week, but they will take a two-spot tumble, at least.

The NCAA Tournament committee currently sees Xavier as a 1-seed, so it makes sense that the Musketeers would rise to No. 2 after the top-three teams lost in Week 14. The Musketeers had a big week, taking down a tough Butler team in overtime on the road and then beating Creighton away from home as well. The Musketeers still need some wins over quality Big East teams, but they’re looking good.

It might be controversial, but the Spartans earned this spot. Since losing 2-of-3 games to Michigan and Ohio State, Michigan State has won eight in a row, including five games on the road in the Big Ten. Most recently, the Spartans beat No. 3 Purdue on Saturday thanks to a deep 3-pointer by Miles Bridges in the final seconds. The NCAA Tournament committee previewed them as the No. 11 team in the country, but they will likely be No. 1 in the AP Poll.