College Basketball Rankings: Projected Top 25 for Week 16

ROSEMONT, IL - FEBRUARY 17: Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) celebrates with Michigan State Spartans forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (2) after a play in the second half during a college basketball game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Michigan State Spartans on February 17, 2018, at the All State Arena in Rosemont, IL. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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MURRAY, KY – NOVEMBER 13: Murray State guard Jonathan Stark (2) is guarded by Middle Tennessee guard Giddy Potts (20) during the college basketball game between the Murray State Racers and Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on November 13, 2017 at the CFSB Center in Murray, KY. (Photo by Stephen Furst/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Another week, another instance of Arizona State hanging on to a Top 25 spot by a thread. The Sun Devils haven’t been playing good basketball lately and they will be satisfied by just making it into the NCAA Tournament, but the one-time No. 2 team in the land needs to perk up a bit. In fact, Arizona State lost at home to rival Arizona, blowing a chance at jumping into the top-20.

Everyone’s favorite Cinderella could find its way back into the AP Top 25 this week. Heading into March, the last thing anyone wants to see is a Middle Tennessee team firing on all cylinders and sneaking into the rankings. If this is the case, the Blue Raiders may see their highest seed in the NCAA Tournament over the past three years — they won in the first round as a 15-seed as well as a 12-seed over the past two seasons.

Life has not been easy for West Virginia in the Big 12 this season, but that had a chance to change in Week 16 as the Mountaineers hosted TCU and traveled to Kansas. A couple of wins would have put the Mountaineers back on track and potentially into the top-15, but they were only able to beat the Horned Frogs. The Mountaineers blew a second-half lead against Kansas to drop to 19-8.

Nevada will receive a healthy bump in this week’s AP Top 25 thanks to a number of teams losing in front of them. Heck, the Wolf Pack could even see a rise higher than No. 21, but this is a safe estimate. They went on the road to record a couple of tough Week 15 wins over Boise State and Utah State and they improved to 23-5. Could they be one of the top-seeded mid-majors this year?

Just a couple of weeks after sweeping Kentucky for the first time in about two decades, Tennessee has fallen off a bit. The Volunteers had to fight off a pesky South Carolina team at home before traveling to Athens to face the Georgia Bulldogs. Tennessee was upset by Georgia, but it still holds a 19-7 record heading into the final weeks of the regular season. Rick Barnes has brought this program back to relevance.