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College basketball rankings: Week 5 AP Top 25 predictions – Michigan in Top 5?

By Connor Muldowney

ANN ARBOR, MI - DECEMBER 1: Ignas Brazdeikis #13 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with the fans during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Crisler Center on December 1, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated Purdue 87-56. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - DECEMBER 1: Ignas Brazdeikis #13 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with the fans during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Crisler Center on December 1, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated Purdue 87-56. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 21: Lamar Peters #2 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs carries the ball against the Saint Mary’s Gaels during a game in the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mississippi State won 61-57. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 21: Lamar Peters #2 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs carries the ball against the Saint Mary’s Gaels during a game in the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mississippi State won 61-57. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

One of the many teams seeing a big jump this week will be Mississippi State out of the SEC. The Bulldogs were the last team in the rankings last week but will get a nice bump thanks to a plethora of losses in the 15-25 range. Ben Howland’s team lost its first game of the season against Arizona State last week but bounced back to beat Alcorn State by 23 and Dayton by seven points on the road.

Iowa nearly had a disaster of a week even though both of its games came at home. The Hawkeyes beat Pitt by one, avoiding a buzzer-beating layup by the Panthers in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, but lost to Wisconsin by six in the Big Ten opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Tyler Cook is still one of the best players in the country and took Miles Bridges’ place as the most feared dunker in the conference, but a home loss to Wisconsin hurts.

Virginia Tech was just another of a handful of teams to fall via upset in Week 4 as the Hokies went on the road for their Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup, losing to an underrated Penn State team. The Nittany Lions beat the Hokies by one in Happy Valley, but Buzz Williams’ team ended the week with a 54-point victory over Central Connecticut. Expect a decent drop, but not drastic.

Having just one game in certain weeks can be dangerous for teams looking to make moves. Even winning that one game won’t impress AP voters enough, but Kansas State wasn’t able to take care of Marquette on the road, losing 83-71 over the weekend. The Wildcats were downed by Marquette’s Markus Howard’s 45 points, ending their bid at a perfect season.

It’s safe to say Villanova didn’t get off to the ideal start to its 2018-19 season. The Wildcats were 2-0 before losing by 27 points at home against Michigan and then following that up with an upset defeat against Furman. Since then, the Wildcats have won four in a row, including a victory over La Salle last week. Still, this doesn’t quite feel like the same team from a year ago that won the national championship. Jay Wright has his work cut out for him.