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College basketball rankings: Week 12 AP Top 25 predictions

By Connor Muldowney

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 19: Tennessee Volunteers forward Grant Williams (2) and guard Jordan Bowden (23) walk up the court during a college basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Alabama Crimson Tide on January 19, 2019, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 19: Tennessee Volunteers forward Grant Williams (2) and guard Jordan Bowden (23) walk up the court during a college basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Alabama Crimson Tide on January 19, 2019, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 18: Villanova Forward Eric Paschall (4) celebrates after forcing a Xavier timeout in the second half during the game between the Xavier Musketeers and Villanova Wildcats on January 18, 2019 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 18: Villanova Forward Eric Paschall (4) celebrates after forcing a Xavier timeout in the second half during the game between the Xavier Musketeers and Villanova Wildcats on January 18, 2019 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

At the beginning of the year, it looked like Louisville would be in for a long season. Chris Mack did bring some hope to the program but the former Xavier coach had to essentially start over. To say the Cardinals have exceeded expectations to this point in the year would be an understatement. They were on the verge of No. 25 last week after beating North Carolina in Chapel Hill by 21 and they followed that up with blowout wins over Boston College and at Georgia Tech. This team may be for real, after all.

Why is the Big Ten so hard to judge this year? Maybe it’s because everyone outside of Michigan and Michigan State has been beating up on each other, and that includes Iowa. The Hawkeyes, though, came back to beat Penn State on the road and then took care of a poor Illinois team at home. Two wins that aren’t exactly resume-builders, but they’ll do enough to get the Hawkeyes into the top-20.

Villanova is a far cry from its national title-caliber squad from a season ago, but the Wildcats may get back to their old ways of late. They started the season 2-2 with a blowout loss at home to Michigan and then on their own court against Furman but have since won 12-of-14 games. The Wildcats have yet to lose a game in conference play, beating Xavier by 14 in their most recent contest. Is this team primed for another run?

Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers were once top-10 caliber, but that’s seemed like months ago. Auburn began the season 9-1 but are just 4-3 in its last seven games, losing at home to No. 12 Kentucky in Week 11. That was a prime opportunity to show that they belonged in the conversation for top team in the SEC, but the Tigers are in the middle of the pack in the standings.

The strength of schedule for Houston is not pretty. The Cougars have the 83rd-best strength of schedule nationally and it’s not going to get much better playing in the AAC. Houston has taken care of lesser opponents for most of the season and continued that trend with a win at SMU and in South Florida, improving to 18-1. The conference may not have much luster, but there are some potential losses left on the schedule.