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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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COLLEGE PARK, MD – JANUARY 14: Anthony Cowan Jr. #1 of the Maryland Terrapins dribbles the ball during a college basketball game against the Wisconsin Badgers at the XFinity Center on January 14, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD – JANUARY 14: Anthony Cowan Jr. #1 of the Maryland Terrapins dribbles the ball during a college basketball game against the Wisconsin Badgers at the XFinity Center on January 14, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Honestly, I think the Red Raiders deserve a bigger drop than just seven spots, but because so many teams behind them lost in Week 11, they’ll likely hold on to a position in the top-15. Texas Tech had a rough week, but that doesn’t take away from the type of team it is and the impressive season it has put together to this point. Iowa State came to town and beat the Red Raiders in Lubbock and they also hit the road, losing to in-state foe Baylor.

Not many teams can lose by 22 points against an in-state conference rival and drop just five spots in the rankings, but Virginia Tech has had that good of a season to this point that one loss shouldn’t hurt the Hokies a ton in the polls. Virginia Tech was 14-1 heading into a big top-10 battle with Virginia on the road, but the Cavaliers had their way with the Hokies. Virginia Tech did respond to beat Wake Forest by 16.

Everyone talks about the ‘big two’ in the Big Ten of Michigan and Michigan State but the Maryland Terrapins are right there with the in-state foes. The Terrapins are now 7-1 in the stands and tied for second place with Michigan after beating Ohio State on the road by 14 and Wisconsin at home by four. Mark Turgeon has Maryland surprising everybody once again and the Terrapins could be in line to contend for their first Big Ten crown since joining the conference.

A MAC team in the top-15? How crazy does that sound as the month of February approaches? It does sound wild, but the Buffalo Bulls are playing as well as anyone right now and they’ve improved to 17-1 on the season following wins over Western Michigan on the road and at home against Eastern Michigan. Those aren’t exactly powerful wins, but right now they’re just going to need to take care of business and the rest will take care of itself.

Marquette is inching closer to top-10 range which is wild considering this is a team that began the season with two early losses and even fell out of the AP Top 25. Since that 3-2 start, the Golden Eagles have won 13-of-14 games and they’re looking like Big East favorites, especially in a season where Villanova isn’t exactly blowing the doors off everyone.