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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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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 19: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after scoring against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 19, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 19: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after scoring against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 19, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

Mark Few has another No. 1-seed worthy team — shocker, right? The Bulldogs are playing great basketball right now and have one of the best wins of any team this year, beating Duke in an early-season tournament. The Bulldogs have the perfect blend of veterans and young players which could make this a special team. They beat Loyola-Marymount and Portland to improve to 18-2.

Everyone, even certain Michigan players, was talking about how good the Wolverines are, but Ignas Brazdeikas gave them the kiss of death, saying he wanted to play Duke and the Blue Devils were all hype. The Wolverines lost their first game of the season on Saturday afternoon against Wisconsin in Madison. Michigan had a chance to be No. 1 with a win over the Badgers but couldn’t seal the deal against the Badgers.

Before you call me crazy, hear me out on this one. Virginia may have lost on Saturday night at Duke, but the game was decided by one possession. It was Virginia’s first loss of the season but that’s not why the Cavaliers will move up a spot to No. 3 — though it did help matters. Beating No. 9 Virginia Tech by 22 points earlier in the week was enough to impress just about everyone.

Despite losing to unranked Syracuse at home, Duke will only drop one spot, if anything, in Week 12. The Blue Devils did lose to Syracuse in overtime in shocking fashion, but they bounced back to beat the No. 4 team in the country, Virginia, who hadn’t lost a game to that point. A top-five win and a loss to an unranked conference foe in the same week will almost even out. Voters will remain high on Duke and it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see it stay No. 1.

Yes, there’s a good possibility we could see a new No. 1 team in the country once the Week 12 AP Top 25 is released as both Michigan and Duke lost which would, in turn, vault the No. 3 Volunteers to the top spot. Tennessee has been playing great this season and it looks like a serious national title contender and the best team in the SEC so being No. 1 isn’t all that far-fetched, especially after dominating Arkansas and beating Alabama.