College basketball rankings: Week 13 AP Top 25 predictions

College basketball rankings: Week 13 AP Top 25 predictions – Vols stay hot

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 26: Tennessee Volunteers forward Grant Williams (2) and guard Admiral Schofield (5) talk during a college basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and West Virginia Mountaineers on January 26, 2019, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 26: Tennessee Volunteers head coach Rick Barnes talking to guard Jordan Bone (0) and guard Lamonte Turner (1) during a college basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and West Virginia Mountaineers on January 26, 2019, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

A post-Wisconsin loss hangover nearly bit the Wolverines to start Week 12 as they needed a last-second bucket by Charles Matthews to beat Minnesota at home, but they weren’t as rusty at Indiana on Friday night. The Wolverines smacked the Hoosiers around for 40 minutes, racing out to a 20-2 lead and then only maintaining that as Michigan beat Indiana 69-46. It wasn’t the best offensive game for the Wolverines, but they dominated defensively.

How can any team in the West Coast Conference contend with a team like Gonzaga? The Bulldogs are dominating just about everyone and beat Santa Clara 98-39 in Week 12. Yes, the Bulldogs held a Division 1 college basketball team to under 40 points and scored nearly 100. This team has the potential to beat anyone in the nation which will make them terrifying come March.

How did Virginia respond to losing at Duke and blowing an opportunity to take a lead in the ACC? By beating Wake Forest by 23 and Notre Dame by 27. The Cavaliers shook off any notion of a hangover and dismantled a couple of ACC foes, albeit not contenders. This is a team that can make it far in March, breaking that recent curse, because of its defense and improved offense.

Duke lost its top spot after losing to Syracuse at home a week ago, but the Blue Devils stayed at No. 2 thanks to a big win over Virginia. The Blue Devils had a solid week, beating Pitt and Georgia Tech by double-digits. Coach K has yet another solid young team at his disposal and they’re going to be a load to upend in March, assuming they stay healthy.

For the second straight week, we’ll see Tennessee occupy that top spot after the Volunteers escaped an upset at Vanderbilt in overtime and then beat West Virginia by 17. Those were both trap games seeing as Vanderbilt is a tough place to play and West Virginia was coming off a win against Kansas. The Volunteers have been playing some of the best basketball of anyone and are the team to beat in the SEC, if not the entire nation.