Fansided

College basketball power rankings: Auburn cause for concern, UCLA falling

By Mike Phillips

ATHENS, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 05: Wendell Green Jr. #1 of the Auburn Tigers attacks the basket against Kario Oquendo #3 and Jabri Abdur-Rahim #1 of the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum on February 05, 2022 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 05: Wendell Green Jr. #1 of the Auburn Tigers attacks the basket against Kario Oquendo #3 and Jabri Abdur-Rahim #1 of the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum on February 05, 2022 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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MADISON, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 30: Johnny Davis #1 of the Wisconsin Badgers dribbles the basketball during the second half of the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Kohl Center on January 30, 2022, in Madison, Wisconsin. Badgers defeated the Golden Gophers 66-60. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 30: Johnny Davis #1 of the Wisconsin Badgers dribbles the basketball during the second half of the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Kohl Center on January 30, 2022, in Madison, Wisconsin. Badgers defeated the Golden Gophers 66-60. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) /

Auburn has struggled since they landed on top of the polls. Could that affect their placement in the college basketball rankings?

It felt a bit like a coronation when Auburn earned the top spot in the AP Poll after beating a very good Kentucky team at home on Jan. 22. There is a saying that goes “heavy is the head that wears the crown”, which is a good embodiment of what has happened to Auburn since they got to No. 1.

The road hasn’t been particularly kind to the Tigers, who won by a combined three points against Georgia and Missouri over the past two weeks and needed a last-second layup from Wendell Green Jr over the weekend to get past a Bulldogs team they had beaten by 23 on Jan. 19 at home. Before we take a look at whether or not these struggles have knocked the Tigers off the top of this week’s college basketball rankings, let’s start with the honorable mentions.

Week 14 College Basketball Rankings: Honorable Mentions

Note: All rankings referenced in this post are from the Week 13 AP Poll.

Baylor, Wisconsin, Providence, Villanova, Illinois

Baylor was in the Top 10 last week but getting run out of the gym by Kansas necessarily warranted a fall into this category. It would be one thing if this was an isolated incident but the Bears have now dropped two of their last three games, with the third requiring a tremendous second-half comeback to beat West Virginia.

Wisconsin, Providence and Villanova did enough to maintain their place in this tier for another week while the newest addition to the Honorable Mentions club is Illinois, which capped off a very impressive two-win week by topping both the Badgers and Indiana at home. The Fighting Illini have a huge game against Purdue on tap so they could crack the Top 10 next week if they can win at Mackey Arena.