College basketball power rankings: Should we be worried about Purdue?

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G Miller Kopp, Indiana Hoosiers. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

The Purdue Boilermakers are trending in the wrong direction as March approaches. How will they fare in this week’s college basketball power rankings?

March is almost here and teams in the hunt for a national championship want to be playing their best basketball ahead of the NCAA Tournament. It’s not ideal to be stacking up losses this late in the season, something that Purdue is starting to do with regularity.

The Boilermakers were 22-1 on Feb. 1, with the lone defeat coming at home by a point to a good Rutgers team, but Matt Painter’s team has lost four of its last six games. Saturday’s home loss to Indiana was shocking as the Hoosiers completed a season sweep of Purdue, which is far from the dominant form that saw it stack up wins against the likes of West Virginia, Gonzaga and Duke at the Phil Knight Legacy in November.

How far have the Boilermakers tumbled in this week’s college basketball power rankings? Read on to find out, but first, we’ll take a look at this week’s honorable mentions.

Week 17 College Basketball Power Rankings – Honorable Mentions

Note: All rankings referenced in this story are based on the Week 16 AP Top 25 Poll.

Tennessee, Saint Mary’s, Arizona, UCONN, Indiana

The Wildcats were in the Top 10 last week but fell out after being upset with a half-court heave at home against Arizona State. While a buzzer-beating loss is disappointing, Arizona’s defense continues to be a concern as the Wildcats surrendered 89 points in 40 minutes.

Tennessee and Saint Mary’s held their ground after 1-1 weeks while surging UCONN and Indiana are back in the mix as potential Final Four sleepers. There is no spot in here for Virginia, which lost at Boston College and followed it up with a defeat at North Carolina, the former of which should send the Cavaliers tumbling down the polls.