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Projected college basketball rankings after Texas, Kentucky, Maryland all get upset to start March

By Cody Williams

Mar 1, 2023; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs forward Emanuel Miller (2) drives to the basket as Texas Longhorns forward Christian Bishop (32) defends during the first half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2023; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs forward Emanuel Miller (2) drives to the basket as Texas Longhorns forward Christian Bishop (32) defends during the first half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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March got mad right away as Texas, Kentucky, Maryland and Pitt were all upset on Wednesday. Now we check our projected college basketball rankings.

It is March and it is mad. Sure, the NCAA Tournament is still two weeks away from tipping off, but the calendar flipped from February and teams in the Top 25 college basketball rankings started to drop like flies.

On Wednesday night, Kentucky had its Senior Night against a middling Vanderbilt team. And rather than honoring seniors like Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin, the Wildcats had an abysmal offensive night that was saved only by plentiful trips to the foul line. Even that wasn’t enough, though, as a game-winner from Jordan Wright sunk John Calipari’s team in a 66-64 upset loss.

While the Wildcats were surging back into the Top 25, though, Texas has been a fixture in the Top 10 for months. But as they went on the road to face TCU, the Longhorns just couldn’t get their heads above water. The Horned Frogs were ultra-physical in the first half, which helped build a 12-point halftime lead. Texas tried to chip away at it but it wasn’t enough as a meaningless late 3-pointer didn’t take out the sting of the 75-73 defeat.

And while all of that was going on, No. 25 Pitt went on the road and got worked by a truly bad Notre Dame team, No. 21 Maryland got clipped on the road at Ohio State, No. 19 Xavier edged out No. 20 Providence, and even No. 2 Alabama got taken to overtime by rival Auburn.

Chaos thrives in March. So let’s see what it’s done to the college basketball rankings with our latest projections.

College basketball rankings: Projected Top 25 after Texas, Kentucky, Maryland upset

  1. Houston Cougars
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. Kansas Jayhawks
  4. UCLA Bruins
  5. Purdue Boilermakers
  6. Marquette Golden Eagles
  7. Baylor Bears
  8. Arizona Wildcats
  9. Gonzaga Bulldogs
  10. Kansas State Wildcats
  11. Texas Longhorns
  12. Tennessee Volunteers
  13. Virginia Cavaliers
  14. UConn Huskies
  15. Miami Hurricanes
  16. Saint Mary’s Gaels
  17. Xavier Musketeers
  18. Indiana Hoosiers
  19. TCU Horned Frogs
  20. San Diego State Aztecs
  21. Texas A&M Aggies
  22. Providence Friars
  23. Duke Blue Devils
  24. Creighton Bluejays
  25. Maryland Terrapins

Kentucky, Pittsburgh both drop out of the Top 25. 

The losses for the Wildcats and Panthers on the back-end of the Top 25 means that they are definitely going to knock them out of the rankings — especially after getting upset against teams that won’t sniff the NCAA Tournament.

Texas is dropping out of the Top 10 after the loss at TCU. Even if it was a quality opponent, the Longhorns are reeling a bit now with two straight losses. The other teams losing on Wednesday night fall but not in a massive way.

It’s also worth noting that Indiana following up its win over Purdue with a blowout upset loss to Iowa on Tuesday drops the Hoosiers three spots in the rankings. That’s a tough scene.

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