AP Top 25: 3 teams ranked too high, 3 too low heading into college basketball week 12

The AP Poll is the most popular ranking system in college sports — for good reason, usually. But in college basketball specifically, it's just one of many rankings that fans can look at to determine how well a team has been playing.

With 352 teams in DI college basketball, it's impossible to put together a top 25 ranking that pleases everyone — including us — when most teams don't actually play each other in a given season. The Week 11 AP Top 25 was released on Monday, so here are a few teams that occupy spots they probably shouldn't... for better or worse.

St. John's deserves to be in the top 25

One team that should be ranked higher is a team that's not ranked at all! St. John's received the most votes of any team not in the top 25, so if the rankings went to 26 teams, they'd be included.

This team is a couple of bounces away from being 17-0... I know that's not how rankings work, but it's worth noting. Plus, two of its three losses are against teams currently ranked in the top 25. That, coupled with top 25 grades in multiple other ranking systems should be enough to give this team a top 25 spot in the AP poll.

Rick Pitino's squad is going to be a problem in the Big East this year; I see no reason why they can't challenge UConn and Marquette for the crown.

UConn shouldn't be in the top 15

UCONN's best wins — against Gonzaga, Baylor and Texas — are genuinely impressive, but their four take a bit of the shine off those wins.

UConn has played a monster schedule this season and looked to be getting its groove on after the Dayton loss in Maui, but then a slip up at Gonzaga brought back questions of how reliable this team can be.

Freshman Liam McNeeley is now sidelined with an ankle injury, too. That's a tough blow for the Huskies and McNeeley himself, who was off to a strong start in his freshman campaign.

Florida is ranked a bit too low

I know it's silly to say the No. 5-ranked team in the country is ranked "too low," but this Gators team is clicking right now. Their only loss was at Kentucky, by six, in perhaps the game of the year so far — and they've been running over opponents otherwise.

A 30-point win over then top-ranked Tennessee was followed up with an 8-point win on the road against Arkansas. That game at Arkansas felt like a "let down" game for Florida — and they still won. Things are rolling when you can come out flat and still win an SEC road game.

Michigan is ranked too low after a blistering start to Big Ten play

Wins at Wisconsin, USC and UCLA have the Wolverines flying high to start conference play. Home wins against Washington and Iowa don't hurt either, as the Wolverines 5-0 start in the Big Ten has proven that a hot start wasn't a fluke.

A home loss to Arkansas is the only "bad" loss on Michigan's schedule thus far, and losing to pretty much any SEC team this year can't be that bad.

Plus, this team has won plenty of high-profile games and cracks the top 10 in KENPOM and Evan Miyakawa's rankings, so No. 20 feels a tad harsh.

Oregon at No. 13 is generous to the Ducks

The Ducks have won a lot of games, so it makes sense they're hanging around the polls. They jumped a few spots back to No. 13 after a blowout to Illinois dropped them out of the top 10... but should they still be this highly ranked? That blowout against Illinois did still happen.

A win against Alabama is buoying the Ducks right now, but Dana Altman's team is outside of the top 20 in most other rankings, including NET and Kenpom. This is a good team — but not the 13th-best team in the country.

Tennessee is very good — but No. 6 is still too high

The Vols are going to be in the thick of the SEC race all season, and they might actually be one of the five best teams in college basketball. So I'm not saying this team is fraudulent or undeserving of a high ranking... but we did see them lose to Florida by 30 like a week ago. That's a lot of points.

Chaz Lanier getting hot again could cause this take to age poorly, but I'm not throwing all my chips into Tennessee right now despite a 15-1 record.