College basketball fans were treated to yet another phenomenal weekend of hoops action with ranked matchups, upsets and everything that we love all on the table. That's become the fortunate norm as we're in the heart of February and with March Madness approaching. But that also means that, when it comes to Bracketology and the AP Top 25 college basketball rankings, these games are starting to mean more than ever.
So it was with bated breath that many fans were awaiting Monday's new batch of rankings from the AP Top 25 to see how things shook out. The voters don't always get it right 1-to-25 but it's a benchmark that we always have to check in with — and then pick apart with where we think they're wrong.
Here's a look at the latest AP Top 25 college basketball rankings for Week 17 along with their voting points:
- Auburn Tigers (1,500)
- Duke Blue Devils (1,406)
- Florida Gators (1,397)
- Houston Cougars (1,327)
- Tennessee Volunteers (1,236)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (1,198)
- St. John's Red Storm (1,132)
- Michigan State Spartans (1,055)
- Iowa State Cyclones (1,004)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (915)
- Wisconsin Badgers (800)
- Texas A&M Aggies (797)
- Clemson Tigers (712)
- Missouri Tigers (683)
- Michigan Wolverines (657)
- Maryland Terrapins (630)
- Kentucky Wildcats (461)
- Memphis Tigers (393)
- Louisville Cardinals (372)
- Purdue Boilermakers (328)
- Marquette Golden Eagles (309)
- Arizona Wildcats (289)
- Saint Mary's Gaels (284)
- Mississippi State Bulldogs (264)
- BYU Cougars (135)
And here's also a look (which will be relevant shortly) of the other teams receiving votes in the latest AP Top 25 voting.
- Creighton Bluejays (53)
- Ole Miss Rebels (28)
- Kansas Jayhawks (25)
- New Mexico Lobos (23)
- VCU Rams (20)
- Oregon Ducks (20)
- UCLA Bruins (14)
- Drake Bulldogs (12)
- UC San Diego Tritons (8)
- Gonzaga Bulldogs (3)
- High Point Panthers (3)
- Illinois Fighting Illini (3)
- Vanderbilt Commodores (2)
- Utah State Aggies (1)
- Yale Bulldogs (1)
Shouts to Yale and the UC San Diego Tritons, am I right? But let's dive into the meat of this with three teams we believe are too high in these college basketball rankings along with teams ranked too low based on what we've seen from them this season.
St. John's is awesome but No. 7 might be a bit too rich
Make no mistake, Rick Pitino and the Johnnies are deserving of plenty of respect. Over the weekend, the Red Storm dominated defending champion UConn in Madison Square Garden to complete the season-sweep of Dan Hurley's Huskies and move one step closer to clinching the Big East title. It's been a phenomeal season at St. John's and I fully believe they're going to be a factor and a difficult out come NCAA Tournament time.
Having said that, I also don't believe that this is the seventh-best team in the country, despite what they've done this season. When you start to compare the Red Storm's resumé with their Top 10 peers, the only thing that really holds up is the "4" in the loss column of the overall 24-4 record. How that record has been compiled, however, is lacking. St. John's may have no losses outside of Quad 1 but they also have a meager 3-4 record in Quad 1, giving them the fewest Quad 1 wins of any Top 10-ranked team in this latest poll by a wide margin (Florida is next closest with a 5-3 record).
Really, this comes down to the context of the Big East, which is down exponentially by the standards of previous years for the conference, UConn included. All the credit in the world to the Johnnies for taking full advantage of that power void but their body of work is lacking by comparison.
Oregon being unranked doesn't compute with my simple brain
Speaking of Quad 1 wins, how in the blue hell are the Oregon Ducks among the others receiving votes in the latest AP Top 25 — not to mention not even being the top team right outside of the rankiings? While the Ducks have taken some questionable losses this season, their comeback win in overtime against Wisconsin really underscores just how high Dana Altman's team has climbed at points this season and the resumé that's been built.
While there are two Quad 2 losses going against Oregon's case at this point, they are an eye-popping 9-6 in Quad 1 games, including the win over the Badgers. That is tied for the second-most Quad 1 wins in the country this season, trailing only Auburn (the Tigers are lapping the field with 14 wins in the first Quadrant) and tying the Ducks with Tennessee and Alabama. But those two teams are ranked inside of the Top 6 while Oregon is outside the Top 25.
I'm not arguing that Altman's Ducks should be a Top 10 team in the country. But for a team that has shown the highs that Oregon has this season, there's a strong case to be made that they're by far the most egregious exclusion from these college basketball rankings.
Purdue doesn't even look like a Top 25 team right now, much less No. 20
The last time the Purdue Boilermakers won a basketball game, there was a sizable portion of the country that hadn't even made Valentine's Day plans. That's right, Matt Painter's team was on the right side of the final score last on Feb. 7 with a home win over the middling USC Trojans, 90-72. Since that time, Purdue lost a squeaker on the road to Michigan, lost by double-digits at home to Wisconsin, was handled in a nine-point road loss to Michigan State, and then got blown out by rival Indiana in Bloomington after holding a 12-point halftime lead.
At points throughout this season, the Boilermakers have truly looked undeniable. They have seven Quad wins to their credit, only one Quad 2 loss and no losses outside of the first two Quadrants. This is a good basketball team on the whole behind Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith, without question. They just aren't playing like that right now, and the fact that they're only dropping from No. 13 to No. 20 on the heels of four straight losses doesn't quite jibe with how others in similar positions with similar resumés are being treated.
The Boilermakers will right the ship sometime soon, I have no doubt. But buying fully into recency bias, until Purdue wins a game again, I'll have a hard time calling them a Top 20 team in college hoops.
Maryland has crept up to No. 16 but that still might be too low
Make no mistake, there wasn't anything that Maryland added to the resumé in the past week that really changes things for the Terrapins overall. Yes, they thoroughly dominated some of the lower-class Big Ten competition this season with a 26-point trouncing of Iowa and then a 17-point win over USC but those wins aren't resumé builders. I'm not arguing that the Terps should vault higher than four spots based solely on that.
However, what can be said is that it feels like AP Top 25 voters are still being slow to catch up to what Maryland has been doing over the past couple of months. While losses at Northwestern in overtime and at Ohio State (both by one possession) don't help the case, since Jan. 10, the Terps have wins over UCLA, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, not to mention two wins over Nebraska. Furthermore, the Iowa and USC wins underscore how well they've been playing, out-classing lesser competition.
Maryland has looked the part of a Top 15 team for weeks now and, even with some shuffling, they still are being held back. These AP voters need to Fear the Turtle just a bit more than they are right now.
Until Kentucky is healthy, the Wildcats aren't the No. 17 team
I'm fully on board with what Dick Vitale had to say after being on hand for Kentucky's loss to Alabama on Saturday — Mark Pope is doing one of the best coaching jobs in America right now having to weather the brutal SEC without his two starting guards, Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson. Once those guys get back on the floor, this team is going to be a real threat in March Madness to not just show well but potentially even aim to be cutting down the nets when it's all said and done.
As of right now with the current state of the roster, though, it's been a rollercoaster February. There have undeniably been some highs like beating Tennessee by 11 in Lexington but also plenty of lows. Alabama beat them into submission but the Feb. 15 loss to Texas looks much worse now, they lost by 14 at Ole Miss, and let's not forget that the month began with John Calipari's Arkansas upsetting them at home.
What's crazy is that, despite those results and only one ranked win so far this month with a 3-4 overall record so far, the Wildcats have only dropped five spots in the rankings and didn't drop in the Week 17 rankings at all following the loss. Injuries are a valid excuse but, at the same time, that doesn't mean they're absolved from the consequences of losses — or at least it shouldn't mean that.
Saint Mary's isn't getting the same treatment Gonzaga did at No. 23
This isn't to disparage the Gonzaga teams of old but how in the world is Saint Mary's sitting with a 24-4 overall record and after completing a season-sweep of the aforementioned Bulldogs in WCC play this past weekend and the Gaels are barely cracking the AP Top 25? If this was a team with the Gonzaga logo and Mark Few on the sidelines, there's no way this team isn't, at minimum, well inside the Top 20 of the rankings.
I fully understand that the four losses aren't the prettiest for the Gaels as two came in Quad 1 but another two came in Quad 2. However, they have no losses outside the top two Quadrants and still have four Quad 1 wins to their credit. Furthermore, don't discount the decisive wins over the Zags, a team that still is being measured as a Top 10 group in the country according to KenPom ratings. Maybe that's overinflated, but the Bulldogs are still a damn good team.
Saint Mary's is a good basketball team that isn't getting nearly the respect that they deserve right now. If a team in March holds them in the same regard as AP voters, though, the Gaels are going to put that opponent in a world of hurt.