College basketball upset alert: Why Auburn and Iowa State need to be careful in Week 11

There is a lot of drama in store for college basketball fans over the next two months. With Selection Sunday coming up in mid-March, conference play offers a chance for teams on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament to make statements with upsets over ranked foes throughout league play.

Kentucky learned that lesson the hard way last week, getting tripped up by Georgia as the Bulldogs followed it up with another upset over Oklahoma to earn a spot in this week's AP Top 25 poll. Which teams find themselves in danger ahead of their upcoming matchups? Read on to find out the top three upset candidates this week, which include newly minted No. 1 Auburn.

Which college basketball teams should be on upset alert in Week 11?

No. 25 Baylor

While the Big 12 has produced plenty of strong teams this year, Baylor has been one of the forgotten teams. An opening night loss to Gonzaga put the Bears behind the eight ball and they have largely done what you expected them to, losing only to really good teams (Gonzaga, Tennessee, UCONN and Iowa State) while taking care of business and picking up a few quality wins against St. John's and Arkansas.

The Bears are back in the Top 25 thanks to a 3-1 start to league play and hit the road Tuesday night to complete the Arizona trip against the Wildcats. This spot is a very tough one for Baylor since Arizona has started to recapture its preseason form with a 4-0 start in Big 12 play that includes road wins over ranked Cincinnati and West Virginia sides.

The talent has always been there for Arizona, but their strong non-conference schedule caused them to accumulate more losses than would have been anticipated for a team that began the year ranked inside the Top 10. Going on the road in the Big 12 isn't easy to begin with and Baylor might be walking into a buzzsaaw with this game.

No. 1 Auburn

Heavy is the head that wears the crown and that adage is very true in the world of college basketball. The top ranked team in the AP Top 25 poll never has an easy night since they get their opponents best shot whenever they take the floor, making a prolonged stay at the top an impressive accomplishment.

Auburn is the latest team to take up the mantle of No. 1 after fellow SEC school Tennessee relinquished it with a 30-point beating at Florida last week. While the Tigers have been the most consistently dominant team this season, with their lone loss coming by six at Duke, Saturday's trip to No. 23 Georgia has trap potential here.

The Bulldogs just beat two ranked teams at home last week and are more than capable of taking down the Tigers if they play their best basketball again. This spot is also a potential trap for Auburn, which hosts No. 15 Mississippi State on Tuesday and follows the Georgia trip with a home date against the Volunteers, making it very possible for their minds to wander if they impressively handle Mississippi State.

No. 2 Iowa State

We covered the Cyclones in this space last week and it wasn't easy for them on Saturday, when they needed a buzzer-beating layup to force overtime against Texas Tech in a game they went on to win by a point. Iowa State has a huge week ahead, with a date against No. 9 Kansas on Wednesday that could determine the front runner for the Big 12's regular season title, and that game could turn into an absolute war.

Even if Iowa State wins that game, the energy they expend against the Jayhawks may leave them vulnerable to an upset on Saturday when they hit the road to take on West Virginia. We've covered the Mountaineers before in this space as they have shown their ability to beat top competition all season long, making them a very live underdog at home.

As we just discussed with Auburn, the grind of league play makes it natural for potential lapses in focus, which nearly took down Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones are certainly good enough to win any time they take the floor but if their energy level doesn't match West Virginia's they could leave Morgantown with a critical Big 12 loss.