Men’s college basketball rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Tennessee Tops Alabama

March has arrived and college basketball has signaled its presence in its signature month with their signature play: the buzzer beater.

There have been a few dramatic buzzer-beating wins over the past week, but none is more significant than seeing No. 5 Tennessee upend No. 6 Alabama thanks to a last second three from Jahmai Mashack.

The victory was a critical one for the Volunteers, who are poised to climb in the upcoming AP Top 25 poll after their dramatic victory over the Crimson Tide.

The SEC did provide plenty of drama as ranked teams fell at the expense of bubblers trying to make their mark on the NCAA Tournament Selection committee, so here's a look at how the rankings should shake out entering the final week of the regular season.

Projected College Basketball AP Top 25 Rankings After Tennessee Tops Alabama

1. Auburn Tigers
2. Duke Blue Devils
3. Houston Cougars
4. Tennessee Volunteers
5. Florida Gators
6. St. John's Red Storm
7. Michigan State Spartans
8. Alabama Crimson Tide
9. Clemson Tigers
10. Iowa State Cyclones
11. Texas Tech Red Raiders
12. Wisconsin Badgers
13. Memphis Tigers
14. Missouri Tigers
15. Louisville Cardinals
16. Maryland Terrapins
17. Michigan Wolverines
18. Purdue Boilermakers
19. Marquette Golden Eagles
20. Kentucky Wildcats
21. Texas A&M Aggies
22. BYU Cougars
23. Saint Mary's Gaels
24. Arizona Wildcats
25. Vanderbilt Commodores

Tennessee's buzzer-beating three takes down Alabama

Perhaps the most impactful game of the week from an entertainment perspective was the Tennessee-Alabama thriller, which came down to a dramatic finish after the Crimson Tide built a 9-point lead with just over 10 minutes to go. Both teams played well enough to win and the game was trending towards overtime before Mashack's heroics lifted the Volunteers to their fourth straight win.

This result could be critical in the race for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as Tennessee owns a head-to-head win over Alabama and has a much softer finish to the season (at Ole Miss, South Carolina) than the Crimson Tide do (No. 3 Florida, at No. 1 Auburn). Alabama's brutal schedule down the stretch could wear them down before the SEC Tournament and it will be impressive work if they find a way to split this upcoming week.

Michigan State seizes control of the Big Ten

After a home loss to Indiana on Feb. 11, the doubters began to come calling for No. 8 Michigan State, which had lost three out of four after a West Coast sweep at the Big Ten's California schools before a gauntlet of five straight games against the league's top teams, with three of those games on the road. The Spartans completed that run at a perfect 5-0 and are now in firm command of the Big Ten, thanks in part to a buzzer-beater of their own on Thursday night when Tre Holloman launched a heave from 60 feet that went in to stun No. 16 Maryland at College Park.

The momentum from that win carried over to Sunday's nine-point victory over No. 11 Wisconsin, putting the Spartans a game up on No. 15 Michigan (which got blown out at home by Illinois on Sunday) with a chance to secure the outright regular season crown by beating the Wolverines on Senior Day next Sunday. No one seems to be paying attention to Tom Izzo's team as a title threat but their ability to go 10 deep and lock down on the defensive end will make Michigan State a very difficult out in March.

Vanderbilt all but locks up its NCAA Tournament bid

Entering the week on the bubble, Vanderbilt had two big opportunities to improve their resume with a trip to No. 12 Texas A&M before hosting No. 14 Missouri on Saturday. It wasn't always pretty but the Commodores got the job done, hanging on to beat the Aggies by two before snagging an overtime victory against the Tigers that was set up by, you guessed it, a last second three from Tyler Nickel to force the extra session.

The wins were massive for Vanderbilt's resume, which entered Sunday with a NET inside the Top 40 and five Quad 1 wins, including its most impressive win away from Memorial Gymnasium at Texas A&M. The end result should see the Commodores back inside the AP Top 25 and well positioned to not only make the NCAA Tournament, but potentially avoid the First Four if they can secure at least a split of this week's games against fellow SEC bubblers Arkansas and Georgia, with the latter making its own impressive statement with a home win over No. 3 Florida before blowing out Texas in Austin.

St. John's secures its first Big East regular season title since 1992

It feels like March when Rick Pitino breaks out his white suit for a big game and Saturday's home date against Seton Hall was a worthy occasion. It wasn't always pretty for the Red Storm, but they took care of business with a 71-61 win over the Pirates to wrap up their first Big East regular season crown since 1992, which was Lou Carnesecca's final year as head coach of the then-Red Men.

While the Big East's slump is likely being held against St. John's case as a true title threat, it is important to note that all four of their losses (against Baylor and Georgia in the Bahamas, at Creighton and at Villanova) have come by a combined seven points. If a few bounces of the basketball went the Red Storm's way this team could be undefeated heading into March, so discount St. John's and Pitino at your own peril when you fill out your brackets in two weeks.