Men’s college basketball rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Tennessee suffers its first loss
It took only 10 weeks for the final unbeaten team on the men's side of the college basketball world to pick up a win. No. 1 Tennessee's perfect season is no more after a 30-point demolition at the hands of No. 8 Florida on Tuesday night, meaning that the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers can pop some champagne to celebrate their status as the last perfect national champion extending for another year.
How will the results of Week 10 impact the new AP Top 25 poll, which is set to drop on Monday afternoon? Read on to look at a projection of the newest rankings, including how far the Volunteers will fall after their loss to the Gators.
Projected AP Top 25 college basketball rankings
- Auburn Tigers
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Duke Blue Devils
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Florida Gators
- Marquette Golden Eagles
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Houston Cougars
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Oregon Ducks
- Michigan State Spartans
- UConn Huskies
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Memphis Tigers
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Michigan Wolverines
- Utah State Aggies
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Baylor Bears
- West Virginia Mountaineers
Tennessee suffers historic loss at Florida
Seeing the Volunteers fall on the road against a Top 10 team in Florida isn't a shock given how this season has gone. What was a stunner, however, was seeing Tennessee get annihilated by 30 points in a game where they looked like they didn't belong on the same floor as the Gators.
This performance marked the first time a No. 1 ranked team lost by at least 30 points since 1968, which should cost the Volunteers dearly in the rankings. Saturday's win at Texas prevented a slide out of the Top 10 entirely but that kind of no-show is a wakeup call for Rick Barnes' team early in SEC play.
Georgia traps Kentucky to make SEC statement
The SEC is a loaded conference this season with the likes of Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Kentucky looking like juggernauts. The league's depth is impressive as evidenced by what Georgia did this week, beginning with an 82-69 upset over the Wildcats that saw star freshman Asa Newell lead the way with 17 points and 7 rebounds.
Scoring a home upset win over a Kentucky side that may have been looking ahead to Saturday's trip to Mississippi State is one thing, but the Bulldogs made an impressive statement by beating No. 17 Oklahoma by 10 to avoid a post-upset hangover. The pair of wins helped Georgia improve to 14-2 on the season and should result in a number next to their name on Monday.
UConn trips up at Villanova
The Big East hasn't had a strong year so far with only two teams ranked entering Week 10. It's not a good sign for the league that one of its two top performers, two-time defending national champion UConn, struggled early and fell at Villanova on Wednesday with Wildcats' guard Eric Dixon making it his personal mission to deliver a massive loss to the Huskies.
This was the worst performance for UConn in the lower 48 states and offers another sign that three-peating is very hard regardless of how much talent is on your roster. The more intriguing aspect of this game comes for Villanova, which has a great win over UConn on its resume to go along with really bad losses to Columbia and St. Joseph's.
Iowa State needs overtime to get past Texas Tech
No game in the Big 12 is easy, so seeing Iowa State earn an overtime win at Texas Tech on Saturday was very impressive. This spot screamed trap for the Cyclones, who have a big home date with Kansas looming Wednesday, so the fact they maintained their focus against a very game Red Raiders side bodes very well for their chances to compete for a regular season title.
This game will sting for Texas Tech, who saw Joshua Jefferson beat the buzzer for a game-tying layup and then put the Cyclones ahead for good with a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds left in the extra session. Like Villanova before them, the Red Raiders have a loss to St. Joseph's on their ledger and blowing a chance to add a victory over a Top 3 team at home could hurt their chances at an at-large bid down the road.
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