Men’s college basketball rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Houston-Kansas thriller

After a very dramatic Week 11 where 19 ranked teams lost, things were a bit calmer in the college basketball world in Week 12. The Top 5 teams all managed to have perfect weeks, setting up a more stable situation for the new AP Top 25 poll that will drop on Monday afternoon.

There were also a few big results that will impact the new poll, including Houston's double-overtime thriller of a win at Kansas to hand the Jayhawks a second home loss in Big 12 play. Let's take a look ahead at the upcoming Top 25 following another week of college hoops action.

Projected AP Top 25 after Houston beats Kansas in double overtime

1. Auburn Tigers
2. Duke Blue Devils
3. Iowa State Cyclones
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
5. Florida Gators
6. Houston Cougars
7. Michigan State Spartans
8. Marquette Golden Eagles
9. Tennessee Volunteers
10. Kentucky Wildcats
11. Purdue Boilermakers
12. St. John's Red Storm
13. Kansas Jayhawks
14. Texas A&M Aggies
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs
16. Oregon Ducks
17. Memphis Tigers
18. Louisville Cardinals
19. Illinois Fighting Illini
20. Wisconsin Badgers
21. UCONN Huskies
22. Missouri Tigers
23. Texas Tech Red Raiders
24. Utah State Aggies
25. Vanderbilt Commodores

Auburn survives a slugfest with Tennessee

It's been a while since anyone really pushed No. 1 Auburn in a meaningful way but No. 6 Tennessee gave the Tigers everything they can handle. The Volunteers bogged the game down to a crawl and clamped down on Auburn defensively, holding the Tigers to 31 percent shooting from the floor, but a late three from Mike Kelly was the difference maker as the No. 1 team in the land escaped with a two-point victory at home.

This marked the second straight game that the Tigers won by a bucket after escaping Georgia with a two-point win a week earlier. Tennessee deserves credit for playing the Tigers as hard as they did as they are in the middle of a meat-grinder featuring five straight games against ranked teams, which they kicked off with a split after beating No. 14 Mississippi State at home earlier in the week.

Vanderbilt claims another upset victim by taking down Kentucky

The depth of the SEC has been a marvel this season as almost any road game is a death trap for potential contenders. Vanderbilt has already claimed a significant home upset by toppling Tennessee earlier this season and added another pelt to their wall by taking down No. 9 Kentucky 74-69 to inspire a court storm at Memorial Gymnasium.

While Kentucky will suffer minor damage from a road SEC loss, the gains for Vanderbilt are huge as it should lead to their first appearance in the AP Top 25 since the 2015-16 season. It will be a challenge to stay there, however, as the Commodores have a two-game road trip on tap to Oklahoma and No. 5 Florida over the next 10 days.

Houston outlasts Kansas in a double OT classic

Any time we can get to double overtime in a college basketball game we're in store for some fun. Saturday's thriller at Allen Fieldhouse provided some needed clarity to the Big 12 race as No. 7 Houston used insane finishes to force overtime and the second extra session to outlast No. 12 Kansas 92-86 to move into a commanding position with an 8-0 start in the nation's most difficult conference.

The defeat was the third in league play already for the Jayhawks, who dropped another home tilt to West Virginia on New Year's Eve for a very rare two-loss home season in Big 12 play. While voters shouldn't penalize the Jayhawks too much for losing a classic game, their chances of winning the Big 12 regular season title appear to be on life support at 5-3 as they sit in fifth place about halfway through the conference season.

Xavier trips up UCONN on Saturday night

There has been some magic missing for the Huskies this year as they bid for a third straight national championship. No. 19 UCONN needed overtime earlier in the week to survive a home game against Butler before falling on the road Saturday night at Xavier, which got 15 points each from Dailyn Swain and Zach Freemantle to seal another monumental win for their NCAA Tournament resume.

Dan Hurley's team is now 6-3 in league play with losses to Villanova, Creighton and Xavier, which will likely do some damage to the Huskies' eventual NCAA Tournament seed. The more important takeaway is that UCONN hasn't played its best basketball in a while and will need to find another gear if they hope to avoid an early exit in March Madness.