Going undefeated in college basketball is hard, a lesson the Arizona Wildcats learned the hard way this week. After beginning the year by winning 23 straight games, the No. 1 team in the land fell twice, losing on Monday to No. 9 Kansas (who didn't have Darryn Peterson for that game) and dropping a home game on Saturday night to No. 16 Texas Tech.
While no one doubts how good Arizona is, the two-loss week will result in a dip for the Wildcats when the next AP Top 25 poll drops on Monday afternoon. How far will Arizona dip? Read on to find out with a look at the projected Top 25 and some detailed analysis of the week's most impactful games.
Projected AP Top 25 Rankings After Arizona Loses Twice
1. Michigan Wolverines
2. Houston Cougars
3. Duke Blue Devils
4. Arizona Wildcats
5. UCONN Huskies
6. Iowa State Cyclones
7. Purdue Boilermakers
8. Gonzaga Bulldogs
9. Nebraska Cornhuskers
10. Kansas Jayhawks
11. Illinois Fighting Illini
12. Texas Tech Red Raiders
13. Florida Gators
14. Virginia Cavaliers
15. Michigan State Spartans
16. North Carolina Tar Heels
17. St. John's Red Storm
18. Saint Louis Billikens
19. Vanderbilt Commodores
20. Arkansas Razorbacks
21. Miami (Ohio) Redhawks
22. BYU Cougars
23. Louisville Cardinals
24. Wisconsin Badgers
25. Utah State Aggies
Wisconsin smokes Michigan State to sweep the week
There may not be a team outside the Top 25 that has a better collection of high-end wins than Wisconsin, which entered the week as the only team to topple No. 2 Michigan. The Badgers added two more pelts to their wall with an overtime victory at No. 8 Illinois before absolutely stomping No. 10 Michigan State in a primetime game on Friday night to go to 18-7 on the year.
The game was essentially over at halftime as Wisconsin built a 17-point lead over the Spartans, who continue to stumble offensively down the stretch. Combining those two victories with their earlier win over the Wolverines should help the Badgers climb back into the Top 25 this week.
Arizona falls at Texas Tech
We talked about this game a bit up top but the loss to Texas Tech requires a bit more examination for the Wildcats, who lost on their home floor for the first time this season. Arizona had no answer for J.T. Toppin, who racked up 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting with 13 rebounds, but their bigger area of concern may be the loss of star freshman Koa Peat to a leg injury late in the contest.
Head coach Tommy Lloyd said that Peat will undergo further testing after the game but a prolonged absence would throw Arizona's rotation into a bit of turmoil. A two-loss week should drop the Wildcats to the No. 4 spot in the poll, a reflection of how good their body of work has been to this point, but the road ahead is immensely difficult as four of Arizona's next five games come against ranked teams.
Iowa State stops Kansas' momentum in Ames
Saturday's tilt between No. 5 Iowa State and No. 9 Kansas was a matchup between two teams entering with different states of momentum, with the Cyclones having lost against TCU while the Jayhawks had toppled No. 1 Arizona without the services of Peterson, who missed that game due to flu-like symptoms. The return of Peterson on Saturday actually appeared to make Kansas play worse as they fell by 18, allowing the Cyclones to shoot 44 percent for the game and knock down 11 three-point attempts.
Peterson was essentially a non-factor, going 3-of-10 for the floor and recording 10 points with three turnovers in just 24 minutes of action. The ongoing Peterson saga has been a problem for Kansas, which has yet to see him play full games with regularity, and they are running out of opportunities to fully set up their team for success in March.
Gonzaga slows Santa Clara's roll
Saturday's late night affair out west saw No. 12 Gonzaga face a rare in-conference challenge as they hit the road to take on Santa Clara, which had already beaten Saint Mary's once this season and has been a popular bubble team to track. The Broncos threw everything they could at the Bulldogs but Gonzaga was up to the challenge, winning by eight on the road to reclaim first place in the WCC.
This contest will go down as a major missed opportunity for the Broncos, who have a brutal loss to Loyola-Chicago on their ledger and could have used a strong win like a triumph over the Bulldogs to erase the stench of that defeat. There isn't much left for Santa Clara to do in WCC play aside from getting a shot to sweep Saint Mary's in the last week of the regular season, but anyone who watched that game would see that the Broncos belong in the NCAA Tournament.
Florida establishes itself as the SEC favorite against Kentucky
The non-conference struggles that No. 14 Florida experienced in non-conference play appear to have been beneficial for the Gators, who have been clicking on all cylinders since SEC play started. The Gators have won 10 of their last 11 games, including Saturday's 92-83 win over No. 25 Kentucky, to put themselves in the driver's seat for the SEC's regular season title.
Five different Gators scored in double figures against Kentucky, with Xavian Lee leading all scorers with 22 points. A strong front line remains the key to Florida's success as they won the rebounding battle with the Wildcats by eight, including 17 offensive rebounds to create plenty of second-chance opportunities.