Projected college basketball rankings after Auburn upsets Houston as part of wild Week 1
The college basketball season is just about a week old and there were no shortage of storylines. Cooper Flagg made his debut in style to help Duke win their first two games of the season and we got an instant classic at Allen Fieldhouse on Friday night as No. 1 Kansas hung on to outlast No. 9 North Carolina in a game that had fans begging for more home-and-home showcases between blue bloods during the regular season.
The wildest story of the week involved No. 11 Auburn, which opted to turn its plane around during a flight to take on No. 4 Houston after an altercation between two reserves. The participants were left behind and the hijinks didn't faze the Tigers, who scored one of Week 1's biggest stunners with a 74-69 victory over the Cougars at the Toyota Center.
How high will the Tigers climb in tomorrow's AP Top 25 poll? We'll find out soon enough, but I will be projecting the rankings every Sunday night as part of FanSided's weekly college basketball coverage. Without any further ado, let's see how the Week 1 action shakes up the projected rankings.
Projected college basketball rankings after Week 1 upsets
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- UCONN Huskies
- Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Duke Blue Devils
- Houston Cougars
- Arizona Wildcats
- Auburn Tigers
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Baylor Bears
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Creighton Bluejays
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Marquette Golden Eagles
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Florida Gators
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Texas Longhorns
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Illinois Fighting Illini
The most notable riser is Gonzaga, which jumps from No. 7 to No. 4 after an impressive win over Baylor on opening night. The Bears did drop to No. 12 as a result of that defeat but avoided a further fall with a nice win over No. 16 Arkansas as part of the toughest opening week for a Top 25 team, while the Razorbacks took a slight dip down to No. 18.
North Carolina also stays relatively stable, falling one spot to No. 10 as they shouldn't be penalized for a game effort in one of the toughest places to play in the country. The biggest fall belongs to Texas A&M, which drops nine spots to No. 22 after losing their opener at UCF, inspiring a Week 1 court storming from their fans.
The only new team in the projected rankings is No. 25 Illinois, which makes its debut after two impressive wins and the clear next team up after being the first team left out of the Week 1 poll. UCLA, which entered the week at No. 23, falls out after a loss to New Mexico.
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