Projected college basketball rankings after Kentucky, Kansas and Purdue suffer upsets

Forecasting the Week 16 AP Top 25 after six ranked programs go down, headlined by Kentucky, Kansas and Purdue.
Tennessee v Kentucky
Tennessee v Kentucky | Andy Lyons/GettyImages

Six top-25 programs fell on Saturday, which will surely cause a major shake-up when the Associated Press (AP) updates its polls on Monday. Chief among the noteworthy giants to fall were No. 7 Purdue and No. 15 Kentucky, who both suffered crushing conference road losses.

Kentucky had no answers for unranked Texas' starting backcourt tandem, fifth-year senior Tramon Mark and freshman standout Tre Johnson, who combined for 58 points. Mark Pope's Wildcats squandered a narrow first-half lead because they couldn't contain the Longhorns duo, specifically in the paint.

Meanwhile, the Boilermakers' defeat came at the hands of a formidable foe in No. 16 Wisconsin. The Badgers ostensibly couldn't miss in the pivotal Big Ten showdown, shooting 61.5 percent from the floor and making 12-of-30 threes.

After taking down Tennessee for a second time in roughly two weeks to stay afloat, Kentucky followed it up with a disappointing outcome at Texas. Moreover, Purdue did all it could to overcome a red-hot Wisconsin offense, though to no avail. With that in mind, let's project how their results (plus a few others) will impact the next AP Top 25.

Projected college basketball rankings after Kentucky, Purdue suffer upsets

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

No. 13 Arizona figures to tumble down the ranks following a late-game collapse against No. 6 Houston and their second straight loss. But arguably more importantly, they squandered an opportunity to establish themselves as the team to beat in the Big 12. It's an unfortunate blow for the Wildcats, who had won 13 of their previous 14 games before this rough patch.

Top-ranked Auburn prevailed over No. 2 Alabama in a heavyweight clash of SEC titans and the nation's premier men's college basketball squads. The Crimson Tide's resume speaks for itself and falling short versus the No. 1 school shouldn't cost them too much (if at all).