5 biggest winners and losers in college basketball this week
- With two of last week's top six teams losing to unranked opponents over the weekend, the top of the AP Top 25 Poll had a bit of a shakeup in Week 14.
- The ACC and Big 10 lead all conferences with six teams apiece in the rankings, followed by the Big 12 and SEC with with three each. The Pac-12, meanwhile, has no representation in the AP Top 25 Poll for the sixth consecutive week.
- Here are the five biggest winners and losers of Week 14 of the college basketball season.
▲ No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels — Up 1 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll
North Carolina rebounded from a surprise loss to the then-unranked Lousiville Cardinals January 12 with five big conference wins. This week, the Tar Heels took down ACC bottom-dwellers Georgia Tech by 23 before exacting revenge against the now-No. 16 Cardinals on the road Saturday. North Carolina will host two unranked opponents this week before welcoming the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers to the Dean Smith Center for a colossal top-10 matchup.
▲ No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers — Up 5 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers notched two big conference wins against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and No. 21 Maryland Terrapins this week, good enough to rise five spots in the AP Top 25 Poll. The Badgers will take to the road to face the unranked Minnesota Golden Gophers Wednesday before traveling to Ann Arbor to take on the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines Saturday afternoon. If Wisconsin can take advantage of the downtrodden Wolverines and walk away with a win, expect the Badgers to catapult up the rankings come next week.
▲ No. 11 Virginia Tech Hokies — Up 1 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll
The No. 11 Virginia Tech Hokies had a solid week on the road, taking down the Miami Hurricanes by 12 points before traveling to Raleigh to take on the N.C. State Wolfpack, who were fresh off a narrow overtime loss to the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers. The Hokies managed to hold N.C. State to just 24 points in the 23-point win, good enough to knock the Wolfpack out of the rankings and inch one spot closer to the top-10 themselves. Virginia Tech has a chance to pad its resume further with a win against the No. 16 Louisville Cardinals Monday night.
▲ No. 14 Villanova Wildcats — Same spot in AP Top 25 Poll as last week
The reigning champion Villanova Wildcats crashed and burned in the truest sense early this season, falling out of the rankings for the first time since 2013 and nearly losing one of their bright young stars. But with solid performances week after week, the Wildcats have steadily climbed back into the AP Top 25 Poll. Villanova finally resembles the team opponents feared heading into the year, and big wins against the DePaul Blue Demons and Georgetown Hoyas help bolster that reality. Now, the Wildcats will take on the unranked Creighton Bluejays before traveling to Wisconsin to take on the No. 10 Marquette Golden Eagles in their first big test since that early-season losing streak.
▲ No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers — Same spot in AP Top 25 Poll as last week
The Tennessee Volunteers haven't lost a game since they narrowly fell to the Kansas Jayhawks back in November. That's 16 consecutive wins, which is good enough to make them winners this week and, frankly, every week until they lose. The Volunteers beat both the South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies by double-digits this week, and they'll face three more unranked opponents before traveling to Rupp Arena to take on the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats February 16 in what may be their toughest road contest of the season.
▼ No. 13 Kansas Jayhawks — Dropped 2 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks entered the week looking to recover from a tough road loss to the Kentucky Wildcats January 26, but instead found themselves once again struggling away from home. Kansas fell 73-63 to the unranked Texas Longhorns to open the week but recovered nicely with a 16-point win against Jarrett Culver and the then-No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders at home. Aside from one more contest against the Red Raiders, the Jayhawks are not slated to match up against another ranked opponent this season. Barring another surprise loss to an unranked opponent, expect Kansas to sit right outside the top 10 until March.
▼ No. 9 Michigan State Spartans — Dropped 3 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Michigan State Spartans were one of the more consistent teams in college basketball this season, but after falling to the Purdue Boilermakers last week, things look to be unraveling at the seams for Tom Izzo's squad. The Spartans fell at home to Romeo Langford and the unranked Indiana Hoosiers Saturday. They'll face two more unranked teams this week before taking on the No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers and No. 7 Michigan Wolverines later in the month.
▼ No. 7 Michigan Wolverines — Dropped 2 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The No. 7 Michigan Wolverines started the week strong with a home win against rival Ohio State, but they lost by double digits to the unranked Iowa Hawkeyes on the road just days later. Michigan will take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Tuesday before hosting the No. 24 Wisconsin Badgers for a top-25 matchup Saturday afternoon.
▼ No. 21 LSU Tigers — Dropped 2 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The LSU Tigers dropped two spots in this week's AP Top 25 Poll thanks to a one-point home loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday. The No. 19 Tigers will have a week of contests against unranked opponents before facing a tough challenge against the No. 5 Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena next Tuesday.
▼ N.C. State Wolfpack — Fell out of the AP Top 25 Poll
The then-No. 23 N.C. State Wolfpack forced overtime against the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers and eventually fell by just one point to start off the week with a bang. But just four days later, the Wolfpack welcoming the then-No. 12 Virginia Tech Hokies to PNC Arena and struggled mightily. The Hokies held N.C. State to just 24 points in the lopsided affair, enough to slide out of the AP Top 25 Poll altogether. The Wolfpack will need to recover quickly, as they'll face in-state and ACC rival North Carolina at the Dean Smith Center Tuesday night.