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5 biggest winners and losers in college basketball this week
5 biggest winners and losers in college basketball this week
Meredith Cash,Meredith CashFeb 11, 2020, 01:02 IST
We're 15 weeks into the 2019-2020 college basketball season, and the chaos at the top of the rankings finally seems to have tapered off.
For the fourth week in a row, the one-loss Baylor Bears have sat atop the AP Top 25 Poll.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have held steadfast in the No. 2 spot over that span, while the Kansas Jayhawks and undefeated San Diego State Aztecs have clocked in at third and fourth.
This week, the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils survived an upset bid from the North Carolina Tar Heels in yet another wild installment of the Tobacco Road rivalry, while traditional powerhouses Michigan State and Villanova both lost back-to-back contests on the week.
The Big East leads all conferences with five teams in the AP Top 25 Poll, while the Big Ten and Big 12 follow close behind with 4 apiece in the rankings.
Here are the five biggest winners and losers from Week 14 of the 2019-2020 college basketball season.
▲ No. 10 Seton Hall Pirates — Up 2 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
After dropping a 12-point decision to the Xavier Musketeers last week, Myles Powell and the Seton Hall Pirates bounced back with two big-time Big East wins this week. They took down the Georgetown Hoyas on the road before upsetting the then-No. 10 Villanova Wildcats in Philadelphia Saturday. They have a definitive hold on first place in the conference heading into matchups against the No. 23 Creighton Bluejays and Providence Friars this week.
▲ No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions — Up 9 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Penn State's not just a football school anymore. The Nittany Lions had a particularly strong week in the loaded Big 10, upsetting then-No. 16 Michigan State on the road Tuesday before hosting the Minnesota Golden Gophers for an 83-77 win. They'll take on the Purdue Boilermakers — who are fresh off of a 36-point upset of the then-No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes — Tuesday before taking on conference bottom-dweller Northwestern Saturday.
▲ No. 18 Marquette Golden Eagles — Enter the AP Top 25 Poll
Markus Howard is one of the most electric players in all of college basketball, and his Marquette Golden Eagles are finally stepping into the national spotlight after a slow start to the season. This week, Howard and company beat the then-No. 19 Butler Bulldogs by 19 points to immediately break into the top 20 after not finding themselves in the rankings all season. The Golden Eagles will face a big test this week as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the No. 15 Villanova Wildcats at The Pavillion Wednesday night.
▶︎ No. 7 Duke Blue Devils — Same spot as last week in the AP Top 25 Poll
The North Carolina Tar Heels are having a historically bad season, but that didn't stop Roy Williams' squad from leading the then-No. 7 Duke Blue Devils for all but 1:47 of the 100th rendition of the greatest rivalry in college basketball. With 4.4 seconds remaining in regulation and his team down by three, Duke point guard Tre Jones stepped to the free-throw line. He drained the first shot, then threw the ball off the rim, recovered the offensive rebound, and chucked up a contested jumper at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
The game once again came down to Jones at the charity stripe after five minutes of extra time. With 6.6 seconds left, Jones made the first shot to tie the game at 96. He missed the second, but the Blue Devils once again snagged the offensive rebound, and the sophomore ball handler took a nearly-identical jumper to the one he sank to send it to overtime. This time luck wasn't on his side, but teammate Wendell Moore came away with the rebound and laid it in as time expired to give Duke the edge.
▶︎ No. 4 San Diego State Aztecs — Same spot as last week in the AP Top 25 Poll
The San Diego State Aztecs are the only undefeated Division I team in the country, yet they're ranked behind three other teams. Though their strength of schedule doesn't compare to their counterparts in Power 5 conferences, the Aztecs are flying high with a double-digit win this week against Air Force. San Diego State will look to move two more games closer to a perfect season with games against the New Mexico Lobos and Boise State Broncos this week.
▼ Michigan State Spartans — Dropped out of the AP Top 25 Poll
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. After starting the season ranked No. 1 in the country, the Michigan State Spartans find themselves out of the AP Top 25 Poll after enduring one of the tougher weeks of the country's top teams. They lost to the then-No. 22 Penn State Nittany Lions at home before losing by nine against the unranked Michigan Wolverines. Tom Izzo's squad won't have any time to regroup, as Michigan State visits the No. 22 Illinois Fighting Illini Tuesday before hosting No. 9 Maryland four days later.
▼ No. 15 Villanova Wildcats — Down 5 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Villanova also dropped two contests this week, but both losses came against ranked opponents. First, the Wildcats fell on the road to the then-No. 19 Butler Bulldogs, and then they lost their third straight to the then-No. 12 Seton Hall Pirates at home. Jay Wright's team will host Markus Howard and the newly-ranked No. 18 Marquette Golden Eagles before taking on their crosstown rival Temple Owls Sunday.
▼ No. 17 Oregon Ducks — Down 3 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Oregon lost its second consecutive game this week to in-state rival Oregon State. The unranked Beavers pulled out a solid 10-point win on their home court to set the Ducks back three spots in the AP Top 25 poll. Oregon has a few days to recover before hosting the No. 16 Colorado Buffaloes Thursday night and the Utah Utes Sunday.
▼ No. 21 Iowa Hawkeyes — Down 4 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Iowa Hawkeyes have looked relatively solid as of late, so their 36-point loss to the unranked Purdue Boilermakers this week came as quite a surprise. They bounced back to beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers by 24 on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to keep them from backsliding in the rankings.
▼ No. 14 West Virginia Mountaineers — Down 1 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll
West Virginia started off the week with a strong, 15-point win against the Iowa State Cyclones, but the weekend brought some tumult for the Mountaineers. They dropped a 10-point decision on the road against the unranked Oklahoma Sooners Saturday to slide back a spot in the AP Top 25 Poll, and now they only have a few days to prepare for this week's gauntlet featuring No. 3 Kansas and No. 1 Baylor in a three-day span.
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