AP Top 25 Basketball Rankings Released for Week 13: Eight in a Row for Chart Topping 'Zona and 'Cuse
ByThe 13th week of the college basketball season has seen another shakeup of the top-five slots, except of course for Arizona (1) and Syracuse (2), now in their eighth straight week atop the Associated Press top-25.
This week saw some big falls, one major leap and continued streaks both upward and downward. Still, only two teams entered the top-25 after not being ranked last week. Texas moved up one place to 25th overall and Creighton jumped six spots to re-enter at 20th.
The largest leap belonged to Michigan, who upset both Iowa and Michigan State, moving up 11 spots to 10th overall. Michigan State dropped from third to seventh and Iowa fell from 10th to 15th.
Wichita State remained unbeaten, improving to 21-0, which is one more win than Arizona and two more than Syracuse, the only other undefeated teams. However, Wichita State only advanced one place to fourth overall, while Florida jumped three spots to third and San Diego State moved to fifth, rounding out the top five.
In week 10, Kansas was ranked 18th, but now has climbed 12 spots over the past three weeks to sit at sixth, just outside the top five. If Kansas can stay red hot and beat Iowa State (16) and Texas (25) this week, voters will have a hard time keeping the Jayhawks out of the top five.
Kansas has faced a tough schedule littered with ranked opponents in their own conference. On their current six-game win streak, four opponents have been ranked and their next two are as well. While Andrew Wiggins searches to find consistency in his game, the emergence of Joel Embiid has given the team a huge boost. His low-post presence has taken some attention away from Wiggins, who seems to be heating up.
Ohio State plummeted even further to 24th after losing its fourth straight and then finally snapping the skid against Illinois. The Buckeyes' skid was especially perplexing because they won their first 15 games of the season and peaked at third overall. In a matter of three weeks, the team came two spots shy of falling off the rankings.
The pressure is on for Ohio State as they will see Penn State and Wisconsin this week and teams like UConn, Kansas State, Baylor and Gonzaga itching to get into the top-25.