Top 25 Breakdown 1/7/19

It was a wild week in college basketball, with multiple of the tops teams falling to lesser foes. I did my best to deal with those losses, the losses at the back end of the Top 25, and teams that didn't even play, and I assembled what would be my ballet if I had a say in the AP Poll. If you want to discuss it or disagree with me, find me on Twitter @ThreePointRange.

Top 25
1. Duke (1)
Record:12-1, 1-0
Last Week: W 87-68 vs Clemson
This Week: 1/8 @ Wake Forest, 1/12 @ Florida State

2. Michigan (2)
Record: 14-0, 3-0
Last Week: W 68-55 vs Penn State, W 74-63 vs Indiana
This Week: 1/10 @ Illinois, 1/13 vs Northwestern

3. Tennessee (3)
Record: 12-1, 1-0
Last Week: W 96-50 vs Georgia
This Week: 1/8 @ Missouri, 1/12 @ Florida

4. Virginia (4)
Record: 13-0, 1-0
Last Week: W 100-64 vs Marshall, W 65-52 vs Florida State
This Week: 1/9 @ Boston College, 1/12 @ Clemson

5. Michigan State (10)
Record: 13-2, 4-0
Last Week: W 81-55 vs Northwestern, W 86-77 @ Ohio State
This Week: 1/8 vs Purdue, 1/13 @ Penn State

6. Gonzaga (7)
Record: 14-2, 2-0
Last Week: W 89-54 vs Cal State Bakersfield, W vs Santa Clara
This Week: 1/10 vs Pacific, 1/12 @ San Francisco

7. Virginia Tech (11)
Record: 13-1, 2-0
Last Week: W 81-55 vs Notre Dame, W 77-66 vs Boston College
This Week: 1/9 @ Georgia Tech

8. Auburn (9)
Record: 11-2
Last Week: N/A
This Week: 1/9 @ Ole Miss, 1/12 vs  Georgia

9. Kansas (6)
Record: 12-2, 1-1
Last Week: W 70-63 vs Oklahoma, L 77-60 @ Iowa State
This Week: 1/9 vs TCU, 1/12 @ Baylor

10. Texas Tech (12)
Record: 13-1, 2-0
Last Week: W 71-46 @ West Virginia, W 63-57 vs Kansas State
This Week: 1/8 vs Oklahoma, 1/12 @ Texas

11. Nevada (5)
Record: 14-1, 1-1
Last Week: W 72-49 vs Utah State, L 85-58 @ New Mexico
This Week: 1/9 vs San Jose State, 1/12 @ Fresno State

12. North Carolina (14)
Record: 11-3, 1-0
Last Week: W 77-57 vs Harvard, W 85-60 @ Pittsburgh
This Week: 1/8 @ North Carolina State, 1/12 vs Louisville

13. North Carolina State (15)
Record: 13-1, 1-0
Last Week: W 87-82 @ Miami
This Week: 1/8 vs North Carolina, 1/12 vs Pittsburgh

14. Mississippi State (17)
Record: 12-1
Last Week: N/A
This Week: 1/8 @ South Carolina, 1/12 vs Ole Miss

15. Florida State (8)
Record: 12-1, 0-1
Last Week: W 87-76 vs Winthrop, L 65-52 @ Virginia
This Week: 1/9 vs Miami, 1/12 vs Duke

16. Houston (19)
Record: 14-0, 2-0
Last Week: W 74-56 vs Tulsa, W 90-77 vs Memphis
This Week: 1/9 @ Temple, 1/12 vs Wichita State

17. Buffalo (18)
Record: 13-1, 1-0
Last Week: W 74-58 @ Eastern Michigan
This Week: 1/8 vs Toledo, 1/12 vs Miami (OH)

18. Kentucky (13)
Record: 10-3, 0-1
Last Week: L 77-75 @ Alabama
This Week: 1/8 vs Texas A&M, 1/12 vs Vanderbilt

19. Iowa State (NR)
Record: 12-2, 2-0
Last Week: W 69-63 @ Oklahoma State, W 77-60 vs Kansas
This Week: 1/8 @ Baylor, 1/12 vs Kansas State

20. Marquette (16)
Record: 11-3, 1-1
Last Week: L 89-69 @ St. John's, W 70-52 vs Xavier
This Week: 1/9 @ Creighton, 1/12 vs Seton Hall

21. St. John's (28)
Record: 14-1, 2-1
Last Week: W 89-69 vs Marquette, W 97-94 (OT) @ Georgetown
This Week: 1/8 @ Villanova, 1/12 vs DePaul

22. Ohio State (20)
Record: 12-1, 2-1
Last Week: L 86-77 vs Michigan State
This Week: 1/9 @ Rutgers, 1/12 @ Iowa

23. TCU (27)
Record: 12-1, 1-0
Last Week: W 85-81 vs Baylor
This Week: 1/9 @ Kansas, 1/12 @ Oklahoma

24. Villanova (30)
Record: 11-4, 2-0
Last Week: W 73-68 vs DePaul, W 65-59 @ Providence
This Week: 1/8 vs St. John's, 1/13 @ Creighton

25. Wisconsin (21)
Record: 10-4, 2-1
Last Week: L 59-52 vs Minnesota, @ Penn State
This Week: 1/11 vs Purdue

Next 5
26. LSU (26)
Record: 10-3
Last Week: N/A
This Week: 1/8 vs Alabama, 1/12 @ Arkansas

27. Indiana (22)
Record: 12-2, 3-1
Last Week: W 73-65 vs Illinois, L 74-63 @ Michigan
This Week: 1/11 @ Maryland

28. Oklahoma (24)
Record: 12-2, 1-1
Last Week: L 70-63 @ Kansas, W 74-64 vs Oklahoma State
This Week: 1/8 @ Texas Tech, 1/12 vs TCU

29. Louisville (NR)
Record: 10-4, 1-0
Last Week: W 89-73 vs Miami
This Week: 1/9 @ Pittsburgh, 1/12 @ North Carolina

30. Arizona State (23)
Record: 9-4, 1-1
Last Week: L 96-86 vs Utah, W 83-61 vs Colorado
This Week: 1/9 @ California, 1/12 @ Stanford


Previously Ranked: Nebraska (25), Kansas State (29)

Also Considered: Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Seton Hall, Syracuse

Notes

- I think the elite teams really proved their worth this week. Duke, Michigan, Tennessee, and Virginia all dominated their opponents this week. Duke beat a good Clemson team by 18, Michigan took down a top 25 opponent in Indiana by 11, and even when Indiana was mounting a second half comeback, it never felt as if Michigan was in any danger. Tennessee absolutely manhandled Georgia, winning 96-50, and Virginia took it to a Florida State team I had inside my top 10 by 13, although the Seminoles went on a 14-0 run after Virginia had removed all their rotation players. These four teams almost seem unbeatable at the moment, and there are only a few teams I would even consider putting in that tier. I think Michigan State proved a lot with their 9 point win in Columbus, and Gonzaga is finally fully healthy and rolling through the WCC. As of now, those are clearly the top 6 teams in the nation and they've begun to separate themselves from the pack.

- Virginia Tech is probably not the seventh best team in the country. But I don't know who I would put ahead of them. Like Kansas and Nevada both lost, so I dropped both of them, Auburn didn't play, North Carolina and NC State just aren't there yet, and Texas Tech hasn't looked good on the offensive end, so they are sort of there by default right now.

- People may think I have Nevada high at the moment. However, I don't think their resume is as bad as people say. Sure, wins over Loyola, USC, and Arizona State haven't aged well, but it's worth noting they won two of those games by double digits, and they also blew out a good Utah State team on Wednesday. I'm also just a big fan of them, and when they are playing at their best, they look like one of the best teams in the country, so I couldn't drop them lower than 11.

- I think Mississippi State could be a team that continues to rise in these rankings. I really like the Bulldogs and their next four games are all winnable, and there are quite a few opportunities for needle moving victories. It wouldn't shock me if I had them in the top 10 for their matchup against Kentucky on January 22.

- Another team I really love is Houston. There aren't a ton of easy games in the American, but the Cougars don't play the other two presumed favorite, Cincinnati and UCF, until February, so I wouldn't be shocked if they were still undefeated heading into those matchups.

- The back end of the top 25 really dropped the ball this week. There were so many teams that lost games and I had to redesign the back end from scratch. I don't really think some of these teams deserve to be ranked, but given the losses around them, they've made their way in. Marquette, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas State all lost at least one game, and while most of them weren't necessarily bad, they missed an opportunity to move up.

- Iowa State is the most notable addition, making a jump from unranked to 19th. It may seem aggressive, but they were probably 31 in my last set of rankings, and with the way they embarrassed Kansas, they looked every part of a team that deserves to be in the top 25, and probably higher than 19. Their losses to Arizona and Iowa aren't great, but they certainly aren't resume kilers, and they are just getting better with players returning from injuries and suspension. I really like the Cyclones, and I think they are a contender in the Big 12.

- Arizona State is holding on by a thread. That loss to Utah felt like a backbreaker, as they could've been in the top 25 with two wins in Pac-12 play, and a chance to stay in there given the poor quality of the league as a whole. However, they lost, and honestly, had Seton Hall not lost to DePaul, they would not have been in here at all. They need to continue winning games in order to stay in the at-large conversation.

What To Watch

I'm going to be leaving the actual breakdown of games to my conference breakdowns, so check back here for in-depth previews on the actual games. Here's the schedule: ACC is on Monday, Big 12 Tuesday, Big Ten Wednesday, Pac 12 Thursday, SEC Friday, and Big East Saturday. I might change it up a little, but for now, that's how I will be rolling out my previews of games. Instead, I'll leave a schedule for the best games to watch.

1/8
#3 Tennessee @ Missouri
#28 Oklahoma @ #10 Texas Tech
#12 North Carolina @ #13 North Carolina State
Toledo @ #17 Buffalo
Purdue @ #5 Michigan State
#19 Iowa State @ Baylor
#21 St. John's @ #24 Villanova
#26 LSU @ Also Considered Alabama
1/9
#8 Auburn @ Also Considered Mississippi
#23 TCU @ #9 Kansas
Miami @ #15 Florida State
#20 Marquette @ Creighton
1/10
N/A
1/11
Purdue @ #25 Wisconsin
#27 Indiana @ Also Considered Maryland
1/12
#1 Duke @ #15 Florida State
#3 Tennessee @ Florida
#4 Virginia @ Clemson
#6 Gonzaga @ San Francisco
#9 Kansas @ Baylor
#11 Nevada @ Fresno State
#29 Louisville vs #12 North Carolina
Also Considered Mississippi @ #14 Mississippi State
Also Considered Kansas State @ #19 Iowa State
Also Considered Seton Hall @ #20 Marquette
#22 Ohio State @ Also Considered Iowa
#23 TCU @ #28 Oklahoma
#26 LSU @ Arkansas
1/13
#24 Villanova @ Creighton