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Top 25 12/2

After a great week of hoops, I have another Top 25 out, including a new #1 team, three new teams in the top 5, and four new teams inside my rankings this week. There was a ton of movement after some high profile results, and there could be even more next week, so be sure to follow me on Twitter @ThreePointRange to know when I update my rankings, and get my live reactions to games and teams. You can also discuss my rankings with me, and let me know why your favorite team deserves to be higher than I have them. I always enjoy talking with you, and I'm going to try and get my Twitter followers involved in my next article, so be sure to follow for a chance to be included. Thanks as always for reading, and enjoy.
Top 25
1. Louisville (+1)
Record: 7-0
Results: W 71-54 vs Western Kentucky (in Nashville)
Upcoming Games: 12/3 vs Michigan, 12/6 vs Pittsburgh
2. Ohio State (+3)
Record: 7-0
Results: W 71-52 vs Kent State, W 90-57 vs Morgan State
Upcoming Games: 12/4 at North Carolina, 12/7 vs Penn State
3. Kansas (+5)
Record: 6-1
Results: W 93-63 at Chaminade, W 71-56 vs BYU, W 90-84 vs Dayton (OT) (all games in Maui)
Upcoming Games: 12/7 vs Colorado
4. Michigan (+14)
Record: 7-0
Results: W 83-76 vs Iowa State, W 73-64 vs North Carolina, W 82-64 vs Gonzaga (all games in Bahamas)
Upcoming Games: 12/3 at Louisville, 12/6 vs Iowa
5. Maryland (+10)
Record: 8-0
Results: W 76-69 vs Temple, W 80-73 vs Harvard, W 84-63 vs Marquette (all games in Orlando)
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Notre Dame, 12/7 vs Illinois
6. Virginia (+2)
Record: 7-0
Results: W 46-26 vs Maine
Upcoming Games: 12/4 at Purdue, 12/8 vs North Carolina
7. Arizona (+2)
Record: 9-0
Results: W 93-91 vs Pepperdine, W 92-82 vs Penn, W 77-63 vs Wake Forest (all games in Anaheim)
Upcoming Games: 12/7 at Baylor
8. North Carolina (-4)
Record: 6-1
Results: W 76-67 vs Alabama, L 73-64 vs Michigan, W 78-74 vs Oregon (all games in Bahamas)
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Ohio State, 12/8 at Virginia
9. Kentucky (+1)
Record: 6-1
Results: W 69-58 vs UAB
Upcoming Games: 12/7 vs Fairleigh Dickinson
10. Michigan State (-7)
Record: 5-2
Results: L 71-66 vs Virginia Tech, W 93-85 vs Georgia, W 75-62 vs UCLA (all games in Maui)
Upcoming Games: 12/3 vs Duke, 12/8 vs Rutgers
11. Gonzaga (N/A)
Record: 8-1
Results: W 94-69 vs Southern Miss, W 73-72 vs Oregon (OT), L 82-64 vs Michigan (all games in Bahamas)
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Texas Southern, 12/8 at Washington
12. Oregon (-6)
Record: 6-2
Results: W 71-69 vs Seton Hall, L 73-72 vs Gonzaga (OT), L 78-74 vs North Carolina (all games in Bahamas)
Upcoming Games: 12/7 vs Hawaii
13. Baylor (N/A)
Record: 5-1
Results: N/A
Upcoming Games: 12/3 vs Maryland Eastern Shore, 12/7 vs Arizona
14. Seton Hall (N/A)
Record: 6-2 
Results: L 71-69 vs Oregon, W 81-56 vs Southern Miss, W 84-76 vs Iowa State (all games in Bahamas)
Upcoming Games: 12/8 at Iowa State
15. Memphis (+1)
Record: 6-1
Results: W 83-78 vs North Carolina State (in Barclay's Center)
Upcoming Games: 12/3 vs Bradley, 12/7 at UAB
16. Duke (-15)
Record: 7-1
Results: L 85-83 vs Stephen F. Austin (OT), W 83-70 vs Winthrop
Upcoming Games: 12/3 at Michigan State, 12/6 at Virginia Tech
17. Florida State (+7)
Record: 7-1
Results: W 113-56 vs Chicago State, W 60-57 vs Tennessee, W 63-60 vs Purdue (OT) (latter two at a neutral court in Florida)
Upcoming Games: 12/3 at Indiana, 12/8 vs Clemson
18. Auburn (+5)
Record: 7-0
Results: W 84-59 vs New Mexico, W 79-65 vs Richmond (games in Barclay's Center)
Upcoming Games: 12/5 vs Furman
19. San Diego State (NR)
Record: 8-0
Results: W 62-49 vs Tennessee State, W 83-52 vs Creighton, W 83-73 vs Iowa (latter two in Las Vegas)
Upcoming Games: 12/4 at Colorado State, 12/8 at San Jose State
20. Dayton (NR)
Record: 5-1
Results: W 80-61 vs Georgia, W 89-62 vs Virginia Tech, L 90-84 vs Kansas (OT) (all games in Maui)
Upcoming Games: 12/3 vs Houston Baptist, 12/8 vs Saint Mary's (in Phoenix)
21. Villanova (N/A)
Record: 5-2
Results: W 83-72 vs La Salle
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Penn, 12/7 at Saint Joe's
22. Florida (N/A)
Record: 6-2
Results: W 73-67 vs Marshall
Upcoming Games: 12/7 at Butler
23. Oklahoma State (NR)
Record: 7-0
Results: W 86-72 vs Syracuse, W 78-37 vs Mississippi (games in Barclay's Center)
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Georgetown, 12/8 vs Wichita State
24. Washington (+1)
Record: 5-1
Results: N/A
Upcoming Games: 12/2 vs South Dakota, 12/4 vs Eastern Washington, 12/8 vs Gonzaga
25. Butler (NR)
Record: 7-0
Results: W 63-52 vs Missouri, W 68-67 vs Stanford (games in Kansas City)
Upcoming Games: 12/3 at Mississippi, 12/7 vs Florida
Next 5
26. Xavier (N/A)
Record: 7-1
Results: W 87-62 vs Lipscomb
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Green Bay, 12/7 vs Cincinnati
27. Colorado (NR)
Record: 6-0
Results: N/A
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Loyola Marymount, 12/7 at Kansas
28. Saint Mary's (NR)
Record: 8-1
Results: W 81-73 vs Utah State, W 75-66 vs Omaha
Upcoming Games: 12/5 vs Northern Illinois, 12/8 vs Dayton (in Phoenix)
29. Utah State (-9)
Record: 7-1
Results: L 81-73 at Saint Mary's
Upcoming Games: 12/4 at San Jose State, 12/7 vs Fresno State
30. DePaul (NR)
Record: 8-0
Results: W 88-75 vs Central Michigan, W 73-68 at Minnesota
Upcoming Games: 12/4 vs Texas Tech, 12/8 vs Buffalo
Dropped Out: Texas Tech (12), VCU (17), Georgia (19), Texas (27), Tennessee (28), Oklahoma (29), Arkansas (30)
Also Considered: Arizona State, Arkansas, BYU, Colorado, Georgetown, LSU, Marquette, Mississippi, New Mexico, Penn State, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Thoughts
- Perhaps the biggest story of the week was Duke falling to Stephen F. Austin at home. Why the Blue Devils losing to an unranked opponent at home in overtime was such a surprise is beyond me. This result further proved that there isn't any dominant team in the sport this season, like Duke or Virginia were last year, and they were the third AP #1 team to lose this year. There could be a fourth this week, as we'll get to in a second, but this was a shocking result. I'm slightly worried about Duke now. They haven't been their normal dominant selves this year, and there isn't a surefire first round pick, which feels crazy to say when discussing the Blue Devils. They plummeted to 16 in my rankings, which is more a reflection of how close all of these teams are to one another than me thinking they are suddenly bad. They will immediately have a chance to go right back up as they head to East Lansing to play Michigan State, although they are struggling a bit as well right now. 
- Speaking of Michigan State's struggles, that leads me perfectly into a discussion of Feast Week. We got some awesome games, with upsets and high level basketball galore. Michigan, San Diego State, and Dayton all were very impressed, and I aggressively ranked the two mid-majors inside of the Top 20. I really thought Dayton was very good in Maui when knocking off an Anthony Edwards led Georgia team and Virginia Tech, and they nearly took down Kansas as well. Meanwhile, the Aztecs blew the doors off of Creighton before beating Iowa in the Las Vegas Invitation. Plus, the Wolverines won the Battle 4 Atlantis, taking down North Carolina and Gonzaga on their way. Georgia and Texas Tech, meanwhile, were big losers from Feast Week, dropping out of the Top 25 completely from the top 20, as did VCU. Georgia has an awesome player in Edwards, but the rest of the roster is lacking and they basically need him to go for 37 like he did against Michigan State to have a chance at the highest level. Meanwhile, I overestimated the impact Chris Beard would have on this squad, especially early on. They just aren't quite there on either end yet, and they aren't Top 25 caliber yet. However, I think they can get there as time goes on. Finally, VCU's offense just struggles a little too much for me to trust them as Top 25 at this point in time. Teams like Oregon, Seton Hall, Gonzaga, and North Carolina didn't move too much in my eyes, but they provided some great games throughout the week. 
- Looking ahead, there should be more good games this week, starting with the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. There's a top 5 matchup between Michigan and Louisville, a top 10 clash between Ohio State and North Carolina, a top 20 clash between Michigan State and Duke, plus Maryland and Florida State playing solid teams as well. That's five games that should let us learn a lot about those squads and give us an insight into who are truly some of the best teams in the nation. Additionally, with conference schedules expanding, conference play starts this week for the ACC, Big Ten, and Mountain West. That will give us some more tough matchups, as the top teams in those conference won't get to just beat up on bad teams. North Carolina at Virginia is obviously the headliner there, but other games like Iowa at Michigan and Penn State at Ohio State should be good matchups for some of the elite teams in the nation. Additionally, there are a few other top 25 clashes outside of that framework. Arizona travels to Baylor, Florida heads to Indiana to play Butler, and Gonzaga and Washington face off in an in-state clash, plus next 5 teams Colorado and Saint Mary's will play ranked teams Kansas and Dayton respectively. Other games of interest include Oklahoma State getting a test from Georgetown, DePaul hosting Texas Tech, and Cincinnati and Xavier facing off in a rivalry matchup. With so many high profile matchups, there could be a lot of movement in my rankings next week, so be sure to come back next week to see how it shakes out.
What To Watch
Monday
N/A
Tuesday
#25 Butler at Mississippi
#4 Michigan at #1 Louisville
#16 Duke at #10 Michigan State
Wednesday
#6 Virginia at Purdue
Notre Dame at #5 Maryland
Georgetown at #23 Oklahoma State
Texas Tech at #30 DePaul
#2 Ohio State at #8 North Carolina
Thursday
N/A
Friday
Iowa at #4 Michigan
#16 Duke at Virginia Tech
Pittsburgh at #1 Louisville
Saturday
Penn State at #2 Ohio State
#7 Arizona at #13 Baylor
#22 Florida at #25 Butler
Cincinnati at #26 Xavier
#27 Colorado at #3 Kansas
Sunday
#8 North Carolina at #6 Virginia
#20 Dayton vs #28 Saint Mary's 
#11 Gonzaga at #24 Washington
#14 Seton Hall at Iowa State
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