Top 25: Week of 1/10

It was a less than ideal week for UNC basketball, with both teams taking losses. The men took a bad loss at Notre Dame, while the women lost to highly ranked NC State, but did so by 27 points.

Elsewhere in college basketball, some team from Durham took a loss, while teams near the top of both top 25s took some losses. Now that another week is in the books, let’s check on where things stand in the newest top 25 rankings.

Men’s Basketball

AP Top 25

1. Baylor Bears (61 first place votes)
2. Gonzaga Bulldogs
3. UCLA Bruins
4. Auburn Tigers
5. USC Trojans
6. Arizona Wildcats
7. Purdue Boilermakers
8. Duke Blue Devils
9. Kansas Jayhawks
10. Michigan State Spartans
11. Houston Cougars
12. LSU Tigers
13. Wisconsin Badgers
14. Villanova Wildcats
15. Iowa State Cyclones
16. Ohio State Buckeyes
17. Xavier Musketeers
18. Kentucky Wildcats
19. Texas Tech Red Raiders
20. Seton Hall Pirates
21. Texas Longhorns
22. Tennessee Volunteers
23. Providence Friars
24. Alabama Crimson Tide
25. Illinois Fighting Illini

Where is UNC?

Good news is that two of the Heels’ last three games were blowout wins. Bad news is the other is the Notre Dame loss. As a result, the Tar Heels are still not even receiving votes, never mind cracking the top 25.

Biggest Winners

Led by one of the nation’s leading scorers in Johnny Davis, Wisconsin had a big week that saw them move up a week high 10 spots. Thanks to wins over previously #3 Purdue, Iowa, and Maryland, the Badgers are up all the way at #13.

Biggest Losers

Alabama’s very weird season, which includes wins over Gonzaga and Houston and losses to Iona and Davidson, continued last week when they lost to Missouri. As a result, the Tide dropped nine spots, falling to #24. Also, Duke dropped six spots, which I bring up for no particular reason.

Conference Breakdown

• Big 12: 5
• Big Ten: 5
• SEC: 5
• Big East: 4
• Pac-12: 3
• AAC: 1
• ACC: 1
• WCC: 1

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #19 Texas Tech (11-3, 1-1 Big 12) at #1 Baylor (15-0, 3-0 Big 12) - Tonight at 7 PM ET on ESPN2
• #4 Auburn (14-1, 3-0 SEC) at #24 Alabama (11-4, 2-1 SEC) - Tonight at 9 PM ET on ESPN
• #16 Ohio State (10-3. 4-1 Big Ten) at #13 Wisconsin (13-2, 4-1 Big Ten) - Thursday at 7 PM ET on ESPN3

Women’s Basketball

AP Top 25

1. South Carolina Gamecocks (26 first place votes)
2. Stanford Cardinal
3. Louisville Cardinals (4)
4. NC State Wolfpack
5. Tennessee Lady Volunteers
6. Indiana Hoosiers
7. Arizona Wildcats
8. Maryland Terrapins
9. Iowa State Cyclones
10. UConn Huskies
11. Michigan Wolverines
12. LSU Tigers
13. Texas Longhorns
14. Baylor Bears
15. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
16. Duke Blue Devils
17. Georgia Lady Bulldogs
18. BYU Cougars
19. Kentucky Wildcats
20. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
21. North Carolina Tar Heels
22. Colorado Buffaloes
23. Oklahoma Sooners
24. South Florida Bulls
25. Kansas State Wildcats

Where is UNC?

The Heels took their first loss of the season at NC State this week, but they did end up hanging on to a top 25 spot. Carolina fell two places to #21.

Biggest Winners

Coming in right below UNC was a newcomer this week and the biggest winner of the week: Colorado. The Buffaloes had a four spot increase as they improved to 13-0 by opening their conference season with wins over USC and UCLA.

Biggest Losers

UNC’s two spot fall was one of the bigger one of the week, but the biggest belongs to Texas. The Longhorns dropped four spots after taking a home loss to unranked Texas Tech.

Conference Breakdown

• ACC: 6
• Big 12: 5
• SEC: 5
• Big Ten: 3
• Pac-12: 3
• AAC: 1
• Big East: 1
• WCC: 1

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #2 Stanford (11-3, 2-0 Pac-12) at #22 Colorado (13-0, 2-0 Pac-12) - Friday at 9 PM ET on Pac-12 Network
• #16 Duke (11-2, 2-1 ACC) at #4 NC State (14-2, 5-0 ACC) - Sunday at 4 PM ET on ACC Network
• #11 Michigan (13-2, 4-1 Big Ten) at #8 Maryland (12-4, 4-1 Big Ten) - Sunday at 5 PM ET