This week’s AP Top-25 poll is a doozy. For the first time in years, the poll includes a TIE. We hardly ever see this and normally it involves some of the top teams in all of college basketball.
This time is no exception. Our tie here in 2025 is for the number three rank and it’s between the Duke Blue Devils and the Florida Gators. Both teams had an interesting week but in opposite ways.
Duke, on one hand, had won 16 in a row; the longest streak a big name university has had in a long time. They’ve been holding down the two spot in the AP Top-25 poll for a couple weeks now but after their streak-ending loss versus Clemson, they have been bumped down to a tie for third in Week 15.
Florida, on the other hand, just pulled off their best win of the season. The beat the unanimously best team in college basketball: the Auburn Tigers.
The Gators won connivingly too. Florida fell behind early but by late in the second half, they were up big. From there they didn’t let Auburn get back into the game and led by ten or more points most of the second half. It was an offensive showdown with the final score being 90-81.
Despite the high volume of points, the Gators stuck to themselves and shared the ball effectively. No player had over 13 shots which exemplifies their recipe to success. Sharing the scoring has been a key aspect of Florida’s highly powered offense. Guard Walter Clayton Jr. and forward Alex Condon led the way for the Gators, they had 19/6/9 and 17/10/4 respectively.
The incredible win would merit a shift in judgement from the AP Top-25 poll committee. Despite just losing to Tennessee, the Gators jumped them, and two other teams, in this week’s rankings. They are now tied with Duke at No. 3 with only Alabama, then Auburn ahead of them here in Week 15.
Biggest Droppers From Week 15
Marquette and Missouri both dropped big time in Week 15’s AP Top-25 poll. Both teams didn’t win a game this week, all to ranked teams but nonetheless. Their momentum is gone.
Marquette dropped a Week 15 high seven spots to No. 18 after losing to UConn, St. John’s and Creighton, all in a row. After starting 15 and 2, the Golden Eagles have been shot from the sky as of late. They are 3-4 in their last seven games and their schedule only gets harder. Expect Marquette to continue to skid into the March Madness tournament.
Missouri dropped two games this week, both to top ten ranked schools, but it still cost them six spots in the AP Top-25 poll. Both were close games too, the first being versus No. 4 Tennessee where they lost 85-81 and the second to No. 10 Texas A&M where they lost 67-64.
Missouri went from No. 15 to 21 because of this, and it doesn’t seem that warranted. What explains their large drop is the talent surrounding them. The Tiger’s conference competition played well this week and universities like Ole Miss jumped Missouri because of it.
Biggest Winners From Week 15
Eight teams moved three or more spots in this week’s AP Top-25 poll but the two biggest jumps belong to the Ole Miss Rebels and the Arizona Wildcats.
Ole Miss has steadied the ship lately but they’ve been all over the place this season. After losing three in a row a couple weeks ago the Rebels looked done but their win versus No. 14 Kentucky this week was huge for the program. They blew the Wildcats out 98-84 which caused them to jump from number 25 to 19.
Speaking of Wildcats, Arizona is back! Although they started out in the top ten in the preseason standings, they took some early losses in the season which put them on the back burner for awhile. But the past several weeks the Wildcats have began taking their game into extra gear, rattling off wins versus No. 25 Baylor, No. 3 Iowa State and now No. 13 Texas Tech.
Their hard fought win versus the Red Raiders made them jump seven spots to No. 13 as of Week 15.
To Read More Basketball News
Follow Alexander Martin on Instagram @waddup.im.alex or reach out directly at [email protected].
Check out more Hardwood Heroics content at www.hardwoodheroics.com/author/alexmartin/.
