The Associated Press(AP) poll has just released this week’s top 25 teams and with it we see the addition of three new teams- Michigan, Utah State and West Virginia who are replacing Arkansas, Baylor and Cincinnati.
We also got our first taste of conference matchups this weekend during a frenzy of top-25 teams playing each other.
On Saturday SEC start its conference brawl; with nine teams in the top 25 and many more on the fringe, the second half of this season is going to be a bloody one for the Southeastern Conference.
The remaining games for each team will be against opponents all with winning records within their conference.
Biggest Upsets of Week Nine
No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats Hand No. 6 Florida Their First Loss
The undefeated Gators traveled to Lexington this Saturday and got lit up against Kentucky, the final score being 106-100. Kentucky shared the ball well with each starter scoring 14+ points and a career morning for Koby Brea who hit seven three-points in the game.
Although Florida lost they still looked strong, scoring 100 points is no easy feat. They just ran into the buzz saw that is Kentucky. After this weeks AP Top-25 Poll Kentucky has moved up to No. 6 and Florida to No. 8.
No. 7 Kansas Falls to Unranked West Virginia
The West Virginia escaped Allen Fieldhouse by the skin of their teeth last Tuesday, defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 62-61. After blowing a late 13 point lead, a clutch free-throw by Javon Small with 1.8 seconds left ultimately decided the game and pushed the Jayhawks even further down week ten’s AP poll(No.11).
Small certainly did NOT live up to his name on Tuesday grabbing 11 rebounds along with 13 points and 6 assists. Because of their team’s effort they have entered week 10’s top-25 sitting at No. 21.
UCLA and Cincinnati Crumble Against Unranked Teams
Saturday was a frenzy of fringe teams pouncing on ranked opponents, motivated to establish their name in the AP poll. First came Nebraska, who knocked off No. 15 UCLA 66-58 led by guard Brice Williams who dropped 16 points and six boards.
Despite the big win, Nebraska remains unranked after week ten although they received the second highest amount of votes of teams who didn’t make the cut. So theoretically, they are currently ranked 27th. UCLA fell to No. 22 because the loss.
Another underdog, Arizona beat No. 16 Cincinnati 72-67 after a slop fest of a game. Caleb Love had the best stat line of the game with 12 points, 6 boards and 6 assists but this game was more so lost by Cincinnati than won by Arizona.
Cincinnati was down big most of the game but managed to erase a 19 point deficit near the end- only to squander their momentum by committing lazy fouls on the defensive side of the ball.
Consistency in the Top Five
Same as last week, week ten has the same set of character topping the charts: Tennessee, Auburn, Iowa State, Duke and Alabama. In fact, the top three have been the same since week five. These teams have consistently dominated this season, blowing out high-level opponents this weekend.
No. 1 Tennessee whooped Arkansas on Saturday, 76-52 and No. 5 Alabama put up 107 against No. 12 Oklahoma just a few hours later. Iowa State also handled business beating No. 25 Baylor by 19 and pushing them out of the AP poll.
These three teams in particular have looked outstanding- with Duke and Auburn being contenders as well. As we creep closer to March it will be interesting if these teams can continue to play well against their fellow conference members.
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