With the conclusion of week 11, we saw some surprising upsets the past several days and an appropriate response by the AP Top 25 poll committee.
Several teams dropped heavily in rank, or even pushed out of the top 25- three teams in fact(OU, UCLA & WVU). They were replaced by Baylor, Wisconsin and Georgia. No. 17 Oklahoma rattled off three consecutive losses, two to top 10 teams, which put a damper on their post season hopes and also got them kicked out of the AP Top 25. They got the boot as well as No. 22 UCLA– who lost three straight too. They fell to Nebraska, No. 24 Michigan and Maryland.
No. 21 West Virginia took a loss to unranked Arizona witch caused their removal from the top 25.
Although some fan bases received disappointing news with the Associated Press’s announcement on Monday afternoon, others were delighted with their team’s progression.
Biggest Jumps in the AP Top 25 Poll
With an impressive victory versus the undefeated No. 1 ranked Tennessee Volunteers, the Florida Gators moved from the eight hole to No. 5 after week 11. The beat the Vols by 30, holding them to only 43 points. This had to be the biggest shocker of the week.
They blew out an unranked but still talented Arkansas team in Little Rock this week as well- both of these victories merited them the No. 5 spot in the AP Top 25 poll.
Previously ranked No. 16, the Michigan State Spartans also jumped four spots to No. 12 this week. Although they had no huge wins this week they played solid basketball with consistent scoring from senior guard Jaden Atkins. The Spartans have been in the AP Top 25 poll since week six and have been steadily moving up and up and up as the season progresses.
The last team of the three teams to move up four spots in week 11: Michigan. They had an upset victory against UCLA that helped them move, defeating the previously ranked No. 22 Bruins handily, 94-75. Senior center Vladislav Goldin went off for 36 points and seven rebound shooting 13-18 on the night.
Looks like Michiganders have something to look forward to come the rest of 2025’s men’s college basketball season. Their two best universities have some serious potential.
Biggest Falls in the AP Top 25 Poll
Tennessee took their first loss of the season in week 11 to the Florida Gators this week which caused them to fall from No. 1 ranked to No. 6. The Volunteers had back to back underperforming games; four days after the Gators loss they barely held on versus their homonym UT Longhorns.
Despite only having one loss on the season, that game versus Florida must have left a sour taste in head coach Rick Barnes’s mouth. The Volunteers haven’t scored 43 points or fewer since losing to Alabama on Jan. 10th 2015! It’s hard to come back from such a sickening defeat so we shall see how the No. 6 Vols respond in the upcoming weeks.
Another enormous upset occurred this week: previously ranked No. 9 UCONN took a close loss to unranked Villanova on Jan. 8th pushing them down five spots to No. 14 in the AP Top 25 poll.
Villanova was led by Eric Dixon who had 23 on the night. He currently averages the most point in the ENTIRE league with 25.3. This game was a nailbiter down to the finish but was ultimately decided when Huskie’s Alex Karaban missed two free-throws with 3.1 seconds left.
UCONN has been up and down all season, both in their consistency in playing and in AP poll rank. They average a change in rank by 4.5 per week this season.
Illinois also fell significantly in rank this week- falling from No. 13 to No. 19 due to a tragic loss to USC on Saturday of Week 11.
Coming off of a hot week 10 where they beat No. 9 Oregon, the highly praised fighting Illini took a bad loss to the 10-5 Trojans at the hand of junior guard Desmond Claude who dropped 31 on Illinois.
To Read More Basketball News
Follow Alexander Martin on Instagram @waddup.im.alex or reach out directly at martinalex0502@gmail.com.
Check out more Hardwood Heroics content at hardwoodheroics.com/author/alexmartin/.
