Instead of our normal AP Top-25 poll takeaways, this week looks a little different. Several jumps or drops in poll rankings just don’t make sense to the naked eye. Further digging must be done to explain why the AP poll committee values some teams higher than others.
Hardwood Heroics did that digging, here’s every anomaly that came out of Week 16’s AP Top-25 poll and a glance into the AP committee’s brain.
The Tennessee Volunteers Fall An Inch When A Mile Is Deserved
February 11th, 2025, the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers visited the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats; a Kentucky team that has been slip and sliding all season with their new head coach Mark Pope. In Week 16 the Cats are ranked 17th after losing to Texas after their match versus the Vols.
This game was extremely close, no team led by double digits until the final minute of the game. Both teams were not playing their best ball, especially on the offensive side of the court. Tennessee shot a detrimental 16% from three, only making three the entire game and no Kentucky player had over 13 points.
But eventually the Volunteer’s lack of consistent offense caught up with them. After leading late in the second half, they allowed Kentucky to go on a 17-4 run to end the game, losing 75-64.
Tennessee’s offense has been a problem all year. Although they have a top five defense in the country, their offense scores the 171st amount of points per game. Their worst moment? Scoring the school’s 21st century low 43 points versus Florida earlier this season.
Yet they only fell one spot in this week’s AP Top-25 poll…
This can attributed to attributed to two factors: Tennessee’s pedigree of wins and the state of their conference. The SEC is stacked this year and an in-conference loss means less because of it. On top of that, the Vol’s have beaten several top 15 teams this year.
Nonetheless, since starting 13-0 they have gone 8-5 and have struggled mightily in conference play. Their rank at No. 6 this week seems a little high.
Mizzou Moves Up Six Spots Without Beating A Formidable Foe
The Missouri Tigers played two bottom feeder SEC teams this week and although they beat both, moving up six spots to No. 15 in Week 16’s AP Top-25 poll was surprising to say the least.
Early in the week the Tigers blew out the 16-9 Oklahoma Sooners 82-58 and just a couple days later beat the 16-10 Georgia Bulldogs by 13(87-74). Both of those opponents have struggled mightily this season and Missouri entered those games as heavy favorites to win.
So why does the AP poll committee value Missouri so heavily? When conference play first started, the Tigers managed to take down the then ranked No. 5 Florida Gators on the road. With the Gators flourishing as of Week 16, that win versus Florida boosts Missouri’s resume even more.
But Missouri has shown too much inconsistency this season to merit this massive jump to No. 15. The AP Top-25 poll misses again.
It’s worth mentioning that the Maryland Terrapins moved up five spots this week despite not playing anybody worth a nickel as well.
Kansas Should Be Exiled From The AP Top-25 Poll
The University of Kansas is hanging on to the AP Top-25 Poll by the pedigree of their chinny-chin-chin. Because of the school’s historical success in college hoops, the Jayhawks have stayed in the top-25 at No. 23 this week, even after losing to the 14-11 Utah Utes.
Maybe that’s because of their win versus (No. 11)Duke in Week Four but either way, Kansas deserves to fall out of the AP poll. Since that Duke win they are 1-2 versus ranked opponents, and have a 5-5 record over the last ten games. Their losses have been bad too- the one to Utah was a blowout and another recent loss to the 13-11 Kansas State Wildcats wasn’t particularly close either.
The Kansas Jayhawks now are 8-6 in conference play and 17-8 on the regular season. Though making March Madness is probable, their time in the AP Top-25 poll is dwindling.
Other AP Poll News
In Week 16 we did see some predictable moves though. Arizona fell six spots to No. 19 because of two consecutive losses to Kansas State and Houston and Louisville jumped back into the No. 25 spot.
There was also the Purdue-Wisconsin-Michigan triangle. Both Wisconsin and Michigan beat the Boilermakers which caused them to jump from the back of the poll to spots No. 11 and 12 respectively. Both games were down to the wire so the AP committee left Purdue on the hook, moving them down only six spots to No. 13.
Lastly, Memphis had the biggest drop in rank at eight spots in Week 16. After winning eight straight the Tigers lost in OT to an 11-8 Wichita State team. Memphis now sits at rank No. 22.
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/.
