The new College Basketball AP Top 25 has been released and there are plenty of headlines to talk about. Here are just a few.
Here is the Week 9 Associated Press Top-25 Poll:
1. Gonzaga 2. Baylor 3. Villanova 4. Iowa 5. Texas 6. Tennessee 7. Michigan 8. Houston 9. Kansas 10. Wisconsin 11. Creighton 12. Texas Tech 13. Virginia 14. West Virginia 15. Ohio State 16. Virginia Tech 17. Minnesota 18. Alabama 19. Missouri 20. Clemson 21. Oregon 22. Illinois 23. UConn 24. UCLA 25. Saint Louis
Takeaway #1: Duke is gone
The Duke Blue Devils are a mainstay in the top 25. It is a story when they aren’t in the top 20, but they aren’t even in the Top 25 for the first time since 2016.
Do they deserve to be in it? No, but it’s still noteworthy. Coach K’s team is obviously young and haven’t won their games against ranked opponents. They lost at home to Michigan State in December, then to Illinois by double digits, and most recently to Virginia Tech by seven.
With just two more ranked matchups remaining (both aren’t in the top ten), it will be hard to see Duke getting very high in the rankings for the remainder of the season. To put it in perspective, Saint Louis is ranked but Duke isn’t.
Takeaway #2: 14-0
Gonzaga is seen as the best team in college basketball and it doesn’t look like they’re slowing down anytime soon.
Playing in the West Coast Conference certainly helps, but they’ve had some great wins that include #9 Kansas, #14 West Virginia, #4 Iowa, and #13 Virginia.
Mark Few will have an advantage over other teams in Power 5 conferences because they’ll have easier schedules and could rest Jalen Suggs, Corey Kispert, and Drew Timme down the stretch in preparation for the NCAA Tournament.
Takeaway #3: Juwan Howard is making a name for himself
Juwan Howard is known for his role on Michigan’s Fab Five, but he is making a name for himself in the coaching circles. While his Wolverines were upset by a ranked Minnesota team, they beat them the week before by more than 20 points and then followed it up by blowing out #10 Wisconsin by 23 on national television.
There’s been some talk about the potential of Howard being a candidate to be an NBA head coach in the future. But, all teams have to do is look at how that went with John Beilein who took the job in 2019 and has already been fired.
Howard fits at Michigan as their head coach and they should get even better in the near future with recruits seeing Michigan’s progress.
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