Reactions to the College Basketball AP Top 25 Poll for Week 18
Conference tournament action officially starts on Monday as the college basketball season moves closer to Selection Sunday. After a week in which Gonzaga
Conference tournament action officially starts on Monday as the college basketball season moves closer to Selection Sunday. After a week in which Gonzaga and Wofford completed undefeated runs through conference play and Duke suffered another loss, the latest AP Top 25 Poll dropped on Monday.
Here are our reactions to the latest AP poll.
It’s more apparent than ever that the ACC is loaded
In Monday’s AP Top 25, No. 2 Virginia is followed by No. 3 North Carolina, which is followed by No. 4 Duke. All three schools are candidates to earn a No. 1 seed, and it’s a realistic possibility that two of them earn a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday.
Wherever you draw the line for the top tier of college basketball teams that are national title contenders — whether it’s after No. 6 Kentucky, after No. 7 Michigan or No. 10 LSU — the Cavaliers, Tar Heels and Blue Devils have to be included in that group.
The Week 18 AP poll also marks the first time this season that North Carolina has been ranked ahead of Virginia or Duke, thanks to the Tar Heels winning 12 of their last 13 games.
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The top of the SEC isn’t far behind
The top three teams in the SEC standings – Tennessee, Kentucky and LSU – are ranked No. 5, No. 6 and No. 10, respectively. If any of those three programs are able to win the rest of their games until Selection Sunday, capped off by an SEC Tournament title, that will put it on track for a No. 1 seed.
The SEC has been, is, and will always be known as a football conference, but it has three legitimate Final Four contenders in college basketball and it could send eight teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Wofford earns its program-best ranking
The Terriers climbed to No. 22 in the latest AP poll after debuting at No. 24 last week. Their AP ranking matches their ranking on kenpom.com and Wofford is No. 14 (!) in the NET. Don’t let its name or conference affiliation diminish your opinion of Wofford when it comes time to fill out your NCAA Tournament bracket.
Wofford was a No. 7 seed in Stadium’s latest NCAA Tournament projections and they could climb to a No. 6 seed if they win the Southern Conference tournament.
Sure, Wofford lost to the four best teams it has played this season – North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi State and Oklahoma – but three of those games were on the road. That big-game experience could pay off in a neutral-court setting in the NCAA Tournament.
UCF cracks the AP Top 25
For the first time all season, the American Athletic Conference has three teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
That’s because UCF made its season debut at No. 25, joining No. 12 Houston and No. 20 Cincinnati, after the Knights upset the Cougars on the road. Maybe the AAC just gets better as the season ages.
The conference didn’t have three teams ranked in the same AP poll until Feb. 19 of last season, and it didn’t have two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 until Feb. 6 of the 2016-17 season.
The AAC ranks sixth nationally in kenpom.com’s conference rankings – one spot ahead of the Pac-12 – and it could use an NCAA Tournament run from at least one of Houston, Cincinnati or UCF to make the most of what projects to be a four-bid league.
