How unpredictable has this college basketball season been? On last Wednesday alone, three top-five teams lost. The next night, No. 6 Maryland was dropped by Minnesota, which entered the game winless in-conference. The volatility of the season is captured in the latest rankings even as Villanova remains No. 1 for another week.
NCAA basketball rankings 2016: Villanova stays at No. 1, faces No. 5 Xavier on Wednesday
The Wildcats embarrassed Xavier in their first meeting of the season. Can they do it again this week?
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Oklahoma didn’t slide at all even after losing to unranked Texas Tech, though the Sooners’ Saturday win over West Virginia might have something to do with that. Iowa, which fell to what was a sub-.500 Penn State team last week, remains in the top 10, as does Maryland, even after a close call against a Michigan team missing star Caris LeVert on Sunday.
Villanova looks like the one sure thing right now, but the Wildcats face arguably their toughest test of the season with a true road game at No. 5 Xavier on Wednesday. It’s worth noting that Villanova whooped Xavier 95-64 at home in their first meeting of the year.
Here’s a look at this week’s polls:
AP Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova Wildcats (45) | 24-3 | 1,604 |
| 2 | Kansas Jayhawks (20) | 23-4 | 1,580 |
| 3 | Virginia Cavaliers | 21-5 | 1,393 |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners | 21-5 | 1,393 |
| 5 | Xavier Musketeers | 24-3 | 1,368 |
| 6 | Michigan State Spartans | 22-5 | 1,346 |
| 7 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 22-5 | 1,241 |
| 8 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 20-6 | 1,144 |
| 9 | Arizona Wildcats | 22-5 | 1,028 |
| 10 | Maryland Terrapins | 23-5 | 976 |
| 11 | Louisville Cardinals | 21-6 | 902 |
| 12 | Miami-Florida Hurricanes | 21-5 | 851 |
| 13 | Oregon Ducks | 21-6 | 842 |
| 14 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 20-7 | 772 |
| 15 | Duke Blue Devils | 20-7 | 674 |
| 16 | Kentucky Wildcats | 20-7 | 627 |
| 17 | Iowa State Cyclones | 19-8 | 616 |
| 18 | Indiana Hoosiers | 22-6 | 571 |
| 19 | Baylor Bears | 20-7 | 521 |
| 20 | Purdue Boilermakers | 21-7 | 357 |
| 21 | Texas A&M Aggies | 20-7 | 283 |
| 22 | Utah Utes | 21-7 | 253 |
| 23 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 18-8 | 185 |
| 24 | SMU Mustangs | 22-4 | 154 |
| 25 | Texas Longhorns | 17-10 | 104 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Dayton 80, Providence 48, California 34, Wichita St 33, Texas Tech 31, Wisconsin 27, Saint Joseph's 20, VCU 19, South Carolina 12, Hawaii 12, Saint Mary's 10, Valparaiso 3, Cincinnati 3, USC 2, San Diego State 2, UAB 1, Connecticut 1, Arkansas-Little Rock 1, Stephen F. Austin 1 | |||
| Dropped: Dayton 15, Providence 23 | |||
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | 1st |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova | 24-3 | 792 | 25 |
| 2 | Kansas | 23-4 | 751 | 7 |
| 3 | Virginia | 21-5 | 679 | 0 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 21-5 | 668 | 0 |
| 5 | Xavier | 24-3 | 652 | 0 |
| 6 | North Carolina | 22-5 | 639 | 0 |
| 7 | Michigan St | 22-5 | 626 | 0 |
| 8 | Iowa | 20-6 | 561 | 0 |
| 9 | Maryland | 23-5 | 527 | 0 |
| 10 | Arizona | 22-5 | 512 | 0 |
| 11 | Miami-Florida | 21-5 | 466 | 0 |
| 12 | West Virginia | 20-7 | 366 | 0 |
| 13 | Oregon | 21-6 | 365 | 0 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 20-7 | 333 | 0 |
| 15 | Indiana | 22-6 | 317 | 0 |
| 16 | Baylor | 20-7 | 305 | 0 |
| 17 | Iowa St. | 19-8 | 304 | 0 |
| 18 | Duke | 20-7 | 303 | 0 |
| 19 | Purdue | 21-7 | 245 | 0 |
| 20 | Notre Dame | 18-8 | 176 | 0 |
| 21 | Texas A&M | 20-7 | 172 | 0 |
| 22 | Dayton | 21-5 | 121 | 0 |
| 23 | Utah | 21-7 | 120 | 0 |
| 24 | Providence | 19-8 | 102 | 0 |
| 25 | Texas | 17-10 | 66 | 0 |
| Others Receiving Votes: South Carolina 47; Saint Mary's 42; Wichita State 32; Texas Tech 30; Pittsburgh 18; Wisconsin 15; California 11; St. Joseph?s 10; Seton Hall 6; Southern California 6; Virginia Commonwealth 6; Hawaii 3; LSU 3; Michigan 1; St. Bonaventure 1; San Diego State 1. | ||||
| Dropped: South Carolina 23 | ||||
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