The Oklahoma Sooners lost just hours after the Associated Press made them the fifth new number-one team of the season last week, but they held their position atop the poll regardless.
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North Carolina lost at Northern Iowa and Michigan State lost at the University of Iowa.
Having won nine games in a row, including all eight conference games, Wichita State has returned to the AP Top 25 poll. They are the first unanimous No. 1 since Kentucky did it for 12 polls last season. The Hoosiers have won 10 straight after losing three of five.
After one more week, Saint Mary’s should be in, given the likelihood of a few ranked teams dropping out of next week’s poll. Despite Kentucky’s early season struggles, if they can end the season with a group of wins (especially Feb 20th against A&M) and run the table in the SEC Tournament, John Calipari’s team will still likely receive either a two or three seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa’s sweep of Michigan State gave the Hawkeyes four wins over ranked teams this season.
All of the current top-10 teams in Monday’s newly released poll have at least two losses.
Six ACC teams are in the AP Top 25. SMU was the last ranked team to be undefeated.
We certainly weren’t expecting much from the Missouri Valley Conference this season, but these teams have been Wichita State’s doormat thus far. The win was the first for UCLA over a No. 1 team since 2003. Oklahoma, which fell at Iowa State last Monday, is still the numero uno in the latest ranking.
The Sooners are 16-2 on the season and are next in action Tuesday night, January 26, when they host Texas Tech at 6:00 pm at the Lloyd Noble Center.
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Villanova topped the next group – the group of teams that lost but remained in the middle of the top 10 (i.e., Maryland, Kansas and West Virginia). Iowa State was another big climber this week, going from 19th to 14th. In addition to the Tar Heels, Virginia is No. 11, Miami is No. 15, Louisville is No. 16, Duke is No. 24, and Notre Dame is No. 25.
