To be the most effective, it’s important to beat the most effective. That was the system for Duke over the weekend, because the Blue Devils took down Michigan in a marquee non-conference showdown. Within the wake of that colossal victory, Jon Scheyer’s squad changed the Wolverines atop the AP High 25 ballot. Monday’s rankings positioned Duke within the No. 1 spot for the primary time this season and set the ACC frontrunner up as the brand new favourite to safe the highest general seed in subsequent month’s NCAA Match.
Michigan didn’t tumble far, although. The Wolverines test in at No. 3 this week on the heels of their second lack of the 12 months. They nonetheless management their very own future within the Huge Ten title race, and a mere five-point defeat towards a nationwide championship contender mustn’t diminish their potential to make a Closing 4 run.
Issues are barely extra regarding at Houston after a two-loss week. The Cougars entered their matchups towards Iowa State and Arizona ranked No. 2 nationally and had a chance to stake their declare to the highest spot, however they fell quick in each exams and out of the blue have work to do within the hunt for a 3rd consecutive Huge 12 crown. Kelvin Sampson’s crew slipped to No. 5 within the rankings after its season loss whole doubled within the span of simply 4 days.
Additional down the pecking order, UConn dropped to No. 6 following a tough residence loss to Creighton. Kansas can be on a downward development following two losses in its final three outings, and AP voters downgraded it to No. 14.
In the meantime, Miami (Ohio) is now the highest-ranked mid-major crew after it added two extra wins to its excellent tally. With simply 4 regular-season video games remaining, the RedHawks are 27-0. Their climb was aided by Saint Louis‘ 18-game successful streak coming to an finish.
Bracketology: Houston’s Monday evening showdown at Kansas is important for Cougars’ No. 1 seed aspirations
David Cobb

AP High 25
The highest 25 groups in The Related Press’ faculty basketball ballot, with first-place votes in parentheses, information by means of Sunday, whole factors based mostly on 25 factors for a first-place vote by means of one level for a Twenty fifth-place vote and final week’s rating:
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin (47), Saint Mary’s (30), Villanova (15), Miami (10), Utah St. (8), NC State (7), SMU (4), Texas A&M (3), Iowa (3), UCF (3), Excessive Level (2), Stephen F Austin (2), Navy (1).
