BUFFALO, NY – MARCH 18: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats reacts against the Wisconsin Badgers during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at KeyBank Center on March 18, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
With a turbulent week that saw three of the top five teams lose at least one contest, this week’s AP Poll resulted in some serious shake-up. Most notably, the incredibly talented and well-coached Blue Devils fell three spots to fourth in the poll after losing a highly entertaining shootout on the road against Boston College. However, the largest drop in the rankings belongs to the Florida Gators who lost to both Florida State and Loyola-Chicago last week. Luckily for the Gators, they were able to hold a spot in the rankings thanks to a hard-fought defensive victory over a ranked Cincinnati Bearcats program.
Top 25 College Basketball Rankings 2017: Week 6
Impressively, the red-hot Arizona State Sun Devils jumped from 16th to 5th in the country after taking down both St. John’s and Kansas last week. One of the best shooting teams in the country, the Sun Devils have a deep roster that is highly cerebral when it comes to finding the open man on the court. On top of that, all but one of the Sun Devils impressive victories have been by double digits, a feat that clearly warranted Arionza State claiming a coveted spot in the top five. With a relatively easy three-game stretch upcoming before Pac-12 play commences, the Sun Devils could feasibly be the top-ranked team in the country by the end of next week.
| Ranking | Team (1st place votes) |
| 1 | Villanova (41) |
| 2 | Michigan State (19) |
| 3 | Wichita State |
| 4 | Duke |
| 5 | Arizona State (5) |
| 6 | Miami |
| 7 | North Carolina |
| 8 | Kentucky |
| 9 | Texas A&M |
| 10 | Xavier |
| 11 | West Virginia |
| 12 | Gonzaga |
| 13 | Kansas |
| 14 | TCU |
| 15 | Seton Hall |
| 16 | Virginia |
| 17 | Purdue |
| 18 | Notre Dame |
| 19 | Florida State |
| 20 | Tennessee |
| 21 | Baylor |
| 22 | Florida |
| 23 | Arizona |
| 23 | Texas Tech |
| 25 | Cincinnati |
While the mostly new top-five rankings appear to have the best teams in the country for this week, Villanova (vs. Temple) and Wichita State (vs. Oklahoma) both face tough unranked opponents this week. If both of the aforementioned programs were to lose this week, Arizona State could be the logical choice to take over the top spot in next weeks AP Poll. Can the feisty Sun Devils continue their streak of dominance to become the new surprising kings of college basketball?
Dropped from rankings: Minnesota 14, Nevada 22, USC 25
Others receiving votes that did not make the poll: Creighton 79, Oklahoma 72, Texas 52, Louisville 19, Arkansas 17, Virginia Tech 15, Minnesota 15, Nevada 13, Mississippi State 8, UCLA 6, SMU 6, Loyola-Chicago 5, Alabama 4, Houston 3, Georgia 3, Towson 3, Northern Iowa 3, Syracuse 2, Boise State 2, Rhode Island 1, Middle Tennessee 1
