SATURDAY (ESPN | 7:00 PM EST)
With all of the upsets that occurred this week, it’s completely unsurprising that there was an immense amount of shakeup from top to bottom in the AP Poll. With top-five programs such as Duke, Michigan State, Xavier, and Arizona State all succumbing to their respective opponents this week, the new kings of college basketball look decidedly different than they did last week. Most notably, the defensively stout Virginia Cavaliers moved up five spots from eighth to third. Beating both Virginia Tech and an offensively sound North Carolina program, the fundamentally sound and resilient Cavaliers proved emphatically that their reliance on an elite defense is more than enough to dispatch the perceived juggernauts in college basketball.
Top 25 College Basketball Rankings 2018: Week 10
After losing out last week, the once intimidating and physical Texas A&M Aggies dropped out of the rankings completely after being ranked 11th in the country only a week ago. On the bright side, the one loss Auburn Tigers finally forced their way into the AP Poll. Winning back to contests against Arkansas and Tennesse, the Tigers garnered the impressive wins that they needed to be ranked in the top-25 for this week. Although many of the lower ranked SEC teams have struggled to hold their place in the coveted AP Poll rankings, the high-octane offense and elite rebounding capabilities of the Tigers could allow them to not only remain ranked for weeks to come but could also allow them to ascend slowly but surely to new heights this season.
| Ranking | Team (1st place votes) |
| 1 | Villanova (52) |
| 2 | West Virginia (12) |
| 3 | Virginia (1) |
| 4 | Michigan State |
| 5 | Purdue |
| 5 | Wichita State |
| 7 | Duke |
| 8 | Texas Tech |
| 9 | Oklahoma |
| 10 | Xavier |
| 11 | Arizona State |
| 12 | Kansas |
| 13 | Seton Hall |
| 14 | Cincinnati |
| 15 | Gonzaga |
| 16 | TCU |
| 17 | Arizona |
| 18 | Miami |
| 19 | Clemson |
| 20 | North Carolina |
| 21 | Kentucky |
| 22 | Auburn |
| 23 | Florida State |
| 24 | Tennessee |
| 25 | Creighton |
With numerous top-ranked programs losing this week, it was inevitable that most of the elite programs in college basketball would be punished with ranking demotions in varying degrees. The biggest drop among the well-known teams was North Carolina’s drop from 12 to 20th in the AP Poll. While it is still early in conference play, the Tar Heels need to establish a stronger defensive presence if they hope to reap the benefits of their gifted and prolific offense.
Dropped from rankings: Notre Dame 121, Florida 85, Texas A&M 62, Ohio State 29, Rhode Island 7, Michigan 5, Baylor 2, Nevada 2, New Mexico State 1, Georgia 1, Arkansas 1
Others receiving votes that did not make the poll: Texas A&M 11, Arkansas 22
