5 biggest winners and losers in college basketball this week
▲ No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes — Up 6 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Few teams had a better week than the Buckeyes. Ohio State hosted the then-No. 10 Villanova Wildcats and took care of business to the tune of a 25-point victory. The Buckeyes then followed up that effort with a 35-point win against Stetson and a six-spot climb in the AP Top 25 Poll. They'll look to carry that momentum into December when they're slated to face two top-10 teams in No. 5 North Carolina and No. 9 Kentucky.
▲ No. 14 Arizona Wildcats — Up 5 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Wildcats beat their opponents by an average of 39 points this week. That incredible margin of victory, plus some major losses by previously higher-ranked teams in the AP Poll, bought Arizona a five-spot jump in this week's rankings.
▲ No. 18 Xavier Musketeers — Up 3 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Musketeers have looked solid through and through. This week, they survived close contests against the Missouri Tigers and Missouri State Bears, keeping their composure throughout. Now, Xavier will use the next few weeks to tune up and prepare for a December 30 showdown against Big East and fellow top-25 foe Villanova.
▲ No. 19 Auburn Tigers — Up 3 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Auburn survived a close call against the South Alabama Jaguars Tuesday but bounced back in a big way against the Cal State Northridge Matadors three days later. Guard Samir Doughty dropped 33 points en route to the Tigers' 116-70 win. Auburn has unranked opponents lined up on the docket for the foreseeable future but looks to be one of the stronger teams in a wavering SEC.
▲ No. 1 Duke Blue Devils — Up 1 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Blue Devils kicked off the week with a 51-point victory on their home floor before welcoming the Georgia State Panthers to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a closer but arguably even more impressive win. Sophomore point guard Tre Jones found his much-coveted shooting stroke, dropping a career-high 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Mike Krzyzewski's squad benefitted from Kentucky's blunder and rode it to the top of the college basketball field.
▼ No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats — Down 8 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats were sitting pretty atop the world of college basketball when they made the bold and brave decision to invite the Evansville Purple Aces to Rupp Arena. The Purple Aces took care of business, toppling Goliath and dealing him his first loss of the season. The damage was good enough to bounce the Wildcats back eight spots in the AP Top 25 Poll. They have a few weeks to regain their bearings before facing No. 10 Ohio State and No. 2 Louisville back-to-back to end 2019.
▼ No. 17 Villanova Wildcats — Down 7 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Kentucky takes the cake for the worst week, but Jay Wright's Villanova Wildcats weren't too far behind. They started the week with a big win against the Army Black Knights, but a trip to the Buckeye State turned sour when then-No. 16 Ohio State dealt the Wildcats a demoralizing 25-point loss. Villanova bounced back with a decisive victory against the Ohio Bobcats, but it wasn't enough to prevent a seven-point slide in this week's AP Top 25 Poll.
▼ No. 16 Memphis Tigers — Down 3 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
Penny Hardaway's Tigers lost a tough matchup against the then-No. 14 Oregon Ducks early in the week, but perhaps their more noteworthy loss came in the form of their player. After initially resisting NCAA compliance, Memphis benched top-ranked freshman and preseason All-America selection James Wiseman and deemed him ineligible. It's unclear how many games the 7-foot-1 center will miss while waiting for reinstatement, but the Tigers will undoubtedly miss their star as they gear up to take on Ole Miss, NC State, and No. 20 Tennessee in the coming weeks.
▼ No. 25 Washington Huskies — Down 5 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll
The Huskies lost their first game of the season to the previously unranked but respectable Tennessee Volunteers this week. Though Washington took down Mt. St Mary's a few days prior, its 10-point victory wasn't enough to offset the effect of a double-digit loss to Rick Barnes' squad in the AP Poll.
▼ Florida Gators — Dropped out of the AP Top 25 Poll
On a recent episode of "CBS Sports' Eye On College Basketball podcast," hosts Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander deemed the Florida Gators the most overrated team heading into the 2019-2020 season. After getting blown out at home against in-state rival Florida State last week, the Gators barely survived in the final seconds against unranked Towson on Thursday. Three days later, Florida lost to another unranked squad — the Connecticut Huskies — cementing its drop out of the AP Poll for week 3.
Now check out the highest-paid football coaches in the college game:
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