On Monday afternoon, there will be a unanimous No. 1 team in an in-season AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a seventh consecutive season. The Arizona Wildcats will earn all 61 first-place votes in the poll after earning 60 last week, made possible after Iowa State — which earned the other first-place vote last Monday — lost twice in two outings this week.
Arizona’s death grip on No. 1 is one of many notable changes coming to the poll Monday. I’m also anticipating UConn to rise to No. 2 while extending its streak of appearances inside the top five to 11 weeks. Also likely among the risers will be Purdue, Duke and Houston.
Previously undefeated teams falling will largely be the underlying theme of the Week 11 poll Monday. Not only will Iowa State (which went from 16-0 to 16-2 this week) drop from No. 2 to out of the top five — but so, too, will Vanderbilt (which also went from 16-0 to 16-2 this week). The Commodores’ two losses comes the same week it climbed to its highest spot in the poll, No. 10, which will send it back outside the top-10 range once again.
Plenty of other movement is expected in the poll Monday as well, and I am — perhaps naively — expecting voters to wise up and rank several worthy mid-major teams in Saint Louis and Miami (OH). The latter improved to 19-0 with a thrilling overtime win over Buffalo on Saturday, while the former squashed Richmond at home to get to 17-1 — its best start to a season since the 1993-94 season.
Neither have been ranked this season. That should change Monday.
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