UConn men fall in AP poll after stunning loss

The UConn men’s basketball team moved back down to No. 6 in the penultimate AP Top 25 poll before March Madness on Monday after a surprise loss at Marquette with the Big East regular season championship on the line Saturday.

The Huskies remained in the top 10 of the NET rankings at No. 9 following their first Quad 2 loss of the season. They dropped seven spots in KenPom’s offensive efficiency ratings to No. 28 and moved down two spots in overall efficiency to No. 11 after the worst offensive performance of the season came in Milwaukee, shooting just 35.6% from the field and going 3-for-24 (12.5%) on largely open attempts from beyond the 3-point line.

UConn still has a top-five resumé in the nation, according to EvanMiya.com, with a 4-2 record against teams ranked in Monday’s poll, all inside the top 15.

The top three remained the same with Duke, Arizona and Michigan all improving to 29-2 on the year. Florida moved up to take the Huskies’ spot at No. 4, and is likely positioned to receive the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Houston also jumped the Huskies to No. 5 after getting back on track with three wins in a row after a three-game losing streak.

UConn has wins over the Gators, No. 9 Illinois, No. 13 St. John’s (which it split the regular season series with), and No. 14 Kansas.

The Huskies are projected to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament with both ESPN and CBS Sports placing them in the Midwest Region with Michigan as the top seed. If that is the case, UConn would spend the first weekend of March Madness in Philadelphia with a chance to get to play the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds in Chicago.

There will be one more poll released by the AP on March 16, a day after conference tournaments conclude and the NCAA Tournament field is announced. The final AP poll will come after the national championship game.

UConn is set to begin its run at a record ninth Big East Tournament title at Madison Square Garden in the quarterfinal round on Thursday (7 p.m. FS1). The Huskies await the winner of the 6:30 p.m. first round game between No. 7 seed Marquette and No. 10 seed Xavier, which will air on Peacock and NBC Sports Network.

AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Week 18

Duke (56 first place votes)
Arizona (4)
Michigan (1)
Florida
Houston
UConn
Iowa State
Michigan State
Illinois
Virginia
Nebraska
Gonzaga
St. John’s
Kansas
Alabama
Texas Tech
Arkansas
Purdue
North Carolina
Miami (OH)
Saint Mary’s
Vanderbilt
Wisconsin
Louisville
Tennessee