Around the Top 25: Jan. 28
There is a new team at the top of the college basketball polls as Auburn receives its first No. 1 overall ranking in school history.
Let’s get into this week's AP Top 25 basketball rankings which have some new additions.
No. 1 Auburn Tigers
The Auburn Tigers have been dominating the SEC this year so far with an 8-0 conference record on the season with a 19-1 overall record, with their only loss against UConn.
The Tigers had a convincing win over Kentucky that helped them get this No. 1 ranking however, the Tigers were almost upset in their only game so far this week against Missouri.
The fellow Tigers of Missouri gave Auburn everything they had in that game right until the end, until guard K.D. Johnson took over for Auburn and scored five straight within the final 90 seconds to give Auburn the 55-54 victory.
Auburn will need players like Johnson to help support star play Jabari Smith through the tough SEC conference. The Tigers will take on Oklahoma in the SEC and Big-12 matchup on Saturday.
No. 18 Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers are on a three-game winning streak which has elevated them up the most spots in the rankings this week.
During the winning streak, the Volunteers defeated No. 13 LSU and Florida as two of the better teams in the SEC right now.
In the Volunteer’s first matchup with LSU, they lost 79-67, but this time around they were able to get more defensive production as they held LSU to only 50 points and 21.1% shooting from behind the arc.
The Volunteers had a close battle as well this week with Florida, but they were able to come back after Santiago Vescovi dropped 23 points to will them past the Gators. The Volunteers will look to keep the winning streak rolling against Texas for another SEC and Big-12 challenge as well as the fanbase battle for who is the better orange-colored school.
No. 22 Marquette
Head coach Shaka Smart is in the middle of reviving this former Big East glorified powerhouse to national contention and that starts with becoming ranked this week.
The Golden Eagles are on a seven-game winning streak in one of the best conferences in college basketball, the Big East, where they are ranked fourth currently. The winning streak for the Golden Eagles has propelled them into the rankings because of the seven-game winning streak, four of those games were against ranked Big East teams.
The Golden Eagles are led by freshman Justin Lewis who in this seven-game winning streak has scored double digits in every game. In four of those games, Lewis was able to have 20 or more points to help the Golden Eagles.
No. 25 Davidson
The school most famous for producing Steph Curry is back inside of the AP Top 25 once again. However, it does look like it will be short-lived.
The Davidson Wildcats propelled themselves into national contention again riding a 15-game winning streak into this week. With a key ranked win over No. 10 Alabama at the time, it gave Davidson a very convincing resume.
However, their ranking is in jeopardy for next week as they lost to VCU this week. It was a very close game with the final score being 70-68, but the final difference was VCU shooting 50% from behind the arc compared to the Wildcats’ 21.4%.
The Wildcats will be in the running for a March Madness berth if they continue to have a successful season, but should look to win the A10 conference tournament to guarantee themselves a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Dale Ostrander is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dko5097@psu.edu.
