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Jay LaPrete / Associated Press
Extended winning streaks aren’t easy in college basketball, which every team except Gonzaga and Baylor demonstrated heading into Week 12 of the 2020-21 season.
Villanova entered the week with just one loss – in overtime in November – but suffered her second this week at the hands of St. John’s. Houston enjoyed an eight-game winning streak, while Drake lost his undefeated season after an 18-0 start.
The latest Associated Press poll reflects those results, although Gonzaga and Baylor continue to rank No.1 and No.2 respectively, with a combined record of 35-0.
Here’s how voters viewed the rest of the Top 25.
AP Poll
1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Michigan
4. State of Ohio
5. Villanova
6. Illinois
7. Texas Tech
8. Houston
9. Virginia
10. Missouri
11. Alabama
12. Oklahoma
13. Texas
14. West Virginia
15. Iowa
16. Tennessee
17. State of Florida
18. Virginia Tech
19. Creighton
20. USC
21. Wisconsin
22. Loyola-Chicago
23. State of Oklahoma
24. Purdue
25. Rutgers
Baylor had one of their toughest tests of the season this week with a game in Texas, but the Bears had little resistance on their way to an 83-69 win as Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell had combined for 48 points.
It was part of a tough week for Texas, who also suffered a double overtime loss to Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma State.
The Longhorns have now lost three in a row and have gone from No.6 to No.13.
Iowa is another team moving in the wrong direction, dropping to No.15 after peaking at No.3 earlier in the season.
The Hawkeyes have lost four of their last five games, including two this week against Ohio State and Indiana. Defense is usually Iowa’s loss problem, but the offense never started in a 67-65 loss to Indiana, and Luka Garza slowed down after his incredible start to the year.
Villanova, Oklahoma, Alabama and Houston also retired from games this week, with the last of the season’s most surprising results. The Cougars had been searing until their loss to East Carolina on Wednesday, a team that had lost five in a row.
Some saw Houston as a potential seed, but a bad loss like this could ruin the CV.
Kansas dropped out of the standings after losing to West Virginia, creating a rare story:
ESPN Statistics and Information @ESPNStatsInfo
Kansas dropped out of the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll. The Jayhawks had been ranked in 231 consecutive AP poll posts dated Feb. 2, 2009. This marked the longest streak of appearances in the AP poll, which dates back to the 1948-49 season. https://t.co/KG3C2AMNE6
While these teams perform poorly, several teams are pouncing after an impressive game.
Ohio and Illinois continue to climb in the Big Ten rankings and in the polls, rising to 4th and 6th place, respectively.
The Buckeyes’ lone game was a good game as they won in Iowa for the team’s fourth road victory over a ranked opponent this season. The Illini were equally impressive with an overtime victory in Indiana before heading to victory over Wisconsin.
Missouri climbed to 10th in the poll after beating Alabama and Kentucky, and the Tigers are in second in the SEC standings.
Each game becomes more important as we move into the regular season stretch race and teams finalize their resumes ahead of the NCAA tournament.
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