Projected college basketball rankings after insane Feast Week

Posted by Admin December 2, 2024 Basketball

Feast Week is always a fun time for college basketball fans as the nation’s best teams head to neutral site MTEs to build their resumes for March Madness. 2024 offered the potential for a ton of drama thanks to strong collections of teams at traditional Thanksgiving week events like the Battle 4 Atlantis and the Maui Invitational as well as the inaugural Players Era Festival, but no one could have anticipated the absolute chaos that ensued over the past seven days.

The word of the week was upset as a whopping 15 teams ranked in the AP Top 25 poll lost a game, with six of them dropping at least two contests. How will all of the turmoil impact the new rankings, which are set to drop at 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday? Read on to find out.

1. Kansas Jayhawks
2. Auburn Tigers
3. Tennessee Volunteers
4. Kentucky Wildcats
5. Marquette Golden Eagles
6. Iowa State Cyclones
7. Gonzaga Bulldogs
8. Purdue Boilermakers
9. Wisconsin Badgers
10. Cincinnati Bearcats
11. Alabama Crimson Tide
12. Houston Cougars
13. Duke Blue Devils
14. Florida Gators
15. Baylor Bears
16. Oklahoma Sooners
17. Oregon Ducks
18. North Carolina Tar Heels
19. Illinois Fighting Illini
20. West Virginia Mountaineers
21. Michigan State Spartans
22. Utah State Aggies
23. Texas A&M Aggies
24. Ole Miss Rebels
25. Drake Bulldogs

I am projecting seven new teams enter the poll this week, with the highest ranked arrivals being Oklahoma and Oregon after making impressive statements at the Battle 4 Atlantis and Players Era Festival respectively. Other notable newcomers include West Virginia, which scored impressive wins over Gonzaga and Arizona in Atlantis, and Michigan State, which finished third place at the Maui Invitational thanks to a strong victory over North Carolina.

The biggest news here is that UConn, which was ranked No. 2 last week, falls out entirely after a Maui disaster that saw the Huskies lose all three of their games to finish in eighth place in the Maui Invitational. While the talent is there for UConn to be a Top 25 team, failing to get a single win in Maui and not having any notable wins to date means they don’t deserve a spot in the poll as of now.