After getting back on track with a pair of wins this past week, UConn men’s basketball jumped up one spot to No. 5 in the latest AP Top 25. The 24-2 Huskies are coming off a road win over Butler on Wednesday and a narrow home win over Georgetown on Saturday
Iowa State dropped one spot to No. 6 after picking up a tough road loss at TCU, allowing UConn to jump them and return to the Top 5.
St. John’s remains the only other Big East team ranked in the poll this week, checking in at No. 17 after knocking
off Xavier at The Garden and Providence on the road. The 20-5 Red Storm have won 11-straight games after losing a heartbreaker to the Friars in early January and have been playing their best basketball of the year in league play. Villanova is still the only other school in the conference to receive any votes, checking in as the fourth team out of the poll.
Arizona, UConn’s only non-conference loss of the season, dropped down a few spots to No. 4 after losing its first two games of the season this past week to Kansas and Texas Tech. The Huskies have four wins this season against teams currently ranked in the poll in No. 8 Kansas, No. 10 Illinois, No. 12 Florida and No. 23 BYU.
The Huskies return to action this week on Wednesday as UConn hosts Creighton in Storrs before a clash with Villanova in Philadelphia on Saturday night in a rematch of the two teams’ overtime game in Hartford last month.
Looking at NET rating, UConn dropped down two spots to No. 10 from last Monday. The Huskies are one of 10 teams in the country with at least six Quad One victories and no losses outside of the top quadrant. Looking ahead to this next week, home against Creighton, No. 81 in NET, is considered a Quad Three opportunity while on the road at Villanova, No. 30 in NET, will be a Quad One game. In terms of KenPom, UConn ranks No. 9 overall, No. 22 in offensive efficiency and No. 10 in defensive efficiency.
