We have reached the month of March. Over the course of the next couple weeks, all of the conferences will crown their regular season and tournament champions, the NCAA Tournament fields will be announced, then narrowed down to four before the respective Final Fours in April.
That being said, it’s still only March 3rd. We are still very early into the Madness. That gives us some time to take a look at where things stack up in the AP Top 25s before things really get nuts.
Men’s Basketball
AP Top 25
- Duke (55 first place votes)
- Arizona (4)
- Michigan
- UConn
- Florida
- Iowa State
- Houston
- Michigan State
- Nebraska
- Texas Tech
- Illinois
- Gonzaga
- Virginia
- Kansas
- Purdue
- Alabama
- North Carolina
- St. John’s
- Miami (OH)
- Arkansas
- Saint Mary’s
- Miami (FL)
- Tennessee
- Vanderbilt
- Saint Louis
Where is UNC?
The Caleb
Wilson-less Tar Heels picked up a couple of solid wins last week over Louisville and Virginia Tech. Thanks to that, Carolina did move up a spot in this week’s rankings. They now sit at #17, up from #18 last week.
Biggest Winners
Having knocked off Gonzaga in their regular season finale, NCAA Tournament regular Saint Mary’s is shaping up to make it again, as they entered the poll at #21 this week. Meanwhile, the ACC’s Miami (FL) has joined the MAC’s undefeated Miami in the rankings.
Biggest Losers
Although two were to highly ranked teams and the third was to a team battling on the NCAAT bubble, Purdue have now lost three of their last four games, causing them to drop a week-high seven places. Meanwhile, thanks in part to their UNC loss, Louisville have fallen out of the Top 25 entirely.
Conference Breakdown
- Big 12: 5
- Big Ten: 5
- SEC: 5
- ACC: 4
- Big East: 2
- WCC: 2
- Atlantic 10: 1
- MAC: 1
Marquee Matchups This Week
- #24 Vanderbilt (22-7, 9-7 SEC) at #23 Tennessee (20-9, 10-6 SEC) – Saturday at 2:00 PM ET
- #17 North Carolina (23-6, 11-5 ACC) at #1 Duke (27-2, 15-1 ACC) – Saturday at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN
- #8 Michigan State (24-5, 14-4 Big Ten) at #3 Michigan (27-2, 17-1 Big Ten) – Sunday at 5:30 PM ET on CBS
Women’s Basketball
AP Top 25
- UConn (31 first place votes)
- UCLA
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Vanderbilt
- LSU
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- Iowa
- TCU
- Ohio State
- Louisville
- Duke
- Maryland
- West Virginia
- North Carolina
- Kentucky
- Michigan State
- Minnesota
- Baylor
- Texas Tech
- Georgia
- Princeton
- Ole Miss
- Fairfield
Where is UNC?
The Tar Heels picked up a big win over the weekend, beating Duke to end the regular season. Thanks to that victory, Carolina jumped up five places this week and come in at #16.
Biggest Winners
In terms of number in places, then UNC was in fact this week’s biggest winner, as no one matched or bettered a five spot jump. In fact, there’s not much to write about besides UNC’s jump, for instance, there was absolutely no change in the top nine from last week. The #10 spot is different, but it was only TCU moving up one place.
Biggest Losers
On the other side of the coin, Ole Miss had the biggest drop, falling five places in this week’s poll. Honestly, I’m slightly surpised it’s not more, considering how they ended their regular season on a three-game losing streak.
Conference Breakdown
- SEC: 8
- Big Ten: 7
- Big 12: 4
- ACC: 3
- Big East: 1
- Ivy League: 1
- MAAC: 1
Conference Breakdown
A lot of the bigger conferences have their women’s basketball conference tournaments this week as opposed to next. Therefore, we don’t precisely know what a lot of the biggest matchups this week will be yet, but here’s a breakdown of what should be some of the most interesting tournaments this week:
- ACC: March 4-8 in Duluth, GA — Championship Game is Sunday at 1:00 PM ET on ESPN
- Big Ten: March 4-8 in Indianapolis — Championship Game is Sunday at 2:15 PM ET on CBS
- SEC: March 4-8 in Greenville, SC — Championship Game is Sunday at 3:00 PM ET on ESPN
