College Basketball AP Top 25: Florida and UConn Are Surging While Louisville Falls Off the Map

Jerry Harkins
One of college basketballs best coaches Matt Painter of Purdue.

March is here, and that means college basketball at its finest. The madness hasn’t officially started, but the AP Top 25 poll is already giving us a taste of what’s coming. The first poll of March dropped Monday, and if you were hoping for calm and predictability, you’re in the wrong sport, wrong month.

Duke, Arizona, and Michigan didn’t flinch in the college basketball world. They held their spots like veterans who’ve been through this before. But five college basketball teams in the back half of the top 10 dropped at least one game last week, and that kind of chaos has a way of reshuffling the deck fast. Two of the biggest beneficiaries in college basketball? Florida and UConn. One of the biggest losers in college basketball this week? Louisville, which isn’t even in the poll anymore.

Duke Stays At No. 1, But the Road Ahead Isn’t Easy

Duke hasn’t moved from the college basketball top spot, and at 27-2, the Blue Devils have earned that comfort. But don’t get too cozy. A home rematch with No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday is not simple.

Remember, North Carolina already stunned Duke with a comeback win from double digits down just a few weeks ago. That one stung. You can bet Duke remembers it, too. That Saturday night rematch will have all the electricity of a playoff game — and both teams know exactly what’s at stake heading into Selection Sunday.

Still, Duke looks like the odds-on favorite for the No. 1 overall seed. Two games left. Focused, experienced, and motivated. That’s a dangerous combination.

Florida Jumps To No. 5 After Absolutely Dismantling Arkansas

Florida didn’t just win last week. The Gators put on a clinic, dropping Arkansas 111-77 in a performance that wasn’t nearly as close as the score suggests. That win gave Florida a share of the SEC regular season title and pushed them up two spots to No. 5 in the latest poll.

Think about that for a second. Florida is 23-6, riding a nine-game winning streak, and is now knocking on the door of the No. 1 seed line with less than two weeks to go until Selection Sunday. A month ago, that conversation seemed premature. Now? It’s completely legitimate.

The Gators are hot at exactly the right time of year. If you’ve watched enough March basketball, you know that’s about the scariest thing a program can be.

UConn Is Quietly Becoming a Nightmare Matchup For Everyone

The Huskies moved up two spots to No. 4, and honestly, the movement probably should’ve been bigger. UConn is 27-3, they crushed St. John’s 72-40, and then held off Seton Hall 71-67 just days later when the Pirates made things interesting late.

That win over Seton Hall matters. Not because of the final score, but because of what it says about this team. When it got tight, UConn closed. Championship-caliber teams do that. Pretenders don’t.

UConn is closing in on at least a share of the Big East regular season title, and right now, they’re firmly planted on the 1-seed line in most bracket projections. That should terrify every team in the country.

Michigan Hangs At No. 3, But Loses Its Point Guard

Michigan stayed locked in at No. 3 after rolling past Illinois by 14 points on Friday to improve to 27-2. Solid week on paper. It’s been a brutal week in reality.

Point Guard LJ Cason went down with a torn ACL and is done for the season. He was averaging 8.4 points off the bench, but losing a contributing guard right before March is a gut punch you can’t fully prepare for. The Wolverines still have the talent to make a serious run. But there will be a learning curve, and the margin for error in March is razor-thin. Michigan fans have every right to feel a little uneasy right now.

Louisville Drops Out Of the Poll Entirely After a Brutal Week

Louisville started the season ranked No. 11 in the preseason poll and climbed as high as No. 6 at its peak. That feels like a long time ago now. The Cardinals went 0-2 last week, losing to both Clemson and North Carolina, and for the first time all season, they’ve fallen completely out of the AP Top 25. Three losses in their last four games entering the final week of the regular season. The timing couldn’t be worse.

Louisville still has votes, so they’re not invisible. But being in the “others receiving votes” category instead of the poll itself is a significant drop. The Cardinals need to finish strong and make some noise in the ACC Tournament to work their way back into the good graces of the Selection Committee. Right now, the margin is thin.

The Rest Of the Top 25 At a Glance

A few other notable moves worth tracking:

  • Michigan State jumped from No. 13 to No. 8 after going 2-0 on the road. Tom Izzo’s teams are always dangerous in March, and this one is getting hot at the right time. Watch them.
  • Purdue dropped from No. 8 to No. 15 after a rough stretch. Matt Painter’s squad has lost three of its last four, and the Boilermakers just don’t look like themselves right now.
  • Miami (OH) remains at No. 19 and undefeated at 29-0. The RedHawks still haven’t lost, but their path to the tournament is complicated. No Quad 1 wins, a light schedule, and a conference that rarely gets multiple bids mean perfection isn’t necessarily enough. More on them as the week unfolds.
  • Saint Mary’s and Miami (FL) both returned to the poll as new entries this week, giving the back end of the rankings a fresh look.

Hello sports fans my name is Jerry Im a huge sports fan but football and basketball are my top two. I cover the Colts , Pacers, Purdue, Indiana, and really anything that is interesting that should be shared. Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy what you read.