NCAA Basketball – It was a rough week for the top ranked teams

The Duke Blue Devils are back at the top of the NCAA basketball. The Blue Devils were fifth in last weeks poll but each and every one of the four teams ahead of them lost during the week, giving the voters enough of a boost to put Duke back on the top. This has been a good season for Duke. As of press time the Blue Devils hold a 25-2 record overall and have won 12 out of their 13 games in the ACC.

The other big move in the AP Poll rankings came for the guys from St. John’s. A team that had become national power in the 1980’2, the Red Storm was certainly missing most of its spark in the latest seasons, and the team had failed to arrive to the NCAA Tournament since 2002. The last time St. Johns was ranked in the AP Poll was in the final poll of the 1999-2000 season, when they finished 18th nation wide.

Even though St. John’s isn’t having its best season, as with a 17-9 overall and 9-5 on the Big East those numbers alone don’t give the team much bragging rights, the truth is that the Red Storm has been brilliant at knocking down highly ranked teams. With key wins over Duke, Notre Dame, No.15 Connecticut and No.11 Georgetown, that enough should have given St. Johns a chance to be among the ranked teams. But it wasn’t until the Red Storm defeated Pittsburgh that they got some attention from the voting coaches.

But perhaps the biggest news came from upsets from the four top ranked teams. The rough week started Monday when Kansas lost 84-68 at Kansas State. Yes, this is only the third time in 45 games that the Wildcats take down the Jayhawks. Saturday was the rough day for former No. 2 Texas Longhorns, which lost 70-67 at Nebraska, and like we said then it was former No. 4 Pittsburgh, which lost 60-59 to St. John’s at the Madison Square Garden.

It is quite an unusual week for college hoops. As a matter of fact, the last time that the 4 top ranked teams in the nation all lost in one week was back in Nov. 25, 2003. That time around it was No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Michigan State and No. 4 Arizona who lost their games.

The team that is going to have to deal with even more issues now is Kansas. The Jayhawks not only lost their top spot on the rankings, but just recently head coach Bill Self said made the announcement that junior guard Tyshawn Taylor was going to be suspended indefinitely for breaking team rules. It’s certainly going to be a big lost for the Jayhawks as Taylor has been a starter in all but one of the games that Kansas has played for their 25-2 record this season. The reasons behind the suspension have not been specified and we have yet to hear any rumors worth spreading.

This week Duke leads the AP Poll. Ohio State sits second while Kansas finishes the podium. Pittsburg managed to keep its fourth place, while Texas finished 5th this week. San Diego State, Brigham Young, Purdue, Notre Dame and Arizona complete the rest of the top 10 in the usual order.