The top tier of the sport hasn’t changed much over the past week, but Dan Hurley and UConn appear to be back in the mix in conference play.
Here’s everything you missed from Week 6 of the college basketball season, and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
UConn bounces back
UConn completely fell apart in Hawaii last month. The Huskies lost three straight games to unranked opponents at the Maui Invitational over Thanksgiving, putting head coach Dan Hurley on offense. He even threatened to never play in those types of events again after their fight.
Now it seems that this is completely behind us.
The Huskies have won four in a row, including a blowout 77-71 win over Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Freshman Liam McNeeley dropped 26 points and eight rebounds in that game, which was easily the best of his career.
That also came after wins over Baylor and Texas, pushing them back to 8-3 when Big East play started this week. As a result, UConn — which almost completely fell out of the rankings after their skid in Hawaii — jumped seven spots to No. 11 in this week’s poll. Gonzaga, now with three losses this season, fell to No. 13.
The top of the poll didn’t change much this week. Tennessee held on to first place after Jordan Gainey lifted them past Illinois on Saturday with a wild buzzer-beater on the road. That improved the Vols to 10-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign. Auburn rolled over both Richmond and Ohio State to stay at No. 2, and Iowa State handled Iowa on Thursday before rolling over Omaha on Sunday to move to 9-1 and stay at No. 3.
Duke and Cooper Flagg posted a pair of double-digit wins last week, but fell one spot to No. 5. Kentucky battled through a tough rivalry battle with Louisville to pick up its third straight win. The Wildcats traded with Duke to round out the top five. The first big move came with Marquette, which fell on the road to unranked Dayton on Saturday. It marked the Golden Eagles’ second loss in three games, dropping them three spots to No. 9. The Flyers came in at No. 22 in this week’s poll.
The toughest part of Hurley’s schedule is now behind him. The Huskies begin Big East play on Wednesday when they host Xavier before traveling to Butler this weekend. While it won’t be easy by any means to play in a conference, especially with Creighton and Marquette hanging out, this feels like an opportunity for the Huskies to finally feel at home again. They also won’t see any of these programs for at least a month. , which should help considerably.
Even though it looked like it might be over, UConn’s quest for a third straight national championship is far from buried.
“Maybe it was the people with the shovels and the dirt, maybe they were too quick to grab the shovel and throw the dirt on us,” Hurley said after beating Texas, via NJ.com. “Maybe, we’ll see.”
Games to watch this week
*Neutral site game
Tuesday, December 17
No. 25 Clemson at South Carolina | 7:00 PM ET | SEC Network
Wednesday December 18th
No. 14 Oklahoma at No. 24 Michigan | 9:00 PM ET | ESPN2
Friday December 20th
No. 19 Cincinnati at No. 22 Dayton | 8:30 PM ET | ESPNU*
Saturday December 21
No. 16 Purdue at No. 2 Auburn | 4:30 PM ET | ESPN
AP Top 25
The complete Associated Press men’s basketball poll as of Dec. 16, 2024.
1. Tennessee (10-0)
2. Chestnut brown (8-1)
3. Iowa State (9-1)
4. Kentucky (10-1)
5. Duke (8-2)
6. Alabama (8-2)
7. Florida (10-0)
8. Kansas (8-2)
9. Marquette (9-2)
10. Oregon (10-1)
11. UConn (8-3)
12. Texas A&M (9-2)
13. Gonzaga (7-3)
14.Oklahoma (10-0)
15. Houston (6-3)
16.Purdue (8-3)
17. Ole Miss (9-1)
18.UCLA (9-1)
19. Cincinnati (8-1)
20. Michigan State (8-2)
21. Memphis (8-2)
22. Dayton (9-2)
23. SDSU (7-2)
24. Michigan (8-2)
25. Clemson (9-2)
Others receiving votes: Mississippi State 158, Arkansas 151, Missouri 120, Baylor 115, Illinois 70, Drake 52, St. John’s 50, Utah State 48, Pittsburgh 28, Maryland 24, West Virginia 19, Wisconsin 18, Georgia 18, Oklahoma State 16, Arizona State 14, Creighton 12, North Carolina 9, Penn State 8, Indiana 7, Texas 3, St. Bonaventure 2
