CLEVELAND, Ohio — So where are all these losses coming from this season in the Associated Press Top 25 ranks? The best place to look is on the road. The second half of conference play is at hand, as well as the final third of the regular season.
It’s crunch time for elite programs looking to land a high seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, as well as for bubble teams looking to earn their way in as an at-large entry in the 68-team NCAA Tournament field.
Last week there were seven losses among teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll and 13 among all ranked teams, with two teams losing both games last week. Over the last two weeks, only seven teams in the Top 25 went unscathed.
So what games to watch this week? Already No. 4 Louisville fell on the road at No. 12 Virginia Monday night to start off the week.
Tuesday night, No. 21 Maryland is at Penn State; No. 17 Florida is at Georgia and No. 22 Butler is at Marquette. On Wednesday, No. 6 Baylor is at Oklahoma State and No. 13 West Virginia is at Oklahoma.
But the real tests are Thursday. No. 8 North Carolina is at No. 18 Duke, with Duke desperate not to fall to .500 this last in the Atlantic Coast Conference race. No. 5 Oregon is on the road at No. 10 UCLA and No. 25 SMU is at Temple. In the proverbial “trap game,” No. 1 Gonzaga is at Loyola Marymount just before its Saturday showdown at No. 21 St. Mary’s.
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