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Rollercoaster Ride Continues: WVU Jumps 11 Spots
January 30, 2017 01:18 PM | Men's Basketball
Down 10 spots one week and up 11 the next, West Virginia’s rollercoaster ride in this year’s Associated Press Top 25 poll continues.
The Mountaineers (17-4), boosted by last week's victories against Kansas and Texas A&M, are back in the top 10 on Monday at No. 7 - which is where they were two weeks ago before dropping back-to-back games to Oklahoma and Kansas State.
The same West Virginia team that owns victories over Baylor and Kansas also shows defeats against 11-11 Temple and 12-loss Oklahoma, which was pounded by 32 at home against Florida last Saturday.
Who knows where West Virginia will be next week?
Then again, at the beginning of the year, who thought Gonzaga would reach No. 1?
Certainly not the voters, which picked the Zags 14th to begin the season. This is just the second time in program history Gonzaga has reached No. 1.
But how long will the Zags stay there?
Gonzaga has a tough game coming up on the road at BYU on Tuesday night and also has a trip to No. 18 St. Mary’s on the horizon, meaning there could be some more shuffling like we’ve seen the last couple of weeks.
Before last Sunday’s games, 11 of the top 17 teams in last week’s AP poll lost at least once, including No. 8 Kentucky, which had an 0-2 week in its games against Tennessee and Kansas.
It only reinforces the fact that once again there are no truly dominant teams in college basketball right now, just a lot of really good teams that can win on any given night.
“I think that happens every year,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, whose Mountaineers are putting their No. 7 ranking on the line at Iowa State on Tuesday night. “What happens this time of year is familiarity. When you are in a league there is so much familiarity with the players knowing each other, knowing each other’s strengths and you know what they’re going to run, it’s so much harder to score because of familiarity.”
This week’s poll does have some familiarity with three Big 12 teams in the top 10 - No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Kansas and No. 7 West Virginia.
But the poll also includes a newcomer in Northwestern, now 25th with an 18-4 record.
Outside of the Power 5 there is No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 4 Villanova (down from No. 1 last week), No. 14 Cincinnati, No. 16 Butler, No. 18 St. Mary’s and No. 22 Creighton.
Plus, there are a whole host of mid-major schools with outstanding records such as UNC Wilmington, Middle Tennessee, Valparaiso, Akron, Illinois State, Nevada, Belmont and East Tennessee State who could be knocking on the door down the line if they continue to win.
Based on what has happened so far, it could very well happen, meaning we’re in store for another crazy, hectic and unpredictable February before March Madness even gets here.
“By and large the scores are close, and that’s what happens in league play,” Huggins noted.
Therefore, strap in tight because the rollercoaster ride has just begun.
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