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College Basketball Talk Top 25: Is Duke still No. 1 after Allen’s suspension?

Temple v Villanova

VILLANOVA, PA - DECEMBER 13: Josh Hart #3 of the Villanova Wildcats reacts after making a basket against the Temple Owls in the second half at The Pavilion on December 13, 2016 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the Temple Owls 78-57. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

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There were only two really noteworthy top 25 developments in the past week.

The first of which was Louisville’s win over Kentucky, which was really the first time that Louisville, who has spent the entire season ranked in the top 15, looked the part of an ACC and Final Four contender. I bumped them up to No. 7 but I still have them behind the Wildcats, who held steady at No. 5. Why?


  1. Louisville won by three thanks to a pair of late free throws in a game they played at home and opened as two-point favorites. In other words, this was basically what was supposed to happen.
  2. I came out of that game more impressed with Kentucky than I was entering the game. The Wildcats had an ugly shooting night from Malik Monk, a miserable night from the free throw line and a poor final ten minutes from Bam Adebayo and still lost by one possession on the road to a top ten team.

Bottom-line: that loss in that building is not enough to convince me that Louisville is actually a better basketball team than Kentucky is.
AP Poll | Coaches Poll | NBC Sports Top 25

The other issue is Duke, who I still have at No. 1 in my rankings despite a pair of close, ugly wins marred by two incidents Grayson Allen incidents. In the first, he went viral because people hate him and he got a friendly call. In the second, he tripped another player, the third time in the last 11 months that he’s done this. He was suspended indefinitely. And after all of that, Luke Kennard told media in the locker room after the game that he doesn’t “think we’re a very unselfish team right now.”

Should I mention that Harry Giles III returned and, basically, did nothing in those two games?

So what in the world is going on in Durham?

I’m leaving them at No. 1 for now because I still do think that they will be the best team in college basketball if they ever get things going, but I’m far less confident in making that statement today than I was last Monday.
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Anyway, here is the rest of the top 25:

1. Duke (12-1, 1)
2. Villanova (12-0, 2)
3. UCLA (13-0, 2)
4. Kansas (11-1, 4)
5. Kentucky (10-2, 5)
6. North Carolina (11-2, 6)
7. Louisville (11-1, 11)
8. Gonzaga (12-0, 7)
9. Baylor (12-0, 8)
10. Creighton (12-0, 9)
11. Wisconsin (11-2, 10)
12. West Virginia (11-1, 12)
13. Butler (11-1, 13)
14. Purdue (11-2, 14)
15. Indiana (10-2, 15)
16. Xavier (10-2, 16)
17. Saint Mary’s (10-1, 17)
18. Virginia (10-1, 18)
19. USC (13-0, 20)
20. Cincinnati (10-2, 21)
21. Oregon (11-2, 22)
22. Arizona (11-2, 23)
23. Notre Dame (10-2, 24)
24. Seton Hall (11-2, 25)
25. Florida State (12-1, NR)

DROPPED OUT: No. 19 South Carolina
NEW ADDITIONS: No. 25 Florida State