AP Men’s College Basketball Poll: Purdue Stays at No. 5 Despite Losses, Arizona State Shocks Arizona

The final week of the regular season is here, and last week’s top 5 finally stayed the exact same. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of action in the AP men’s college basketball poll.

Purdue, despite four losses in six games, stayed at No. 5 in this week’s poll. Arizona State pulled off a shock win over in-state rival Arizona, and Florida State rallied from 25 points down to upset Miami. Here’s everything you need to know from Week 16.

Purdue’s stumble continues

Just weeks after sitting comfortably at No. 1, Purdue’s stumble continued this past week. The Boilermakers fell to Indiana again Saturday, marking their fourth loss in six games, two of which have come at the hands of the Hoosiers. Indiana is now 20-9 headed into its games with Iowa and Michigan this week to close out the regular season and jumped to No. 15 this week, up two spots.

Purdue, despite the losses, stayed at No. 5 in this week’s poll. The Boilermakers missed a shot to claim the Big Ten regular season title Saturday, but they still ended up taking it on Sunday night via Northwestern’s loss to Maryland. They’ll likely claim the top seed in the Big Ten tournament.

Still, the team is now losing games consistently for the first time all season. That’s never a good sign entering March. Games against Wisconsin and Illinois this week suddenly seem much more important.

Arizona State stuns Arizona, FSU rallies to get Miami

Arizona State pulled off a dream win over an in-state rival on Saturday night. The Sun Devils, after trailing by double digits midway through the second half at the McKale Center, rallied and stunned Arizona 89-88 on a wild 60-foot buzzer-beater from Desmond Cambridge Jr.

The loss marks Arizona’s second in four games, and moved it down to No. 8 in this week’s poll. The Wildcats will close out their season with games against USC and UCLA in Los Angeles. The Bruins, who have won eight straight, claimed the Pac-12 regular season title on Sunday with a four-point win over Colorado.

On the other side of the country in another rivalry game, Florida State pulled off one of the biggest rallies of the season. The Seminoles came back from a 25-point second half hole to upset Miami in Coral Gables. Matthew Cleveland drilled a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to seal the win for Florida State, too.

The 25-point comeback, according to ESPN, was the largest in ACC history. The win marked just the ninth of the season for Florida State, and ended a seven-game win streak for the Hurricanes — who were a perfect 15-0 at home before the loss. Miami dropped to No. 16 this week.

Games to watch this week

Wednesday, March 1
No. 19 Xavier at No. 20 Providence | 6:30 p.m. ET
No. 9 Texas at No. 22 TCU | 9 p.m. ET

Saturday, March 4
No. 2 Alabama at No. 24 Texas A&M | 12 p.m. ET
Iowa State at No. 7 Baylor | 12 p.m. ET
No. 3 Kansas at No. 9 Texas | 4 p.m. ET
No. 8 Arizona at No. 4 UCLA | 10 p.m. ET

AP Top 25

1. Houston (27-2)

2. Alabama (25-4)

3. Kansas (24-5)

4. UCLA (24-5)

5. Purdue (24-5)

6. Marquette (23-6)

7. Baylor (21-8)

8. Arizona (24-5)

9. Texas (22-7)

10. Gonzaga (25-5)

11. Kansas State (22-7)

12. Tennessee (21-8)

13. Virginia (21-6)

14. UConn (22-7)

15. Indiana (20-9)

16. Miami (23-6)

17. Saint Mary’s (25-6)

18. San Diego State (23-5)

19. Xavier (21-8)

20. Providence (21-8)

21. Maryland (20-9)

22. TCU (19-10)

23. Kentucky (20-9)

24. Texas A&M (21-8)

25. Pittsburgh (21-8)

Others receiving votes: Creighton 87, Duke 78, Oral Roberts 40, Northwestern 39, Florida Atlantic 25, Iowa State 20, Nevada 17, Missouri 16, Arkansas 7, North Carolina State 6, Charleston 6, Clemson 5, Memphis 4, Boise State 3, VCU 1, West Virginia 1

As the regular season comes to an end, the top teams in the nation will be looking to carry their momentum into the NCAA Tournament. But with upsets occurring seemingly every week, it’s never a guarantee who will stay at the top and who will fall by the wayside.