AP College Basketball Poll 2022: Complete Week 8 Men's Rankings Released

Rob Goldberg @@TheRobGoldbergFeatured Columnist IVDecember 26, 2022

Virginia guard Reece Beekman, center and forward Kadin Shedrick (21) defends Miami guard Isaiah Wong (2) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

It was a relatively quiet week in men's college basketball around the holidays, but there was still enough drama to cause some movement in the latest Associated Press poll.

The top five spots remained the same after easy wins from each team earlier in the week, although Virginia, Duke and Illinois losses helped shake up the rest of the Top 25.

Here are the latest rankings heading into Week 8.

AP Poll

1. Purdue

2. Connecticut

3. Houston

4. Kansas

5. Arizona

6. Texas

7. Tennessee

8. Alabama

9. Arkansas

10. Gonzaga

11. UCLA

12. Baylor

13. Virginia

14. Miami (FL)

15. Wisconsin

16. Indiana

17. Duke

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18. TCU

19. Kentucky

20. Auburn

21. Mississippi State

22. New Mexico

23. Xavier

24. West Virginia

25. North Carolina

Purdue and Connecticut continue to have a tight battle for the No. 1 spot, with both remaining undefeated with at least one game left before the new year.

The Boilermakers are 12-0 after an easy win over New Orleans, even without star center Zach Edey. 6'9" freshman forward Trey Kaufman-Renn took over from the bench to keep Purdue rolling.

It was a slightly tougher time for the Huskies against Georgetown in a Big East battle, but UConn pulled away late for an 84-73 win. The team is now 13-0 with every win coming by double digits.

There was more excitement in the ACC last week with a busy slate of conference games.

No matchup was bigger than Miami earning a 66-64 win over Virginia, with Isaiah Wong scoring 24 points to carry the Hurricanes:

Canes Hoops @CanesHoops
Isaiah Wong is good at basketball. He has 21 points. That's it. That's the tweet. (It's his fourth consecutive 20-point game, btw) Watch on ACCN: <a href="https://t.co/KAkTI1aefa">https://t.co/KAkTI1aefa</a> <a href="https://t.co/nYsek6hcg8">pic.twitter.com/nYsek6hcg8</a>

Miami led by as many as 15 points and held a 61-51 lead with just over a minute remaining before Virginia stormed back, but the home team still held on for its biggest win of the season.

The 12-1 Hurricanes are now No. 14 in the rankings, up eight spots from last week, while Virginia dropped to No. 13 after its second straight loss.

Duke also fell in the poll from 14th to 17th after an 81-70 loss to Wake Forest. Leading scorer Kyle Filipowski struggled with just nine points on 4-of-14 shooting (0-of-6 from three) and five turnovers.

On the other end of the court, Wake Forest had all five starters reach double digits to help pull off the upset:

ACC Men's Basketball @accmbb
WAKE DOWNS DUKE 81-70 at home for a huge upset win! <a href="https://twitter.com/WakeMBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WakeMBB</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ACCMBB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ACCMBB</a> <a href="https://t.co/wjKcxg4HUR">pic.twitter.com/wjKcxg4HUR</a>

Missouri also earned its biggest win of the year with a 93-71 blowout over Illinois. Kobe Brown scored 31 as the Tigers improved to 11-1, with the only loss coming to Kansas. The Tigers will face another test on Wednesday while hosting Kentucky.

Mississippi State will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season against Drake with a home game against Alabama.

Arizona at Arizona State should be another key game of the week.