AP College Basketball Poll 2014: Complete Week 6 Rankings Released

Each week throughout the season, The Associated Press releases a new set of college basketball rankings. While this week's poll didn't feature much change at the top, the ripple effect of losses hurt several teams just outside the Top 10.

Both Utah and Butler suffered losses against Kansas and Tennessee, respectively. Butler's was more surprising, with Tennessee previously 3-3 before the huge win, but both fell in the poll.   

Meanwhile, Kansas continues to prove it's one of the best teams in the country despite the early loss to Kentucky. The Jayhawks remained in the Top 10, much like the other notable teams ahead in the poll.

Here's a look at the latest poll, courtesy of the AP:

Ranking	Team (First-place votes)	Record
1	Kentucky (65)	11-0
2	Duke	8-0
3	Arizona	10-0
4	Louisville	9-0
5	Wisconsin	10-1
6	Virginia	9-0
7	Villanova	10-0
8	Gonzaga	9-1
9	Texas	8-1
10	Kansas	8-1
11	Wichita State	7-1
12	Ohio State	8-1
13	Iowa State	8-1
14	Utah	7-2
15	Oklahoma	6-2
16	Washington	8-0
17	Maryland	10-1
18	Miami (FL)	9-1
19	San Diego State	7-2
20	St. John's	8-1
21	Notre Dame	10-1
22	West Virginia	9-1
23	Butler	8-2
24	North Carolina	6-3
25	Michigan State	7-3

Kentucky remained atop the standings after moving to 11-0 with wins over Columbia and the then-No. 21-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, but the Wildcats have put some great teams behind them as well.

The undefeated Duke Blue Devils, who last beat the then-No. 2-ranked Wisconsin Badgers on Dec. 3, have a stiff test coming up this week against UConn. The defending champions have struggled in the early going, stumbling out to a 4-3 record, but Duke can't underestimate the talent on the Huskies' roster.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports points out one of the biggest matchups to watch in that game:

Kansas remained at No. 10 this week after a pair of too-close-for-comfort victories over Georgetown and then-No. 13 Utah in the past few days. The Jayhawks were hurt earlier in the season with the blowout loss to Kentucky, but knocking off Utah helped continue to prove their legitimacy as a team capable of going all the way this year.

SportsCenter points out that the win wasn't an easy one for Kansas:

Conference play is just around the corner, so the AP poll could start undergoing some radical shakeup in the coming weeks. No team is safe from dropping out of the Top 10, including Kentucky, who lost junior forward Alex Poythress for the season due to a torn ACL this past Thursday.

Head coach John Calipari talked to his team about what the loss of Poythress means moving forward, per ESPN.com.

"I told them, this is a big blow to our team. No one will be able to replace Alex and what he did for this team," Calipari said. "I go back to last year's NCAA tournament. Without Alex, we don't win those games. No one will be able to replace him, but now everybody has to do a little bit more as we try to circle the wagons."

As the season rolls along, the poll will begin to give us a better picture of how the NCAA tournament might look. With Arizona, Duke and Louisville undefeated for now, all three will have huge tests to remain in running for a No. 1 seed at the end of the year.  

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