AP College Basketball Poll 2015: Complete Week 12 Rankings Released

At the top, college basketball's hierarchy remains largely inert. At the bottom, though, is a never-ending fight to try to figure out which teams belong in the conversation and which are better to be written off.   

For the third straight week, Kentucky and Virginia sit atop the standings as the nation's lone remaining unbeatens. The Wildcats earned relatively breezy victories over Vanderbilt and South Carolina, while the Cavaliers throttled Georgia Tech before nearly getting upset by lowly Virginia Tech.

No. 3 Gonzaga also stays in the same spot for a third straight week, while No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Wisconsin move up one spot to account for Villanova's drop. Here is a look at how the remainder of The Associated Press Top 25 played out:

Ranking	Team
1	Kentucky (64)
2	Virginia (1)
3	Gonzaga
4	Duke
5	Wisconsin
6	Arizona
7	Villanova
8	Notre Dame
9	Kansas
10	Louisville
11	Utah
12	Wichita State
13	North Carolina
14	VCU
15	Iowa State
16	Maryland
17	West Virginia
18	Northern Iowa
19	Texas
20	Baylor
21	Georgetown
22	Indiana
23	Miami (Fla.)
24	Oklahoma
25	Butler

Ranked third heading into the week, Jay Wright's Wildcats drop to No. 7 thanks to a 78-58 shellacking from Georgetown. D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Isaac Copeland each scored a game-high 17 points as the Hoyas shot 51.1 percent in their second win over a ranked opponent this season. Villanova shot 34.1 percent overall, made just seven of its 23 three-point attempts and was down 42-20 heading into the halftime break.

"We played a team that we couldn't overcome," Wright told reporters. "We've done this before, got down, got a little sloppy offensively, and we've been able to overcome it. This team is too good, this atmosphere was too good, to overcome playing like that."

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Georgetown has won four straight games and ascends into the Top 25, thanks in large part to its win over Villanova. The Hoyas appear well on their way to returning to the NCAA tournament following last year's disappointing NIT berth.

Also taking a tumble this week is Iowa State, which erased all the goodwill it acquired by beating Kansas with a loss to Texas Tech. Devaugntah Williams scored 22 points and Toddrick Gotcher added 17 off the bench as the Red Raiders used sterling efforts from three-point range and the free-throw line to win their first Big 12 game. 

Iowa State, one of the nation's most efficient offenses, shot 6-of-31 from beyond the arc and attempted only 17 free throws. The Cyclones trailed 36-25 at the half and were unable to come back despite putting up 48 points in the final 20 minutes.

"We came out here lackadaisical," Monte Morris, who scored a team-high 20 points, told reporters. "In this league, you're not going to beat anybody like that. Everything they threw up was going in."

Villanova and Iowa State were the only Top 10 teams to go down in a week that largely featured elite teams taking care of business. In fact, 13 of the nation's 16 best teams escaped without a loss since the last poll. Maryland, which lost to Indiana, is the other dissenter. 

The Big 12, which appears destined to have its teams beat one another up, is the only league with major movement. Texas and Oklahoma both fell to new conference favorite Kansas, and the Sooners compounded their problems by also losing to Baylor. Ken Pomeroy's advanced metrics still believe in Oklahoma—which is ranked 11th overall—but a 12-7 record has Lon Kruger's team quietly in danger of missing the tournament with a couple more bad losses.

Jerry Larson/Associated Press

The Sooners have lost four of their last five games overall and won't have another chance for a signature win until Feb. 3 against West Virginia. Their recent struggles are at the very least concerning for a team that's looked like a sleeping giant at times this season.

“We just have to keep working at it and keep getting better. We have to realize how important each possession is and finish opportunities when we get them,” Kruger told reporters.

Beginning with Oklahoma and Texas, the back half of the Top 25 is where things start to get interesting. Six of the final nine teams in last week's poll dropped at least one game. Some were harmless, like the Longhorns' loss to Kansas. Others, like Seton Hall dropping a home game to DePaul, could prove to be crushing.

The Pirates have dropped three straight and four of their last five games since beating Villanova. They head outside the rankings for the first time since the last poll of 2014. The Big East outfit, which looked like a mortal lock to make the tournament earlier this month, is now a seventh-place team in its own conference.

USA TODAY Sports

Chaos also reigned supreme in the Big Ten. Indiana first held home court in a blowout win over the Terrapins before going on the road and dropping a 12-point loss to Ohio State. Iowa's stay in the Top 25 lasted exactly one week after the Hawkeyes were dispatched by Wisconsin and Purdue on the road. 

Iowa is one of three teams to exit the polls this week, joining Seton Hall and Dayton. Georgetown, Miami and Butler enter the Top 25 in their place. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.