NCAA Basketball Rankings 2015: Complete Week 17 College AP Poll Released

For the first time in a month, there are changes near the top of the Associated Press college basketball poll. The continued triumphs of Kentucky and Virginia leave the nation's top two teams untouched, but behind them there has been a shuffling that could have seeding implications later on in March.

Gonzaga perhaps lost its chance of No. 1 glory with a loss to BYU, while Wisconsin's trip to Maryland gave the Badgers just their third defeat of 2014-15. The Zags' defeat dropped them all the way to No. 7. Wisconsin goes down one spot to No. 6. Villanova moves into the Top Five at No. 4, with No. 5 Arizona rounding things out.

Here is a look at how the rest of the Top 25 played out:

Rank	Team
1	Kentucky
2	Virginia
3	Duke
4	Villanova
5	Arizona
6	Wisconsin
7	Gonzaga
8	Wichita State
9	Kansas
10	Maryland
11	Northern Iowa
12	Notre Dame
13	Utah
14	Baylor
15	Oklahoma
16	Louisville
17	Iowa State
18	Arkansas
19	North Carolina
20	West Virginia
21	Butler
22	SMU
23	Ohio State
24	Providence
25	Murray State

Beyond Gonzaga and Wisconsin, three more Top 10 teams were left searching for answers over the last seven days. The Big 12 gauntlet got to Kansas for the second straight week last Monday when a trip to Kansas State ended with a 70-63 loss. Nigel Johnson scored 20 points off the bench as the Wildcats shot 47.2 percent against one of the nation's premier offenses.

Kansas, meanwhile, was a complete mess offensively. Perry Ellis scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds but was one of only two Jayhawks who made at least half of his shots. Kansas went a paltry 2-of-13 from beyond the three-point arc and was held to 39.3 percent overall. The game itself made national headlines when Kansas coach Bill Self offered concerns over the safety of court storming.

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"It's a ballgame," Self told reporters. "It's not about chicken-winging somebody when the game's over. Hopefully, they can get that corrected. It's fine if you want to celebrate when you beat us, that's your business. That's fine. But at least it shouldn't put anybody at risk from a safety standpoint."

Syracuse is a program with far too great of a tradition to storm the court for a win over Notre Dame, but its 65-60 victory in South Bend had the makings of a season-defining triumph. Playing for little other than pride, the Orange held one of the nation's most efficient offenses to 34.7 percent shooting, including a 3-of-22 mark from beyond the arc.

Only one Notre Dame starter so much as made more than one-third of his shots.

"They have some of the best shooters in the country. We just wanted to take them off of their spots and make them take tough ones," guard Trevor Cooney, whose two buckets down the stretch helped clinch the win, told reporters.

Now, the Orange have another chance to send shockwaves through the Top 25, with Virginia on tap for Monday night.

The fifth Top 10 team to lose doesn't have much in the way of things to be embarrassed about. Northern Iowa's regular-season-ending trip to Wichita State ended in a 74-60 defeat mostly buoyed by the Shockers' strong first half. All five starters scored in double figures, highlighted by a 17-point, seven-assist effort from Ron Baker.

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Wichita State clinched its second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship. Coach Gregg Marshall has now won nine regular-season conference titles between his stops in Wichita and Winthrop.

"We knew we couldn't lose again," Marshall told reporters. "I didn't think they would lose again. What a great fight they put on for nine weeks."

Overall, 14 of the nation's 25 best from last week suffered at least one loss. North Carolina had a one-off defeat from an unranked foe, while others had more explainable losses against their ranked brethren.

As we head toward conference tournaments, it's clear that the tournament picture will only get more cloudy as we move deeper into March.

As for Iowa State and Virginia Commonwealth, their last seven days were a nightmare. The Cyclones went from potential conference champion to a tie for fifth place in the Big 12 after losing to Baylor and Kansas State. Baylor drained 14 threes and got 20 points from Taurean Prince off the bench in its 79-70 victory in Ames. Iowa State compounded its problems by blowing a 12-point lead in the second half to Kansas State, allowing the Wildcats to eek by for a 70-69 win.

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“It’s tough, but stuff like this happens,” guard Naz Long said, per Dylan Montz of KCRG.com. “We play in the best league in America. You can’t take anyone for granted. Kansas just lost here.”

Iowa State's two-game losing streak drops it to No. 17. VCU's, on the other hand, eliminated it from the rankings entirely. The Rams dropped a double-overtime contest to Richmond and a four-point game to Dayton, dropping them to 11-5 overall in the Atlantic 10. While a consistent 20-win outfit, VCU has still not won a regular-season conference championship under coach Shaka Smart.

As it stands now, it's unlikely it'll finish the regular season even ranked inside the Top 25. VCU is one of two teams to drop out, the other being San Diego State. Taking its place are No. 23 Ohio State and No. 25 Murray State.

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