College Basketball Rankings 2016-17: Bleacher Report's Week 11 Top 25

If you're a fan of ranked teams waging war against one another, you were treated to a fun week of college basketball.

In total, there were nine games in which both teams had little numbers to the left of their names, including seven where both teams were ranked in the AP Top 15. From Dec. 4 through Jan. 9, there were just four games between teams in the AP Top 15, so getting seven in the span of five days was incredible.

Then again, if you're a fan of a particular ranked team, maybe it wasn't a fun week. Nine teams in last week's Bleacher Report Top 25 suffered a combined 12 losses—including two each by Duke, Xavier and Kansas State.

As a result, the new B/R Top 25 looks nothing like it did seven days ago. The only team on the same rung as last week is UCLA, which is holding down the fort at No. 3. Every other team moved up or down at least one spot, with 16 teams shifting multiple lines.

Though the places may have changed, the faces are similar. Kansas State and SMU were the only teams to drop out of the poll after tying for 24th place last week. Replacing the Wildcats and Mustangs are Maryland and South Carolina.

Team	Record	Last Poll
1. Villanova	17-1	3
2. Kansas	16-1	1
3. UCLA	18-1	3
4. Gonzaga	17-0	5
5. Kentucky	15-2	6
6. Baylor	16-1	2
7. West Virginia	15-2	11
8. Creighton	17-1	9
9. Oregon	16-2	7
10. North Carolina	16-3	15
11. Notre Dame	16-2	13
12. Florida State	16-2	10
13. Wisconsin	14-3	14
14. Arizona	16-2	15
15. Louisville	15-3	19
16. Virginia	13-3	19
17. Butler	15-3	12
18. Cincinnati	15-2	22
19. Florida	14-3	23
20. Saint Mary's	15-2	19
21. Duke	14-4	8
22. Maryland	16-2	NR
23. Xavier	13-4	18
24. Purdue	14-4	17
25. South Carolina	14-3	NR

Moving Up: Maryland Terrapins

G Fiume/Getty Images

A few ACC teams (North Carolina, Louisville, Virginia and Notre Dame) climbed multiple spots this week, but that conference is such a revolving door of upsets and quality wins that it's already getting repetitive to point out its representatives on the rise.

Instead, let's use this space to welcome a newcomer to the B/R Top 25.

Maryland hasn't been getting any love this year, and that lack of respect began on the first night of the season, when the Terrapins had to come from behind to win a home game against American. Four nights later, they needed a miracle comeback to beat Georgetown. Toss in nail-biters against Towson, Richmond and Kansas State, and the Terps felt like the most fraudulent 7-0 team of all time.

In retrospect, it was an understandable byproduct of having one of the youngest rosters in the country, and the Terrapins apparently refined their freshmen by fire while preparing them to win tight conference games.

Maryland is 16-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten following consecutive wins at Michigan, versus Indiana and at Illinois—not one of which came by more than a seven-point margin. Because the Terrapins keep eking out wins, they're only rated by KenPom as the 48th-best team in the country. But we're buying stock in Anthony Cowan, Kevin Huerter and Justin Jackson. Even with Melo Trimble struggling thus far in Big Ten play, those freshmen are keeping the Terps atop the conference standings.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Moving Down: Duke Blue Devils

So much for that national championship Duke won on paper in the preseason, eh?

The Blue Devils played two road games against ranked opponents in the past seven days, losing to both Florida State and Louisville. Under normal circumstances, that would be a mulligan week. Maybe the team drops six spots in the polls, depending on what the teams around it did, but no need to sound the alarm (see: Xavier).

However, nothing about Duke's season could be described as "normal circumstances." Based on how those two games played out and on Duke's relative lack of quality wins to this point in the season, it was a week that leaves us questioning how good this team actually is—rather than continuing to think about the Blue Devils in terms of how good they could or should be.

Yes, Amile Jefferson was out for both games with a bone bruise, and head coach Mike Krzyzewski wasn't on the sideline while he recovers from back surgery. But how many times are we supposed to ignore the losses the Blue Devils suffer at less than full strength?

Now that they're 2-3 in ACC play—with nothing more than a pair of home wins against the two worst teams in the conference—the Blue Devils need to earn our trust back. They remain in our Top 25 at No. 21, but that's only because there aren't 25 good options out there right now. Had fringe teams like Purdue, Xavier, Texas Tech, VCU and Iowa State taken care of business this week, it might have been bye bye, Blue Devils.

Worth Noting: Villanova Plays Leapfrog

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Villanova was tied with UCLA for No. 3 in our poll one week ago. All three voters had both Kansas and Baylor ahead of the Wildcats. But they jumped over both Big 12 schools to reclaim the top spot.

What gives?

The Baylor portion of the equation should be self-explanatory, as the Bears were obliterated by West Virginia. They rebounded with a nice road win over Kansas State, but that only kept them from plummeting too far. It wasn't nearly enough for them to retain their spot at No. 2.

Kansas didn't lose this week, but it wasn't particularly impressive against Oklahoma or Oklahoma State, either, trailing at halftime in both games. Meanwhile, Villanova beat the molasses out of Xavier (79-54) before comfortably winning a road game against St. John's in which Kris Jenkins, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson all struggled on offense.

The Jayhawks could return the favor with a statement win at Iowa State on Monday, but the reigning national champions are back in first place for now. 

Chris Covatta/Getty Images

On the Radar: TCU Horned Frogs

Since joining the Big 12, TCU has had something of a split personality. The Horned Frogs have won at least nine nonconference games in each of the past five years (including this one), compiling a solid overall nonconference record of 51-12. But that success in November and December hasn't carried over into Big 12 play, where the Horned Frogs went 11-66 since 2012-2013.

Apparently, someone forgot to tell them that conference play is underway and that they're supposed to be losing games left and right, because they're now 3-2 after wins over Texas and Iowa State this week.

Even TCU's two conference losses were impressive. It lost by just six to Kansas and was tied with the Mountaineers in West Virginia in the final 10 minutes before running out of gas. The nonconference loss wasn't too shabby, either, falling on the road to SMU in a game that was tight until the final five minutes.

Many were puzzled by Jamie Dixon's decision to leave Pittsburgh to take the job at his alma mater, but he will have the last laugh if the Horned Frogs reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.

They didn't quite crack the Top 25 on any of our ballots this week, but all three voters have them in the Top 30. Games against Texas Tech and Baylor could be their ticket into next week's poll.

What to Watch for This Week

—No. 8 Creighton at No. 23 Xavier (Monday, 2 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1)

—No. 2 Kansas at Iowa State (Monday, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN)

—No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 12 Florida State (Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN3)

—No. 15 Louisville at No. 12 Florida State (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN)

—No. 14 Arizona at No. 3 UCLA (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET on CBS)

There are a few gems on a weak slate of games this week, but shout-out to the Big East for once again knowing how to schedule. That league gave us great games on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day over the past few years, scheduled Villanova vs. Xavier for the day after the College Football Playoff National Championship and has an all-day marathon lined up for Martin Luther King Day, headlined by the early-afternoon battle between the Bluejays and Musketeers.

Kansas will likely be the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25, but does that just mean the Jayhawks are going to continue the streak of No. 1 teams losing in hostile environments? Villanova lost at Butler two weeks ago, Baylor fell at West Virginia this past week and Kansas has to venture into Ames, Iowa, for some possible Hilton Magic.

Florida State's brutal stretch of six games mercifully comes to an end this week after home games against Notre Dame and Louisville.

If you can only make time for one game this week, though, make sure it's the Pac-12 showdown. Arizona vs. UCLA is one of the best rivalries in college hoops, and this is going to be one heck of a freshman battle. Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf against Lauri Markkanen, Rawle Alkins and Kobi Simmons? Yes, please. And we'll take a second helping in late February, thank you very much.

It's also worth noting that this is going to be a massive week for South Carolina. It's tough to recommend any SEC game as appointment television this year, but the 14-3 Gamecocks host Florida on Wednesday before going on the road to face Kentucky on Saturday. Even a 1-1 record for the week would be a nice boost for their resume. Going 2-0 would be incredible.

Voters in the poll are C.J. Moore, Brian Pedersen and Kerry Miller. Our experts participate in weekly voting for B/R's Top 25. Once a vote is cast for a specific team, it's assigned a value—25 points for the No. 1 team in the rankings, 24 points for the second spot and so on. The point totals are then added up to create the Top 25. 

Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of KenPom.com and Sports-Reference.com. 

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.