Sports
AP College Basketball Poll 2023: Complete Week 5 Men's Rankings Released – Bleacher Report
Three weeks. Three different schools sitting atop the Associated Press’ men’s Top 25 poll.
Arizona is the new No. 1 team thanks to Northwestern’s 92-88 overtime upset of Purdue on Friday.
AP Top 25
1. Arizona
2. Kansas
3. Houston
4. Purdue
5. UConn
6. Baylor
7. Gonzaga
8. Marquette
9. North Carolina
10. Creighton
11. Florida Atlantic
12. Texas
13. Colorado State
14. BYU
15. Miami
16. Kentucky
17. Tennessee
18. James Madison
19. Oklahoma
20. Illinois
21. Texas A&M
22. Duke
23. Wisconsin
24. Clemson
25. San Diego State
Thirty-five points and 14 rebounds from Zach Edey weren’t enough for the Boilermakers to avoid their first defeat. He sent the game into overtime and trimmed the deficit to one point with 34 seconds left in overtime, but Northwestern secured the victory at the charity stripe.
That opened the door wide open for Arizona, which cruised past Colgate 82-55 in its only game over the past week. Caleb Love and Oumar Ballo combined for 27 points in the win.
The Wildcats are now ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time since 2013-14.
Purdue wasn’t the only top-10 squad to fall this past week.
Duke slipped to 5-3 thanks to back-to-back defeats to Arkansas and Georgia Tech. Nobody is putting Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer on the hot seat by any stretch, but he’s quickly discovering how difficult it is to succeed a legendary figure.
Duke doesn't even get a shot off on its final possession. <br><br>Damon Stoudamire just landed the first major victory of his career: a 72-68 W.<br><br>Meantime, Jon Scheyer is now 4-8 on the road in his young tenure at Duke. The No. 7 Blue Devils have lost back-to-back games and sit at 5-3.
Wisconsin went wire-to-wire as it took down Marquette 75-64 on Saturday. The Golden Eagles never led once and trailed by as many as 15. They were largely undone by their 7-of-29 shooting clip from beyond the arc.
Kentucky delivered a major statement as it hammered Miami in the second half en route to a 95-73 win. The Wildcats led by just five points at halftime before they caught fire in the second half. Freshman guard Reed Sheppard stole the spotlight by coming off the bench and dropping 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.
The week’s most highly anticipated clash unfolded Friday night in Lawrence, Kansas, and it didn’t disappoint. UConn and Kansas went toe to toe, with the Jayhawks walking away a 69-65 victor and balancing out the double-digit defeat they suffered at Marquette’s hands in the Maui Invitational.
Senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. had a team-high 21 points, while Hunter Dickinson (15 points, nine rebounds) continues to deliver as advertised.
The absence of one clear dominant team was a constant theme throughout last year. Thanks to the new transfer rules, even the established blue bloods are having a difficult time with the constant roster churn.
It looks like this will be another season in which a relative level of parity will reign supreme.
