NCAAB: Iowa, Seton Hall climb in latest AP Top 25 rankings

The landscape continues to change in college basketball, as the seventh new team ascended to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday. The Baylor Bears moved ahead of the Gonzaga Bulldogs for the top spot in the poll, while Duke, Oregon, and Kentucky tumbled down the rankings.

Let’s break down the biggest risers and fallers of the AP Top 25 and those teams’ odds of marching toward the NCAA title.

Risers

Seton Hall Pirates: up eight spots to #10

Seton Hall is on an eight-win streak, behind the play of senior guard Myles Powell, who has scored at least 20 points in five of his last six games. The Pirates began the season ranked 12th in the AP poll, but a three-point loss to then-No. 3 Michigan State and two-point defeat to No. 11 Oregon dropped them down a rung.

Seton Hall fell outside the rankings after consecutive losses at Iowa State and Rutgers in December, but the Big East squad has found a new gear. The Pirates downed then-No. 7 Maryland, 52-48, and No. 5 Butler, 78-70, during their current hot streak and have entered the top 10 for the first time since 2000.

Providence, DePaul, Xavier, and Georgetown are up next on the Big East schedule, before a trip to No. 9 Villanova on Feb. 8. Villanova is 5-1 in conference play and sits one game behind the Pirates in the Big East standings.

Iowa Hawkeyes: up seven spots to #19

The Hawkeyes first cracked the Top 25 on Dec. 23 and rose as high as 23rd, until they lost back to back to then-No. 21 Penn State, 89-86, and Nebraska, 76-70. Iowa followed up that setback with a beatdown of No. 12 Maryland, 67-49, on Jan. 10, then raced past Northwestern and then-No. 19 Michigan, 90-83.

Coach Fran McCaffery’s team is now ranked 19th, but that soon may change if the Hawkeyes fumble through a difficult stretch of the schedule. No. 24 Rutgers will visit Wednesday night, before Wisconsin comes to town. Then Iowa will travel to No. 17 Maryland and host No. 21 Illinois the following week.

The Hawkeyes are a +6000 longshot to claim the NCAA title and could go on a deep run in the tournament if center Luka Garza (22.9 points, 10.2 rebounds) and guards Joe Wieskamp and CJ Fredrick keep up their dominance on the court.

Fallers

Butler Bulldogs: down eight spots to #13

Before Jan. 15 Butler owned a 15-1 record, with its only loss coming by one point at then-No. 11 Baylor. The Bulldogs’ stunning run launched them to fifth in the country Jan. 13, but then the team came crashing down against Big East competition.

Butler suffered three straight losses—versus Seton Hall, at DePaul, and at Villanova—and now sits at No. 13 in the Top 25. The Bulldogs hold opponents to an average of 58.1 points per game (fourth-best in the country) but surrendered 77.6 points across their last three games.

Butler is a +2000 shot to win the NCAA tournament and is fifth in the Big East, with a 3-3 conference record. Marquette, Georgetown, Providence, and Villanova are due up next on the schedule.

Auburn Tigers: down 12 spots to #16

It took 16 games for Auburn to receive its first loss of the season. Ranked fourth in the nation, the Tigers succumbed to the 10-7 Alabama Crimson Tide in a 83-64 defeat Jan. 15.

The Tigers didn’t fare any better at Florida, in a 69-47 drubbing Saturday, and dropped to 16th in the AP poll as a result.

Auburn has yet to play a Top 25 team, and the only one on its schedule is No. 15 Kentucky. The Wildcats will head to Auburn on Feb. 1 and host the Tigers in a rematch Feb. 29. The South Carolina Gamecocks and Iowa State Cyclones visit this week and should give Auburn a chance to regain its footing.

Despite their recent losses, the Tigers boast +1800 odds to secure the school’s first NCAA championship. The team was just one point away from the title game last season, but Virginia prevailed in a controversial 63-62 finish in the Final Four.

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