On Monday, Dec. 9, the Week 6 AP Top 25 college basketball poll was released. There were some high-risers and low-fallers in the rankings, as well as some teams that were ranked higher or lower than they deserved. 

This week’s new No. 1 team is the Tennessee Volunteers. They rose two spots from No. 3 last week, as Auburn and Kansas were ranked ahead of them. I agree with this ranking, as Tennessee is one of the last three undefeated Power 6 teams in the country. The Vols have always been known for their toughness and defense, which is still effective, but the difference this year has been their high-powered offense led by fifth-year Chaz Lanier, who is averaging 19.1 PPG. The Vols have only played one top-25 team in Baylor, so they aren’t the most battle-tested quite yet, but they have routinely taken care of business.

There was a lot of friendly fire throughout the rest of the top five, as Auburn stayed at No. 2 despite losing a tough road game against No. 4 Duke, and Iowa State moved up to No. 3 in the country, up three spots from last week. It would be hard for me to put the Cyclones ahead of Auburn, as the Tigers have already beaten them this year, but Iowa State deserved the upgrade after beating No. 6 Marquette, a then top-five team.

Duke came in at No. 4, moving up five spots. This is the first ranking that I’m having a hard time understanding. They took down Auburn at home, which is a good win, but struggled against unranked Louisville and just barely escaped with a win. I would still favor No. 5 Kentucky, who has already taken down Duke as well as No. 8 Gonzaga in Seattle last week, and I would also take No. 6 Marquette over the Blue Devils up to this point in the season.

The next team to address is Florida, who rose four spots and is ranked at No. 9. The Gators had high hopes coming into the year, and they are out-performing those expectations so far. Florida is one of those three undefeated teams remaining in the country and has looked dominant doing it. The only knock on Florida is that they have yet to face a ranked team, but they have handled teams like Wake Forest, Florida State, and Wichita State, who all have a chance to make the tournament. I’m excited to see how they will handle facing North Carolina next Tuesday, but until then, a top-10 ranking is deserved for the Gators.

Coming in at No. 10 is the biggest faller of the week in Kansas. The Jayhawks went from the top spot in the nation all the way down to tenth, which is necessary. Losing two road games to Creighton and Missouri in the same week is not acceptable from the “No. 1 team.” Kansas will bounce back and rise again under Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, but as of now being at the bottom of the top-10 is an accurate placement.

The highest riser in the rankings is No. 13 Oklahoma, who climbed up eight spots from No. 21. This is a bit low for the Sooners, as they are behind both two-loss Purdue and one-loss Oregon, who are ranked No. 11 and No. 12, respectively. Firstly, they are undefeated, and secondly, they’ve won multiple high-value games against Providence, Arizona, and Louisville. If Oklahoma continues to dominate, don’t be surprised if they are in the top 10 sooner rather than later.

Texas A&M rose five spots, UConn jumped seven spots, and Ole Miss escalated four spots as the three teams came in at No. 17, 18, and 19, respectively. These squads are all high-risers from the bottom of the poll, as A&M had some solid wins last week against Wake Forest and Texas Tech. The Aggies are now on a four-game win streak and are battle-tested as well, as they are 2-0 against the top 25 teams. This spot may be temporary, as they face Purdue on Saturday, but if that’s a win, another big jump could be in store for the Aggies.

UConn, after a disaster in Maui to open the season, has bounced back well, taking down a now-unranked Baylor team at home and Texas on the road. These two wins mean a lot, especially the dominant 76-65 true-road win against Texas. No. 18 is a good spot for the Huskies, who will always be in the contending mix as long as head coach Dan Hurley is at the helm. They face Gonzaga on Saturday, and a victory in that game could bump their way up just like A&M.

Ole Miss has been consistent this season, starting at No. 24 in the preseason poll and winning their way into the top 20. They lost on a buzzer-beater against Purdue back on Nov. 29, but they haven’t lost any other games this season. It’s hard to rank them higher than 19, as they haven’t faced another top-25 team besides the Boilermakers, but their dominant wins make them deserving of a spot toward the bottom. They could even be a few spots lower, as you could argue Wisconsin and Michigan State, the teams directly below Ole Miss, are just as good. The Rebels don’t have another true test until Dec. 28, when they play Memphis. Until then, I expect them to stay somewhere near the bottom of the rankings.

Cincinnati fell eight spots to No. 22, as they failed their first test of the year against Villanova. They should have fallen out of the rankings completely, as a team such as Baylor or Arizona State, who have more marquee wins, could’ve easily been inserted into the top 25.

The only newcomers in the rankings are UCLA and Mississippi State, who claimed the last two spots at No. 24 and No. 25. UCLA had a buzzer-beating win on Sunday in a true-road game against Oregon. The Bruins are 8-1 this season with their only loss being against a very talented New Mexico team. Like Cincinnati, UCLA’s spot could have been given to a number of other teams such as Baylor, Arizona State, or even Pittsburgh. But that’s how the bottom of the poll goes, there are so many teams that deserve to be ranked. With that being said, I don’t hate UCLA getting in because they have proven that they’re a good team and will be a handful come March.

Mississippi State at No. 25 is interesting. They are a very good team and should be ranked ahead of both UCLA and Cincinnati. Their only loss came against a Butler team that isn’t great, but they dominated against Utah, UNLV, and previously-ranked Pittsburgh. Mississippi State’s perfect spot is just a little higher, in the high twenties or low teens.

The teams that fell out of the rankings were Baylor, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Illinois, and North Carolina. All of these teams suffered tough losses last week, and could definitely be seen again in the top 25 if they get back to winning.

Some teams I could see getting the nod in upcoming weeks are Arizona State, Missouri, and Penn State. Missouri and Penn State both took down the top 25 teams last week and have just one loss, and Arizona State has been solid all year long as their one loss came to top 10 Gonzaga.

Finally, a side note for all of the statistic and history people out there: Week 6 is an important week for the AP Poll ranking when it comes to national championship implications. Since 2004, every national champion has been in the top 12 of the Week 6 AP Poll.