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AP men’s basketball Top 25: Alabama’s stunning loss leads upsets in packed weekend

Tennessee replaced Alabama at No. 2 after it beat Texas last weekend

Ryan Young
·Staff writer
·4-min read

Purdue held strong this week atop the college basketball world, but there was a massive loss right below them in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Here’s everything you missed in Week 12 of the season, and the latest Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.

Alabama’s wild blowout loss ends dominant stretch

Alabama has already proven it's got one of the best teams in the country. The Crimson Tide, who had climbed as high as second in the rankings, had plenty of marquee wins on their resume even before Saturday’s showing in Norman.

That’s why their blowout loss was so surprising.

Oklahoma stunned Alabama 93-69 as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, ending a three-game losing skid in what was by far the Sooners’ biggest win of the season.

Alabama shot just shy of 38% from the field as a team in the loss and made a combined six 3-pointers. There was a stretch in the second half where Oklahoma mounted a massive 16-2 run over nearly eight minutes, too.

As a result, Alabama dropped two spots this week to No. 4.

“It doesn’t have any effect on SEC standings, which is the only good thing to come out of this,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said, via The Associated Press. "Hopefully, we will recover from a loss out of conference, but, you know, it’s not good. We needed the SEC to do well in this Big 12 challenge. We obviously didn’t do our job on it.”

Alabama was one of several notable teams who fell this past week. Tennessee powered past Texas behind 27 points from Olivier Nkamhoua, which jumped the Vols up to No. 2. The loss was Texas’ fourth of the season, and second in four games, though it didn't move in this week's poll.

UCLA stumbled again, too, after last week’s loss to Arizona. USC beat the Bruins by 13 on Thursday night, handing them their second straight loss after an impressive 14-game win streak. They fell to No. 9 this week.

Oklahoma Sooners forward Tanner Groves
Oklahoma beat Alabama by 24 points on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in what was easily the Sooners' biggest win of the season. (Alonzo Adams/USA Today) (USA Today Sports / reuters)

Charleston’s run ends, Kansas finally snaps skid

Charleston’s incredible run has come to an end.

Hofstra knocked off the Cougars 85-81 on Friday night, officially ending a 20-game win streak that launched them into the rankings out of nowhere. Aaron Estrada dropped 25 points for the Pride, all but two of which came in the first half, and they held on in the final minutes to edge out the four-point win in South Carolina.

Charleston’s last loss came back in November, when it fell to then-No. 1 North Carolina in just its second game of the season. Saturday’s loss dropped the Cougars out of the rankings completely. They received 68 votes in the poll, which makes them unofficially No. 27.

Kansas, on the other hand, finally managed to stop the bleeding.

The Jayhawks ended their brutal three-game losing streak on Saturday with a road win over Kentucky. That came after losses to Kansas State, TCU and Baylor. Though all were ranked, a fourth-straight loss would have been the worst streak in the Bill Self era.

Kansas actually moved up one spot in the rankings to No. 8.

It’s not going to get any easier for the Jayhawks, either. They’ll host No. 7 Kansas State next on Tuesday before games against No. 13 Iowa State and No. 10 Texas on Saturday and Monday, which will conclude a stretch of seven ranked opponents in eight games.

Full AP Top 25

The full AP Top 25 poll from Monday, Jan. 30:

  1. Purdue (21-1)

  2. Tennessee (18-3)

  3. Houston (20-2)

  4. Alabama (18-3)

  5. Arizona (19-3)

  6. Virginia (16-3)

  7. Kansas State (18-3)

  8. Kansas (17-4)

  9. UCLA (17-4)

  10. Texas (17-4)

  11. Baylor (16-5)

  12. Gonzaga (18-4)

  13. Iowa State (15-5)

  14. Marquette (17-5)

  15. TCU (16-5)

  16. Xavier (17-5)

  17. Providence (17-5)

  18. Saint Mary's (19-4)

  19. FAU (21-1)

  20. Clemson (18-4)

  21. Indiana (15-6)

  22. San Diego State (17-4)

  23. Miami (16-5)

  24. UConn (16-6)

  25. Auburn (16-5)

Others receiving votes: Missouri 74, Charleston 68, Illinois 56, Creighton 51, New Mexico 47, North Carolina 47, North Carolina State 39, Boise State 31, Duke 24, Rutgers 17, Texas A&M 16, Northwestern 13, Memphis 10, Arkansas 9, Pittsburgh 9, West Virginia 2, Nevada 2, Oral Roberts 2, Saint Louis 1