New No. 1 UConn faces a challenging week in Big East
A week full of upsets helped reigning national champion Connecticut push to its first No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll since 2009.
The Huskies’ first week at the top won’t be easy, either.
UConn hosts No. 18 Creighton tonight to headline the week’s AP Top 25 national schedule, then visits Villanova — which has wins against currently ranked teams North Carolina, Texas Tech and Creighton — on Saturday.
UConn (15-2) has won five straight since falling at Seton Hall, a game that saw 7-foot-2 sophomore Donovan Clingan go down with a foot injury. Coach Dan Hurley said after Sunday’s win over Georgetown that Clingan is getting close to a return, saying he’s not fighting symptoms from multiple days of workouts.
Clingan is averaging 13.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
“The only way he’s out there versus Creighton is if this thing continues to progress and we feel like he has had enough practice time,” Hurley said, adding that Clingan likely would see “spurts” off the bench when he first returns.
Big 12 tests
The Big 12 has a national-best eight teams in the AP Top 25, so the league dominates the slate of ranked-vs.-ranked matchups for the week.
That includes No. 20 BYU, No. 24 Iowa State and No. 25 Texas Tech, in particular.
The Cyclones and Red Raiders are two of five new teams into this week’s poll, and they each have two games against ranked opponents this week.
Iowa State visited BYU on Tuesday, then visits No. 19 TCU — a third new entrant to Monday’s poll from the Big 12 — on Saturday.
Texas Tech goes on the road to tussle with fifth-ranked Houston tonight, then returns home to face BYU on Saturday.
Rising in the SEC
No. 13 Auburn (14-2) has won nine straight games since falling at Appalachian State in early December, including a 3-0 start in the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers’ week includes a visit from No. 22 Mississippi (15-1), with Chris Beard’s Rebels having lost only to Tennessee this season.
Road tests
No. 2 Purdue gets another shot at handling the test of playing on the road with a high ranking.
The Boilermakers lost last week at Nebraska to fall out of the No. 1 ranking for Monday’s poll. Coming off a home win against Penn State, Purdue went on the road Tuesday night to face instate Big Ten foe Indiana, then visits Iowa on Saturday.
Watch list
Last week’s line of upsets knocked five teams out of the poll, including Gonzaga for the first time since 2016 to end a 143-week streak of poll appearances.
While that group lingers just outside the Top 25, Seton Hall and Grand Canyon could be teams to watch going forward.
The Pirates (12-5) have home games against St. John’s and Creighton this week to build some momentum toward potentially their first AP Top 25 appearance under second-year coach Shaheen Holloway.
As for the Antelopes (16-1), their only loss came against South Carolina in November and they’ve won 13 straight. They have a home game against Utah Valley and a trip to Seattle this week to stay unbeaten in the Western Athletic Conference.