MEMPHIS, Tenn. — March Madness came a few weeks early. Not only did 16 teams ranked in last week's AP Top 25 lose games, but 10 of them lost to unranked opponents.
It was pure chaos. With so much parity in college basketball this season, the NCAA Tournament should be one of the more chaotic in recent memory.
All the losses also made assembling a Top 25 ballot much tougher. Ultimately, I chose to drop Creighton and Iowa State after their two losses. Northwestern almost fell out of my ballot after losses to Illinois and Maryland, but considering both defeats came on the road to Top 35 NET teams, I decided to keep them at No. 24. If there is one truth in college hoops this year, it's that conference road wins are hard to come by, especially in the Big Ten.
I gave Pittsburgh and TCU the most consideration for my No. 25 spot. Ultimately, I gave the nod to Duke this week after picking up their fourth straight win. The Blue Devils also own a win over the Panthers.
CLAYTON'S AP TOP 25 MEN'S BASKETBALL BALLOT:
1. Houston
2. Kansas
3. Alabama
4. UCLA
5. Purdue
6. Texas
7. Marquette
8.Baylor
9. Gonzaga
10. Arizona
11. Kansas State
12. San Diego State
13. Saint Mary's
14. Indiana
15. Tennessee
16. Xavier
17. UConn
18. Miami
19. Virginia
20. Providence
21. Texas A&M
22. Nevada
23. Maryland
24. Northwestern
25. Duke
IN THE MIX:
Iowa State, TCU, Pittsburgh, Oral Roberts, Boise State, Michigan State, Creighton, Memphis
