AP poll breakdown: Andy Katz Q&A, reactions to Jan. 22 college basketball rankings

AP poll breakdown: Andy Katz Q&A, reactions to Jan. 22 college basketball rankings

And welcome everyone to our weekly AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll reaction I’m Andy Katz uh we’re going to go over the top 25 of as we do every week here on Bleacher Report repurposed on nc.com and of course on our March Madness men’s basketball social platform also look at

My power 36 my team of the Week player of the week and we’ll look ahead to games this week and of course take your questions all right so as we look at the top 25 from the Associated Press um right off the bat I’m in agreement with

123 Yukon Purdue in North Carolina um I have no problem with Tennessee and Kentucky right there in five and six um Houston I’ve moved back into my top 10 we’ll get to that in a moment uh because they’ve sort of reset themselves in the Big 12 Kansas lost uh at West

Virginia so I Dro them you’ll see not too far because the problem is when you get to like 10 on down right now everyone’s flawed everyone’s losing Road games in their conference for the most part except for Yukon uh you know they’ve won uh Carolina’s not losing on

The road yet in the ACC Purdue has its two losses on the road Auburn I love them at eight I have Arizona back in I have Illinois in that range again uh Oklahoma uh Duke I would have dropped a little bit but that’s fine I have Wisconsin a little higher you’ll see

That Marquette Baylor I love that Dayton is now moving up they’ve won 12 in a row from the A10 they’re looking like a team that’s going to be you know pushing for some Single digigit Seed uh which was not the case a month ago kraton had

A good split week lost to Yukon and then a triple overtime thrill against Eon Hall uh Utah State Memphis had a bad week lost two so I would have dropped them uh as they lost to South Florida not Central Florida south Florida in the American and then to Tain on Sunday Texas Tech

BYU um no problem there FAU um I do have a problem with FAU I I don’t have them ranked as you’ll see here they are winning games in the American they’re giving up a ton of points uh and they’re not winning a lot of I mean they are getting beat but they

Had a game against UTSA that was both schools scoring over a 100 Iowa State I like uh I’m thrilled to see New Mexico in there at 25 um col State at 24 off that road uh Road win no sorry home win over UNLV um so even though K State beat New Mexico

At home I think New Mexico’s playing better basketball in col state so I have New Mexico ahead of them uh but I love the fact that the Lobos are ranked at 25 um so now let’s see who was in my 25 that did make this 25 and I think we’re

Going to find a couple so let’s go to the beginning of my power 36 1 through 13 as you’ll see on the first page very familiar names Yukon Purdue North Carolina Tennessee Auburn Kentucky you got Arizona now up there Wisconsin Houston Kansas Illinois Oklahoma so very similar names little mixed up order uh

Once you get past three really um all right let’s go now to uh so that’s 12 I’m sorry 13 to I think 24 maybe is the next group so Sean Hall I think deserves to be ranked they’re not Kansas State one loss in the Big 12 not on there

Neither’s Baylor um Alabama I know they got drilled by Tennessee but they’re playing really well you see New Mexico uh I’m bullish on Michigan State the way they’re playing right now won three in a row and you see Texas Tech and Iowa State other schools that are ranked so

Michigan State wasn’t in there Alabama was in there K State wasn’t in there um Sean Hall wasn’t in there for sure let’s go to the last part 25 to 36 that’s where you see Utah State at the back end St Mary’s um and actually you see I don’t

Rank actually now that I see this I didn’t rank Colorado State uh they were in a little bit of a skid lost a couple in a row did just beat UNLV so they’re deeper in the standings they are below New Mexico and Utah State uh Boise State

With a big win over San dieo state so I’ve got them on the back part South Carolina you see Nebraska Northwestern they’re pretty even in the Big 10 right now Nebraska just beat Northwestern um Wake Forest uh big game on Monday night against North Carolina uh then you see

Oregon lost on the last possession of Utah still think they’re pretty good St Mar’s right now they’re the best team in the WCC giving them some love and look at number 36 Syracuse Syracuse I think is now starting to creep toward that potential inclusion uh great last second win over

Miami they’ve swept pit pit excuse me um I think the orange who I saw out in Honolulu I saw flashes of what they could become and uh you know I think we’re starting to see that the orange have potential their losses by the way in 2024 are at Carolina at

Duke not bad if they can still hold their own against the rest of the ACC which they are doing right now they got a great shot to finish you know in that upper tier top five top six and be right there for a potential bid which would be

Great for Adrien Atri in his first year as head coach taking over for the Hall of Famer Jim baheim now let’s go to my national player of the week and team of the week um look everyone it is over okay it’s over uh I think in both cases

For the men and the women for National Player of the Year it’s going to be the first time ever that we’ve had the same player on the men’s side and the women’s side win back-to-back player of the year so it’s going to be Zack Edy and Caitlyn Clark Iowa Purdue Zack Edy B

Multiple back-to-back 30 plus games uh Road games at rival Indiana at Iowa 18 boards in the second one just a dominating week for Zack Edy he’s here and then we you know we’re going to talk about the All-American first team list because it’s changed really below him but he’s clear he is

The guy and I just don’t see him falling to where he doesn’t win it and look Paige Beckers is playing well on the women’s side uh she’s back healthy but come on it’s going to be Caitlyn Clark there’s no question she’s going to win it team of the week

Tennessee uh yes they played at home but Florida and Alabama dominated both 20 plus I think it was 19 Florida over 20 against Alabama uh Dalton connect had phenomenal week 3929 I think it was uh just a great week right now that man right you there you see there Dalton

Connect who played at Northern Colorado last year he’s a first team All-American right now uh while I have him on my screen I would say at this moment in time you can make a strong argument so Edy you could say connect you could say RJ Davis from North

Carolina that’s three right there that I feel comfortable with the question is does Tyler KCK still be on there uh is Jaden Le still on there because he was on my earlier list from San Diego State um I think Hunter Dickinson deserves to be on there with with his

Numbers so let’s give him a spot you know now you’re at um four and the question is the fifth spot of these other players I just rattled off um and there’s going to be others it’s going to be fluid no question about it all right before we get to your um questions o

Tario for Life by the way who do you like better Seth Davis or cats is that you’re asking me this who do I like better myself or Seth Davis wow um well we have been mistaken before uh although I don’t see the likeness uh he is a good

Friend funny story when I went to the Hawaii uh Northern Colorado game excuse me Northern Arizona game in Honolulu back in November the northern Arizona coach walked up to me and said hey Seth I really appreciate you coming to the game now Seth was in the building

Earlier in the day because he was there as well but uh I just said hey glad to be here so Seth Davis got credit for that visit there between Na and Hawaii uh so I don’t know I’m not g you do I choose myself in that I like Seth

Um all right so now let’s go to our games to watch this week top 10 um right off the bat Auburn at Alabama what a tremendous game uh this will be this week rivalry Bruce Pearl Nate oats fiery uh Auburn’s quietly the radar of a team that really could win the National

Championship uh Kansas at Iowa State Kansas now has lost on the road at UCF and at West Virginia and neither one of those Arenas are even on the same level as Hilton so that’s gonna be rocking in AES Kentucky at South Carolina interesting game um South Carolina great

Bounceback win at Arkansas uh and Kentucky you know now with big Z eligible they’ve added a a pro in January in the post at 7 foot2 uh but it’s on the road it’s going to be a great game Monday night wake for us at Carolina uh you know wake I think is in

This conversation now for a bid no question this would be a huge huge game for them if they could get it um Michigan State at Wisconsin that’s on Friday night and earlier in December when Michigan State wasn’t playing well Wisconsin won in East Lancing uh

Spartans have won three in a row this is probably this game and the Purdue game are probably the only games in the next eight that Michigan State won’t be favored in uh so it’s gonna be a really good game Friday night at the call center Arizona at

Oregon last time they will meet in Eugene uh for the foreseeable future Oregon going to the big 10 Arizona the Big 12 and uh Oregon and Arizona are tied for first in the Pack 12 so great game right there Illinois Northwestern that’s on Wednesday this will be the first road

Game for Terence Channon Jr since his suspension was lifted um still facing the felony sexual assault charge uh in Lawrence Kansas his next uh date is in February um but he won a court injunction uh against the University of Illinois to play while the case is pending so he played on Sunday against

Ruckers uh little Jitters early and then had an outstanding performance so this will be his first road game see how that plays out and look they beat Northwest by 30 in Champagne uh Northwestern has only lost one game at home this season and that was the Chicago State they’re

Undefeated in the Big 10 already beaten Michigan State and Purdue at home and Maryland Texas at Oklahoma uh Big 12 game next year it’ll be an SEC game Texas buzzer beater beat Baylor Oklahoma a little bit of a stumble now they’re playing better basketball again Houston

At BYU now two of the newbies in the Big 12 this would be really interesting to see Houston at the Marriott Center in Provo um contrast and styles be you wants to get up and down Houston like to cut that in half have more half court so that’ll

Be interesting uh Villanova St John’s um both struggling a little bit uh St John’s a little bit of a slide the last couple games got blown up by seen Hall last time they played a few weeks ago St John’s won at Villanova now this game’s at the Garden Villanova coming off a

Onepoint loss to Yukon at home uh anytime vova is at the Garden great crowd I expect uh this will be a highlevel game at MSG in the Big East so a lot to look forward to this week let’s get to some of these questions um Caleb love you’re asking

Him I’m assuming is whether or not he would be um you know in the uh discussion for first fale American you know I think he could be and my gut is he had a little bit of a speed bump in the middle of the Season there so could be uh RJ I’m sorry

Red Clemens is talking about RJ Davis and I said right now I think he’s a first team All American um Brad Delan says Kentucky dropped 105 on that Georgia defense what do I think what do I think I think Kentucky could win the national championship and it’s weird that they’re

A little bit under the radar but they are uh but they’re playing great right now uh but these Road SEC games we saw what happened in A&M now it took overtime to beat them but um you know uh neutral Court once we get into the tournament in the SEC in the postseason

They’re going to be right there um KAS Travis we just want to know the top 25 okay well it’s out there you don’t have to be clicking on here my man uh that’s okay you’ve made your point now you can exit um forget about it says Auburn is the deepest

Team uh I don’t know if they’re the the deepest but they certainly are one of the deepest and that’s why I love I’m loving seeing them in the top 10 right now because it’s deserving it’s been a climb up to that level didn’t play the strongest non-conference slate uh but

Um you know they’re making up for it in the SEC and this game against Alabama is going to be great no question about it um so red asks who is the deepest team I actually think Purdue uh is one of the deepest I think Kentucky is really deep certainly on the

Perimeter Kansas is not and that’s a problem for them I think actually Wisconsin is really deep I think Tennessee is deep um Trey says do I think Carolina will be in the final four well I’m GNA say right now they are um a one seed right now so they have a

Great shot be interesting they go play for the title don’t make the tournament could play for the title Tristan Newton first team says Ethan Sylvester and again another player that I think is right there to potentially be a first team All-American or second team you’re right uh armont Toya 3 says who’s the

Best team in the mount West in my opinion um I actually do think it’s New Mexico you know they weren’t healthy earli in the season when they lost at St Mary’s still were not 100% even on the road uh but the combination of house Mashburn and Dent um

Joseph Nelly Joseph um true Washington toppen uh Josiah Alec they’ve got great pieces oh I’m sorry josei Alec left to go to Nebraska excuse me um I just I don’t know why I had him and New Mexico Nebraska had it in my head uh but they were able to

Replace him and he’s having a good year for Nebraska as well sorry about that um Ethan Sylvester says Yukon fan here SE Hall not being right this crazy I agree with you I did say KY is one of the deepest how many losses do I think wins the SEC I’ll say

Four um Brady says Justin Edwards gets together Kentucky take another leap that’s correct um North Carolina did I mention them as deep I think they are uh who’s in my final four Trey says well um here’s what I’ll tell you let’s pause here for a minute at this moment in

Time I would go Yukon Purdue Carolina Tennessee but I think Kentucky Auburn Wisconsin are all right there I think that’s that next group then another group probably would include Houston Arizona Illinois Marquette um maybe in New Mexico someone like that like the we saw San dieo State maybe Dayton

Um the team that I thought I felt better about and maybe I will feel this way again but they’ve hit a little bit of a rut was Memphis uh I love the quinly Jones connection um let’s see I still think Memphis could be elite so look at that man bear pig 1990

Says do you believe in Penny Hardway as a coach that can make a run to the final four and I do I think the drama and the chaos has subsided and um I think legitimately by the way they’re losing these games in the last possessions a couple they’ve lost on the road

So I think they definitely could get there uh Western worbert 10 biggest snubs well seedan Hall should be ranked still um trying to think who else I had um I think they’re the biggest snub based on this list for sure um but I love again I love the fact

That New Mexico is getting love here I love that um so Dayton’s moving up Auburn moving up all that I think is positive because it’s sort of starting and we’re seeing this okay there’s a couple outliers of team teams that uh you know have made the poll are

A little higher than they should be but for the most part we’re starting to see it shrink to where it should be especially at the top you know like in the Mountain West we’re consistently seeing three Bound West teams lately which is great they could get five uh

But to see Utah State Cara state New Mexico ranked even though I think New Mexico should be ahead of all of them that’s fine they’re getting the respect they deserve Memphis it took a while Dayton took a while and certainly even Auburn you know took a while for them to climb up Carolina

So um Oklahoma’s 11 I don’t think they can get there though so uh do nothing and Mike William is not playing the season I don’t believe so he just transferred so I don’t no he’s not playing is Kansas overrated let’s end it here I don’t think they’re overrated I

Just don’t think they’re deep and so they’re having problems on the road um you know the question is going to be how high is their Seed where do they land are they protected in terms of logistics uh where they end up playing but I think they’ll be fine ultimately

Will they get to the final four I’m not buying it right now no um we’ll see all right as always really appreciate everything uh the interaction um remember we repurpose this on bleach report um also uh nca.com men’s basketball mbb on our social media handles follow me at the Andy cats on

Twitter X and the real indieats on Instagram stay warm everyone be safe and we will talk to you again next Monday same time same app right here appreciate everyone thank you

March Madness correspondent Andy Katz streamed on Bleacher Report to break down the new men’s college basketball AP poll released on Jan. 22.

Watch highlights, game recaps and much more from the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments on the official NCAA March Madness YouTube channel. Subscribe now to be updated on the latest videos: https://www.youtube.com/marchmadness

Connect with March Madness:
Follow March Madness MBB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB
Follow March Madness WBB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessWBB
Like March Madness MBB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarchMadnessMBB
Like March Madness WBB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarchMadnessWBB/
Follow March Madness MBB on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marchmadnessmbb/
Follow March Madness WBB on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marchmadnesswbb/
Follow March Madness MBB on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/marchmad…

#marchmadness #collegebasketball