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Murray's AP Top 25: Tennessee's big win could cost Nevada a spot


Tennessee picked up a big win over Gonzaga. (Handout)
Tennessee picked up a big win over Gonzaga. (Handout)
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Nevada Sports Net columnist Chris Murray is one of 65 voters in the college basketball AP Top 25 poll. Here is a look at the biggest movers and shakers in his poll this week.

Team on the rise

* Tennessee: Tennessee upset the No. 1 team in the nation after Admiral Schofield’s late 3-pointer sailed the Volunteers' past Gonzaga. Tennessee’s lone loss was in overtime to the new No. 1 Kansas, so the Volunteers, who were seventh on my ballot last week, moved up to fourth this week. Kansas and Michigan should be a clear 1-2 with Duke, Tennessee and Gonzaga somewhere in the 3-4-5 slots. I go Duke, Tennessee and Gonzaga, but you could order them however you’d like, but Tennessee is in college basketball’s top tier for sure.

Team on the fall

* Kansas State: The Wildcats had some preseason beef over where they were being predicted given they returned basically everybody from last year’s Elite 8 team, but so far, not so good. After starting 6-0, Kansas State has dropped its last two games, to Marquette (a really good team) and Tulsa (a not-so-good team), which held the Wildcats to 46 points. That was enough for me drop them from No. 14 on my ballot last week to unranked this week.

About the Wolf Pack

* Nevada: Tennessee’s win over Gonzaga pushed the Wolf Pack down a spot on my ballot, but it will be a good thing for Nevada in the long run. The Zags going undefeated was the biggest impediment to Nevada not getting to the top spot at some point later this year. That impediment is now gone, and the teams currently above Nevada will almost certainly lose in conference play, which should push the Pack up. It’s hard to argue for Nevada above Kansas, Michigan, Duke, Tennessee and Gonzaga given their strength of schedules. You could argue for Nevada over Virginia, but the Cavaliers have two wins over Top 25 teams.

Chris Murray’s AP Top 25

1. Kansas (1)

2. Michigan (4)

3. Duke (3)

4. Tennessee (7)

5. Gonzaga (2)

6. Virginia (5)

7. Nevada (6)

8. Auburn (8)

9. Florida State (10)

10. Texas Tech (11)

11. Buffalo (12)

12. Virginia Tech (15)

13. North Carolina (17)

14. Ohio State (18)

15. Michigan State (20)

16. Marquette (21)

17. Kentucky (9)

18. Wisconsin (13)

19. Iowa (16)

20. Arizona State (19)

21. Mississippi State (22)

22. North Carolina State (23)

23. Furman (25)

24. Villanova (n/r)

25. Houston (n/r)

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @MurrayNSN.

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