College Basketball Rankings January 22: Purdue Still In Top 3

When you reach no. 3 in the polls there is obviously not a lot of room left to rise. Sure, teams can catch you from behind, but Purdue was 40 points ahead of No. 4 Oklahoma in the AP poll (and the Sooners lost twice anyway) and 14 points ahead of Wichita State in the coaches poll (with the Shockers losing twice).

Purdue trailed Virginia by 112 points in the AP Poll for No. 2 and by 79 points in the coaches poll. That margin closed just a little this week as Purdue stayed at No. 3.

1. Villanova (63) 1,623
2. Virginia (1) 1,537
3. Purdue (1) 1,499
4. Duke 1,439
5. Kansas 1,338
6. Michigan State 1,243
7. West Virginia 1,217
8. Xavier 1,180
9. Cincinnati 1,087
10. North Carolina 1,014
11. Arizona 974
12. Oklahoma 917
13. Ohio State 787
14. Texas Tech 763
15. Gonzaga 610
16. St. Mary’s 571
17. Wichita State 547
18. Clemson 474
19. Auburn 470
20. Florida 366
21. Arizona State 353
22. Tennessee 260
23. Nevada 190
24. Rhode Island 189
25. Michigan 123

Since Kendall Stephens is averaging 12.8 points per game for Nevada I am just going to go ahead and add their 190 points to Purdue and move us to No. 2.

All kidding aside, Villanova hosts a good Providence team this week before going to Marquette, while Virginia hosts Clemson and goes to Duke. If Purdue can stay hot this week against a ranked Michigan team and against a bitter rival on its home floor, there could be a chance to move up.

In the coaches poll Purdue stays at No. 3:

1. Villanova (31) 798
2. Virginia 759
3. Purdue (1) 740
4. Duke 707
5. Kansas 639
6. Michigan State 589
7. West Virginia 571
8. Xavier 566
9. Cincinnati 566
10. North Carolina 517
11. Oklahoma 407
12. Arizona 403
13. Ohio State 385
14. Texas Tech 346
15. Gonzaga 288
16. Wichita State 280
17. Clemson 275
18. St. mary’s 217
19. Auburn 190
20. Arizona State 187
21. Tennessee 158
22. Florida 136
23. Rhode Island 107
24. Miami (FL) 98
25. Michigan 97