College Basketball Rankings: Predicting the AP Poll Top 25 after Feast Week chaos

Coming off of a loaded Feast Week slate, the AP Poll Top 25 voters has one of their toughest challenges of the year. Some of the top teams had bad weeks, others off the radar announced an arrival.

The Maui Invitational, Players Era Festival and Battle 4 Atlantis are just the headliners of a big week for multi-team events across the country. From a three-loss weekend for UConn, to a three-win weekend for Oklahoma, the results everywhere surprised and shifted the conversation.

Exiting Feast Week, here is a predictive look at what the 2024-25 AP Poll Top 25 could look on Monday, setting the tone for the season.

Predicted AP Poll Top 25

1. Kansas (Last Week: 1)

Kansas picked up another big win this week against Duke, helping then hold off Auburn despite not playing in one of the traditional Feast Week events loaded with top competition.

2. Auburn (Last Week: 4)

Auburn exits the week as Maui Invitational champions with three impressive wins under their belt. The Tigers now have a real case to become No. 1 overall in the AP Poll Top 25 but project to come up just short this time.

3. Tennessee (Last Week: 7)

Tennessee had a rather quiet week after competing in the earlier Baha Mar event, but benefit from a large number of losses by the teams previously above them.

4. Kentucky (Last Week: 8)

Kentucky also had a rather quiet week — other than a fight against Georgia State — but moves up the rankings based on previous results and the shortcomings of those above them in the past seven days.

5. Gonzaga (Last Week: 3)

Gonzaga suffered a surprising loss against West Virginia in the Battle 4 Atlantis this week, but bounced back with two wins to minimize the distance they will fall in the upcoming Top 25 release.

6. Iowa State (Last Week: 5)

Iowa State dropped its opening round game against Auburn at the Maui Invitational, but that loss hardly looks bad given the two wins the were able to pick up in the coming days.

7. Oregon (Last Week: NR)

Oregon skyrockets into the Top 25 this week thanks to a Players Era Festival title, which also comes with NIL incentives. Wins over Texas A&M, San Diego State and Alabama add to their undefeated resume.

8. Marquette (Last Week: 10)

Marquette holds steady without competing in one of the high-profile MTEs, relying on the strength of their previous wins and the losses by those around them.

9. Purdue (Last Week: 13)

Purdue competed in the less-talked-about Randy Children’s Invitational, but walked away with wins over NC State and Ole Miss which will help further build their resume in the Top 25.

10. Wisconsin (Last Week: 15)

Wisconsin continues to pick up results and rise in the AP Poll each week. Several teams drop down the board, allowing them to potentially continue this climb into the Top 10.

Predicting 11-25

11. Alabama (Last Week: 9)
12 Memphis (Last Week: NR)
13. Houston (Last Week: 6)
14. Cincinnati (Last Week: 16)
15. Baylor (Last Week: 17)
16. Florida (Last Week: 18)
17. Duke (Last Week: 11)
18. North Carolina (Last Week: 12)
19. Pittsburgh (Last Week: NR)
20. Illinois (Last Week: NR)
21. Arkansas (Last Week: 19)
22. Texas A&M (Last Week: 20)
23. Oklahoma (Last Week: NR)
24. UConn (Last Week: 2)
25. Texas (Last Week: NR)

Projected to drop out: Indiana (Last Week: 14), Creighton (Last Week: 21), Xavier (Last Week: 22), Ole Miss (Last Week: 23), Arizona (Last Week: 24), Mississippi State (Last Week: 25)