Badgers slide in AP Top 25
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Badgers (25-6, 12-6) dropped three spots to No. 12 in the final AP Top 25 of the 2013-14 regular season.
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The Badgers, who went 1-1 over the past week, fell in the rankings for the first time since falling out of the Top 25 the week of February 3.
The Badgers are 5-2 against the current AP Top 25, including three Top-10 wins (No. 1 Florida, No. 6 Virginia and No. 8 Michigan). Additionally, the Badgers have played the third-toughest schedule in the country, trailing only No. 10 Kansas and Alabama, and are owners of the sixth-best RPI in the country.
After setting the pace for the Big Ten last week, the Badgers now find themselves behind No. 8 Michigan. No. 22 Michigan State and No. 24 Ohio State join Michigan and Wisconsin in the Top 25 this week. Iowa, losers of two straight and five of their last six, fell out of the rankings this week.
For the third straight week, No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Wichita State sit atop the AP Poll, with Florida receiving 50 first-place votes and Wichita State earning 15 such votes. Wichita State will enter the NCAA Tournament a perfect 34-0, the first team to enter the tournament undefeated since UNLV in 1991. UNLV lost in the Final Four that season to Duke. No. 3 Villanova moved up three spots from No. 6 while No. 4 Arizona fell one spot. No. 5 Louisville saw its stock rise six spots over the past week.
The ACC's hopes of getting a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament took a hit with Virginia falling one spot to No. 6 and Duke falling three spots to No. 7. San Diego State and Michigan tied for No. 8 and No. 10 Kansas rounded out the Top-10.
Kentucky, losers of three of four, became the fourth preseason No. 1 to fall out of the AP Poll in the same season.
The Big Ten again found itself to be the second-most represented conference in this week's standings with four programs in the Top 25. The American Athletic Conference (AAC) and its five ranked teams again took over as this week's most represented conference. The ACC (4) Big 12 (3), Big East (2), Atlantic-10 (2) Mountain West (2), Pac-12 (1), Missouri Valley (1) and SEC (1) were also represented in the poll.
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