CBB Top 25: Tennessee Moves Into 2nd Place
By
Mark Fordham
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3 mins
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Fact Checked by Sean O'Neill
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Week 13 of the NCAA men’s college basketball season saw multiple changes throughout the AP Top 25, but the top school in the country still remains. Week 13 was less volatile at the top of the rankings compared to Week 12, but we still saw plenty of movement further down that may help inform your wagers on college basketball betting sites.
Purdue still sit on top of the rankings, but there’s a new team in the second spot. Purdue remain the only team to have suffered just a single defeat this season – this is particularly impressive considering most teams in the Top 25 have lost at least three games.
They continue to be solid college basketball picks because of their relentless consistency and look to have secured the number one spot for a few more weeks. Let’s take a brief look at the teams that are more interesting as far as rises and falls are concerned for Week 13.
Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers climbed two places to second thanks to an impressive 82-71 win over No. 10 Texas. Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma also helped in the rise, but it shouldn’t take anything away from Tennessee’s performance against Texas.
Tennessee has been hard to figure out this season since no player really stands out as far as scoring is concerned. Santiago Vescovi has been the team’s best scorer but has averaged just 12.2 points per game, which isn’t a great average compared to the top scorers in other teams. Tennessee doesn’t have a roster full of players who will be popular college basketball player prop bet picks, but the Volunteers seem to carve out wins regardless.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama fell two places to fourth this week after a shocking 93-69 loss to Oklahoma. This was certainly Alabama’s worst performance of the season, and it remains to be seen if this was a one-off or something that could have wider repercussions.
They were on a nine-game winning streak prior to the loss, which made it even more startling. The unranked Oklahoma roster should also be given a lot of credit for playing out of their skins. Alabama has to get its act together next week because teams will feast if signs of fragility are shown again. They could be a team to fade when visiting US betting apps for the time being.
Baylor Bears
Baylor hasn’t been risers for a while but climbed six places to 11th following wins over Kansas and Arkansas. The Bears won’t be in that position for too long, however, because they lost to Texas most recently, and will almost certainly be one of the fallers next week. If you’re looking for picks on USA sports betting sites in the coming days, hold your fire on them for the time being because they’re still quite inconsistent.
Regardless, Baylor had a shocking period where the team lost three games in a row earlier this season, and they seem to have recovered from that. Keyonte George deserves a lot of credit for his performances this season – he has been consistent throughout the season with 17.2 points per game.
TCU Horned Frogs
TCU dropped four places to 15th this week after an 81-74 loss to Mississippi State. This was the Horned Frogs’ fifth loss of the season, and their fourth since going on an 11-game winning run earlier in the season. This is concerning because they haven’t been able to get their mojo back since the defeat to Iowa State.
Mike Miles Jr. has been pulling his weight with 18.1 points, 1.4 steals and 3.0 assists per game, but his teammates need to really step up to the plate now. Heliocentric attacks are easy to figure out, and TCU hasn’t found a way to react to this in recent weeks.
Providence Friars
Providence’s 70-65 win over Villanova helped the program climb six places to 17th in the rankings. The Friars have recovered well with three straight wins after suffering successive defeats to Creighton and Marquette.
They had gone on a nine-game winning run earlier this season and have to build another run to stay around the Top 10 and 20. It won’t be easy because their next game is against a strong Xavier team. If they win that game, they might be ones to watch out for on betting apps.
This was one of the quieter weeks in the NCAA but there were still some big changes at the top and lots of changes in midtable. This week also confirmed that Purdue will reign supreme as we get ever closer to March Madness, so now might be the time to wager on their success when visiting the best sportsbooks.
Mark spent over a decade as a sports reporter and editor with Goal.com and Bleacher Report. He is now a Content Editor at Bookmakers.com covering all manner of sports from the Premier League and cricket to the NBA and NFL.
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