College basketball’s week 19 AP Poll was released earlier today and the scramble before March Madness is reaching critical. Conference championship tournaments are starting to play out and the first automatic bid tickets are being punched. Some observations from the week 19 AP Poll and going forward into the tournament.
Up--Virginia Commonwealth: VCU was a preseason Top 25 teams and played themselves into the Top 10 before. They fell after a couple of sloses in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. VCU has finally climbed the ladder after a 15-week hiatus and landed at no. 23. Shaka Smart is always fun to watch this time of year and he has this VCU team playing with a purpose at the right time. VCU is always good for some excitement come March. Just another March for the Rams.
Down--Duke and Kansas: Duke and Kansas come in at No. 7 and No. 10 respectively in this AP poll. They are mentioned here because with No. 1 seeds ripe for the taking, neither one of these powerhouse schools wants to take advantage of what's in front of them. Having Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins on your teams will pay dividends come conference tournament and March Madness time. Having said that, suffering your worst loses of the season in the form of Wake Forest and West Virginia in March doesn't look good.
Honorable Mention--Wichita State: They are No. 2 in the country and punched their ticket to the big dance. Including the Missouri Valley Tournament, Wichita State is the first team to go undefeated in the regular season since UNLV in 1991. It’s a huge accomplishment for Wichita State and college basketball. The Shockers are almost guaranteed to be a number one seed in the tournament and look to make their second straight Final Four.
Trending Up: Villanova, Louisville, Oklahoma
Trending Down: Iowa, SMU, Kentucky
Note via Bleacher Report: Nine teams were ranked in all 19 AP Polls. The teams were Arizona, Duke, Florida, Kansas, Louisville, Memphis, Michigan State, Syracuse and Wichita State.
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