The first Coaches Poll of March, released Monday, featured the very top of the rankings remaining unchanged, but plenty of movement throughout the Top 25. One of the biggest fallers this week was Purdue after the program went 0-2 last week with losses to Michigan State and Ohio State.
The Boilermakers entered the season as the favorite to win the Big Ten regular-season crown, but now sit tied for fifth place in the conference standings with Wisconsin with two games remaining. Purdue dropped six spots to No. 14 after its latest loss to Ohio State last weekend.
Purdue has lost three of its last four games, with a key matchup against Wisconsin this weekend looming that could impact seeding in next week's Big Ten Tournament.
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Speaking of Michigan State, the Spartans jumped five spots to No. 8 after recording wins over Purdue and Indiana. The Spartans have won five of their last six games, with the lone loss during that stretch coming against Wisconsin.
A team that dropped out of the poll this week was BYU. The Cougars were ranked No. 23 last week, but losses to UCF and West Virginia caused BYU to drop out. BYU has lost three of its last four games, with a win over Iowa State coming during that stretch of games.
1. Duke (28)2. Arizona (3)3. Michigan4. UConn5. Florida6. Houston7. Iowa State8. Michigan State9. Nebraska10. Texas Tech11. Illinois12. Gonzaga13. Virginia14. Purdue15. Kansas16. Alabama17. St. John's18. North Carolina19. Arkansas20. Miami (OH)21. Saint Mary's22. Vanderbilt23. Miami (FL)24. Saint Louis25. Tennessee
Others Receiving Votes: BYU 35; Louisville 31; Wisconsin 23; Villanova 17; Missouri 10; Utah State 9; Clemson 8; Kentucky 5; UCF 3; Georgia 1.
