Last week was the most violent college basketball has seen this season ... that is, in terms of ranked teams going down. We saw 14 of the 25 teams ranked in the AP poll -- and seven of the top 10 -- lose at least once. A few of them fell twice. Aggregate record of ranked teams: 32-17. To my surprise -- and credit STATS Inc. for the research help -- it wasn't even the most tumultuous week in the polls in the past calendar year.
In February of last season there were two weeks in which at least 14 teams in the AP poll lost at least once. From Feb. 8-14 of 2016, the top 25 featured 23 losses, which set the record for most defeats by ranked teams in a single week of the regular season (since at least 1996).
And if you're curious about the most ranked teams losing in a single week in the regular season, Jan. 24-30 of 2011 and Feb. 8-14 of 2016 share the record, with 18. (Credit to CBS researchers Matt Wintner and Greg Remington.)
Did you lose track of who lost when? I've got the list right here, and I've sorted them out. So here are those 17 losses, ranked from worse to ... worst. So the deeper on the list you are, the more damaging the loss was.
No. 12 Virginia lost 61-59 at No. 1 Villanova on Sunday
The Wahoos came so close to not being on this list. For their fans, it was a mild flashback to the Syracuse collapse in last year's Elite Eight. This wasn't nearly as dramatic or unpredictable, but Virginia did blow a 12-point lead with 10 minutes remaining. Amazingly, the four-loss Cavs are still sitting at No. 2 in KenPom. I do not think this loss, as reasonable as it was, costs UVA a chance at a No. 1 seed.
No. 24 Xavier lost 86-78 at No. 19 Cincinnati on Thursday
Tremendous rivalry game, and outside of Virginia's game at Villanova and Kansas' game at Kentucky, this was the toughest task for any road team this past week. None of this is on Trevon Bluiett, who put up 40 points in the loss. For Xavier, the much bigger news came in the team's Sunday night win at St. John's. We await to see how serious the injury is to Edmond Sumner.
No. 1 Villanova lost 74-72 at Marquette on Tuesday
It was an awesome game and the win that might put Marquette into the NCAA Tournament this season. Nova blew a 17-point lead in the second half. Because of this, the Wildcats will fall from the top of Monday's AP poll. Ultimately, I don't think the defeat is that damaging for Nova's profile, though.
No. 10 Oregon lost 74-65 at Colorado on Saturday
Predictable. Inevitable. Deserved. Dillon Brooks' flop at Utah on Thursday night set into motion a defeat at the hands of Colorado less than 48 hours later. The Ducks' winning streak, flaring at 17 straight, was thus halted. The hoops gods have spoken.
No. 2 Kansas lost 85-69 at No. 18 West Virginia on Tuesday
Kansas is getting rightful credit for going into Rupp Arena and taking out Kentucky, but before that it was a blowout loss, the fourth straight time KU has failed to win in Morgantown. It was the Jayhawks' first loss since the opening night of the season. The margin was alarming.
No. 6 Florida State lost 82-72 at Syracuse on Saturday
FSU got weird in a hurry. After facing a gauntlet, playing six straight games against ranked teams, and coming out of that stretch with a 5-1 record ... the Seminoles promptly took the butt end of a shovel to the face. This outcome was the less egregious of their two losses last week, in large part because the margin of victory was a lot smaller.
No. 9 North Carolina lost 77-62 at Miami on Saturday
Not having Theo Pinson in the lineup is little excuse for falling by 15 against a Miami team that hadn't defeated a legitimate opponent this season -- until this game. The ACC doesn't want to figure itself out just yet, I guess. Every team has at least two conference losses. This win meant so much more to the Hurricanes than the loss damaged the Heels.
No. 4 Kentucky lost 82-80 at Tennessee on Tuesday
It was a damaging week for the Wildcats, who will almost certainly not earn a No. 1 seed now. Remember, UK was widely seen as the No. 2 team in the country during preseason projections. The loss to Tennessee was frustrating. The Volunteers might not even wind up in the NIT. Kentucky is so much better than UT. Granted, this was a road game (notice how many of these losses are road games), but UK should never look as shoddy on D as it did here.
No. 8 UCLA lost 84-76 at USC on Wednesday
The Bruins are riding a two-game losing streak, but the previous loss, at home to Arizona, came prior to last Monday's poll update. A loss to a rival like USC wouldn't be that bad, outside of the obvious bragging rights, but it is compounded by the Arizona defeat. Plus, the defense was problematic yet again. UCLA hasn't kept an opponent under 80 since Jan. 8. This also put the Pac-12 title out of reach.
No. 14 Notre Dame lost 62-60 at Georgia Tech on Saturday
To me, the Irish's loss to Virginia is worse, even if it came against a better opponent. Losing at Tech, by two, is tough, but the Bees are proving to be good enough to beat almost anyone in Atlanta. Regardless, ND lost as favorite in both games.
No. 14 Notre Dame lost 71-54 vs. No. 12 Virginia on Tuesday
Home loss to Virginia: not dreadful. Being a team that thrives on offense, yet only scoring 54 points on your home court and losing by 17 points: quite dreadful.
No. 6 Florida State lost 78-56 at Georgia Tech on Wednesday
Georgia Tech is on its way to one heck of a surprising season, but FSU has no excuse for losing by 22 points in Atlanta. This came after the Noles' highest AP ranking in eons. The loss was damaging and demoralizing. The Noles have no shot at a No. 1 this season.
No. 20 Purdue lost 83-80 at Nebraska on Sunday
Tough, tough loss. Purdue should have won this game. It had bad offense in the final minute, and Caleb Swanigan was not the answer inside that Matt Painter hoped he'd be. The defeat hurts because Wisconsin -- which barely got by Rutgers on Saturday -- and Maryland got distance on Purdue in the Big Ten race. Nebraska, by the way, is 10-11.
No. 4 Kentucky lost 79-73 vs. No. 2 Kansas on Saturday
Kentucky's loss to Kansas marked the first time in John Calipari's UK career he lost two games at home against non-conference foes in the same season. Though there is little embarrassment in losing to Kansas, the reason this defeat is ranked so high is because it probably takes Kentucky out of the running for a No. 1 seed, and that's pretty damaging.
No. 11 Butler lost 85-81 vs. Georgetown on Saturday
This one stings. With a win here, Butler would have kept pace atop the Big East standings. Butler has an interesting resume. A lot of good wins, but also losses to St. John's and Indiana State. Losing at home to Georgetown is arguably worse than either of those two. Georgetown, to its credit, has managed to go from 0-4 to 3-6 in the Big East.
No. 16 Creighton lost 71-51 at Georgetown on Wednesday
No Mo Watson Jr. is no excuse to lose by 20 against the Hoyas. Creighton took 18 3-pointers in this game and made one. It was just jarring to see the team, other than Justin Patton, fail to get anything going. The Jays rebounded over the weekend by winning at home against DePaul, but the Georgetown game left a stench.
No. 17 Duke lost 84-82 vs. NC State on Monday
The loss that kick-started a weird week in college basketball was also the worst loss. NC State (14-8) has talent but is erratic. Duke ruined its chances at winning the ACC title by falling to a team that could mess its way up into the NIT. NC State had not won at Cameron Indoor in 20 years. Duke's win -- an outright theft -- at Wake Forest has masked some of the stink from this loss, but not enough for me. Perhaps Duke wouldn't be on this list if the team used Luke Kennard in the State loss the way it did in the Wake win.
And so with all of that, I must credit teams like Gonzaga, Baylor, Arizona, Louisville and Florida, which all went 2-0 last week and got road wins in the process. This could have easily been a week in which we had at 20 or more losses by ranked teams. It could have been even more chaotic.
Hey, this is good for college hoops. Getting one week a year where all hell breaks loose and forces us to recalibrate our expectations keeps us fresh for March.
