College basketball rankings: Auburn remains No. 1, Wisconsin cracks top 10

With just four weeks remaining until Selection Sunday, college basketball delivered the best weekend of the regular season that we’ve seen to date, headlined by the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in the sport in four years. 

Last week, we kept Auburn as the top team in the country simply because the Tigers still possessed the best résumé in America — even after a home loss to a projected No. 1 seed, Florida, and they could afford to have a day when things didn’t go their way.

This week, Bruce Pearl’s team proved our rankings were correct, as the top-ranked Tigers flexed their muscles in Tuscaloosa on Saturday with a 94-85 win over Alabama. How did Auburn control the game? With a defense that took away the 3-point line, holding the Crimson Tide to 5-of-26 shooting from beyond the arc, and containing All-American guard Mark Sears to just 4-for-17 shooting from the floor. 

[Read more: Auburn keeps the No. 1 crown with complete win at No. 2 Alabama]

Auburn’s Johni Broome continued his national player of the year candidacy with 19 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, while Denver Jones tallied 16 points, Miles Kelly and Chad Baker-Mazara each had 15 points, and two others were in double figures. Alabama could never gain traction on the defensive end, and for good reason. When Auburn is making 12 triples on 40% shooting and a guy like Chaney Johnson is hitting consistent elbow shots, it just adds to the potency of the Broome-charged offense. He really set the tone for the win, one that showed why it would take a lot for Auburn to lose its standing as the first overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

Here are four other takeaways from a wild Saturday in college basketball: 

Houston joined the Big 12 in the 2023-24 season. The Cougars are in the driver’s seat to win the regular-season title for a second consecutive year and are 27-2 in their past 29 regular-season conference games after a gutsy 62-58 road win over Arizona. The Wildcats entered Saturday at 58-4 at McKale Center, dating back to the start of the 2021-22 season. L.J. Cryer hit two clutch 3s when the Cougars fell behind 48-45 with seven minutes left and Milos Uzan scored 19 points, showing why Houston can cut down the nets this April in San Antonio. Kelvin Sampson has a team that defends like the program always has, plus even more shot-making talent. 

Tom Izzo is the new Big Ten wins king. The Hall of Famer passed Bob Knight for the most Big Ten conference game wins by a head coach in league history, notching his 354th victory with a 79-65 win at Illinois on FOX Primetime Hoops. The Spartans held the Illini scoreless in the final 8:29. For a reflection of Izzo’s history, read this beautiful tribute letter from our very own Bill Raftery. 

How about Wisconsin! Greg Gard has reinvented his offensive scheme, and it’s paying off in a huge way. Wisconsin moved to 12-2 in its past 14 games with a 94-84 win at Purdue on Saturday behind John Tonje’s 32 points and Max Klesmit delivering 17. Two years ago, Wisconsin was 140th in efficiency on the offensive end and missed the NCAA Tournament. Fast-forward to this year, and the Badgers are sixth in the country. They picked apart Purdue’s defense, with the Badgers’ big guards exploiting them in the lane and really getting whatever they wanted at will. It was an extremely impressive road win for a top-four team in the Big Ten standings. Wisconsin is a real dark horse to get to the Elite Eight, if not a step further. 

Kansas and UConn have been pretty disappointing this season. The Jayhawks are 5-5 in their past 10 games and 3-6 in true road contests after a 74-67 loss at Utah that dropped Bill Self’s team to 8-6 in the league. In Self’s first 20 years at Kansas, his teams lost six games in just two seasons. The Jayhawks have now done that in back-to-back campaigns. The Hunter Dickinson era has not panned out.

And then there’s UConn, who’s 9-5 in the Big East and looks virtually done in the conference regular-season title race after a shocking 69-68 overtime defeat at Seton Hall on Saturday. The Huskies led by seven with 36 seconds left in regulation, then by five with a minute left in overtime. The Hall had won just one game since Dec. 5, but Saturday brought a miraculous moment and win, courtesy of Scotty Middleton.

For UConn, it’s a brutal Quad 3 loss that hurts the tournament résumé. The Huskies could very well be in an 8-9 game. There’s some kind of reward for the 1-seed in that region. 

Mike DeCourcy had SMU, Arkansas, San Diego State and BYU as his last four teams to get into the tournament in his latest bracket forecast, which is released every Tuesday and Friday on FOXSports.com. DeCourcy had Wake Forest as one of his first four teams out of the tournament, but one would think the Mustangs and Demon Deacons would reverse after Steve Forbes’ team won in Dallas. SDSU put Boise State in the blender defensively, outlasting the Broncos 64-47, while BYU dominated Kansas State. While Arkansas fell short to Texas A&M, Texas — another one of DeCourcy’s first four teams out — knocked off top-20 ranked Kentucky behind a combined 58 points from Tre Johnson and Tramon Mark. The bubble is very fluid this time of year, but Saturday’s big winners were Wake Forest, Texas and BYU.

That said, here’s my updated top 25!

1. Auburn (23-2)
2. Florida (22-3)
3. Duke (22-3)
4. Alabama (21-4)
5. Houston (21-4)
6. Texas A&M (20-5)
7. Tennessee (21-5)
8. Iowa State (20-5)
9. Wisconsin (20-5)
10. Texas Tech (20-5)
11. St. John’s (22-4)
12. Michigan (20-5)
13. Michigan State (20-5)
14. Purdue (19-7)
15. Marquette (19-6)
16. Missouri (19-6)
17. Arizona (17-8)
18. Clemson (21-5)
19. Kentucky (17-8)
20. Memphis (21-5)
21. Maryland (20-6)
22. Mississippi State (18-7)
23. Louisville (20-6)
24. New Mexico (22-4)
25. Saint Mary’s (23-4)

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.

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