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Wisconsin's Ben Brust, top, celebrates after hitting a 3-point shot in the final second of regulation against Michigan in an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, in Madison, Wis. Wisconsin defeated Michigan 65-62 in overtime. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)
There goes another one, and another one.
No. 3 Michigan, fifth-ranked Kansas and No. 11 Louisville all lost on Saturday, continuing a perilous stretch for the Top 25.
The Wolverines became the third top-three team to fall this week when Ben Brust hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than 40 seconds left in overtime, leading Wisconsin to a 65-62 victory. Brust also tied the game at the end of regulation with a heave from just inside halfcourt.
That’s just the way it has gone lately for the top of the poll.
No. 2 Florida lost at Arkansas on Tuesday night, and No. 1 Indiana dropped a 74-72 decision at Illinois on Thursday. This should be the sixth straight week with a different No. 1 in The Associated Press’ Top 25, which would be the second-longest streak since the first AP poll in 1949.
The Jayhawks have dropped three straight games for the first time in eight years after they lost 72-66 at Oklahoma.
“It hasn’t been a good week for us by any stretch, but let’s be real,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We were ranked No. 2 in the country seven days ago, and you don’t go from being a good team to a bad team overnight.
“We’ve had a couple of bad outings, but we’re still a good team.”
The current string of No. 1 swapping is the longest since 1994, when Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Duke alternated at the top seven straight weeks — the longest streak since Saint Louis debuted as No. 1 in the initial AP poll.
But it isn’t just the teams at the top that are having trouble. Top 25 teams all over the country are getting knocked off by unranked opponents.
According to STATS LLC, Top 25 teams lost to unranked teams 36 times from Jan. 17 to Feb. 6 this season, most in at least 17 years.
Louisville lost 104-101 in five overtimes at No. 25 Notre Dame on Saturday night. It was the longest regular-season game in Big East history.
The Irish trailed by eight with 46 seconds left in regulation.
