Days like Saturday are what make college basketball so glorious. No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Duke came into their respective games against Florida and Clemson with a combined three losses for the entire season; one of those losses was Auburn's narrow defeat in Durham to Duke. Yesterday both teams lost in a span of hours which will probably lead to a shakeup at the top of the AP Top 25 in its next poll release.
So, which team will claim the mantle of number one in the country? Let's look at the candidates (current rankings are listed in front of team names):
1. Auburn (21-2)
Hear me out: while it's very unlikely the Tigers retain the number one ranking, it's not unprecedented. Even after the loss, Auburn is the number one team according to the NET and KenPom rankings. They've looked dominant for pretty much the entire season, so it's possible the voters simply write off the loss as a good loss to a great Florida team and don't move them down. Further helping their case is having Duke lose to an unranked Clemson team shortly after them. Working against them is that the loss occurred at home, their first one at Neville Arena this season.
3. Alabama (20-3)
Nate Oats's team took down Arkansas on the road Saturday, 85-81. If the AP voters stick to their tradition of moving up the next team that didn't lose in the previous week, the Crimson Tide have to be feeling pretty good about their chances of claiming the number one ranking in the next polling release. Alabama has won their last six games, so there isn't a recent loss for the AP voters to really ponder on.
Also, something interesting to watch: if Alabama does ascend to the top spot and Auburn only falls one place, Saturday's game between the two schools suddenly becomes a massive No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown in Tuscaloosa.
4. Tennessee (20-4)
The Volunteers steamrolled Oklahoma 70-52 on the road for their third win in a row. They have recent top-25 wins over Missouri and the Florida team that just beat Auburn. Tennessee is fourth in both the NET and KenPom ratings. While it's extremely unlikely they would jump Alabama to take the top spot, I suppose it's possible the voters value their recent wins against top-15 teams enough to give them a bump; if not, they will get their shot at the Tide later this season.
5. Houston (17-4)
We finally get to a non-SEC contender for the number one spot. Houston is a metrics darling, ranking third in both the NET and KenPom ratings despite arguably having few big wins. Of course, the voters don't really care about metrics in their rankings; it's more about optics and recent performance. And while Houston took care of Colorado on Saturday 69-59, they have a recent loss to a solid Texas Tech team that will probably keep them out of consideration for the top spot.
6. Florida (20-3)
The old saying "to be the best, you gotta beat the best" is probably what the Gators are pinning their hopes on for taking the number one ranking. The Gators scored an absolutely huge win on Saturday when they took down Auburn on the road; it's the kind of win that will get Florida into conversations about getting a number one seed down the road in the NCAA tournament. With that being said, it's likely their 20-point loss to a Tennessee team ranked above them a week ago will preclude the AP voters from considering them for the No. 1 spot even with the big win.
My rankings if I were an AP voter: 1. Alabama 2. Auburn 3. Tennessee 4. Florida 5. Houston 6. Duke