Kansas has returned to the No. 1 spot after its victory in Manhattan against Kansas State this past weekend, but only by the slimmest of margins.
The Jayhawks have two quality road wins against a pair of Top 25 teams, which is why I put Bill Self's club back on top.
I've also decided to jump Syracuse in front of Villanova despite the lackluster road effort against DePaul in which the Orange stormed back to avoid the upset. Jim Boeheim's team took care of Georgetown in the Carrier Dome earlier in the week and has also won at West Virginia and Seton Hall.
Jay Wright's team has an impressive resume, but it's missing that signature road victory against a Top 25 club.
Kentucky went into the week as the No. 1 team in the land, but like Texas, it didn't keep the title for long after a road setback to a mediocre South Carolina team.
The Wildcats slip down to No. 4 due to the fact they possess the most lackluster loss of the group and also only have just one victory against a current Top 25 club -- and that came this past weekend at home against Vanderbilt.
Kevin Stallings' Commodores earned their way into the poll this week at No. 17 despite the road loss to Kentucky because they went on the road and beat a ranked Tennessee club earlier in the week.
The only other team to jump into the Top 25 was Baylor after the Bears pulled a shocker by going into Austin and delivering the Texas Longhorns their third loss in the last four games. Scott Drew's team makes its debut at No. 23.
The two teams that were knocked out of the poll were Texas A&M and Wake Forest, but they weren't the only ones who had rough weeks.
Pittsburgh, arguably the biggest overachiever of the early season, has continued to struggle of late -- with the latest setback coming Sunday afternoon at South Florida. The Panthers fell seven spots from No. 13 to No. 20, but it wasn't even the most significant fall.
That belongs to Gonzaga, whose lone resume win came in Maui against Wisconsin. Mark Few's team suffered its fourth loss of the season in a league shocker at San Francisco, and the 'Zags plummeted 13 spots from No. 10 to No. 23.
Georgetown continues to climb, all the way up to No. 8, even after a road loss early in the week against Syracuse, by virtue of the Hoyas' convincing victory at home over Duke.
Ohio State, with a healthy Evan Turner, is also making an upward move from No. 18 to No. 12 after a pair of victories last week. New Mexico, following a win against BYU in The Pit, goes from No. 20 to No. 15.
WEEK 12 TOP 25
1. Kansas (20-1) *2
2. Syracuse (21-1) *4
3. Villanova (19-1) *3
4. Kentucky (20-1) *1
5. Purdue (18-3) *6
6. Michigan State (19-3) *7
7. West Virginia (17-3) *9
8. Georgetown (16-4) *12
9. Texas (18-3) *5
10. Kansas State (17-4) *11
11. Duke (17-4) *8
12. Ohio State (16-6) *18
13. Wisconsin (16-5) *14
14. Temple (18-4) *15
15. New Mexico (20-3) *20
16. Vanderbilt (16-4) *NR
17. Tennessee (16-4) *16
18. BYU (21-2) *17
19. Pittsburgh (16-5) *13
20. Florida State (16-5) *24
21. Georgia Tech (16-5) *25
22. Gonzaga (17-4) *10
23. Baylor (16-4) *NR
24. Mississippi (16-5) *19
25. Butler (18-4) *22
Dropped out: No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 23 Wake Forest.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.