The Wisconsin Badgers should be an AP top-10 team tomorrow

On Saturday, the Wisconsin Badgers defeated winless Chicago State 74-53 at the Kohl Center to move to an undefeated 8-0 record. Despite holding a 32-25 halftime lead as a 34.5 favorite, the Badgers pulled away with 42 points in the second half. John Tonje had his fourth 20+ game on the season, while Nolan Winter finished with 12 points and six rebounds to pace the Badgers. Wisconsin enters this week as one of seven unbeaten teams from the November 25th AP Top 25 poll. 

Tomorrow's AP Top 25 will feature many changes. Second-ranked UConn had a disastrous trip in Hawaii, as the Huskies lost three games to Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton to finish last in the Maui Invitational. Third-ranked Gonzaga fell to West Virginia in overtime at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last Wednesday. At the Players Era Festival, sixth-ranked Houston lost to San Diego State in the third-place game, and ninth-ranked Alabama lost to unranked Oregon in the championship game.

The AP Top 25 voters will decide whether Kansas or Auburn will be the top-ranked team. From there, it gets interesting. UConn will fall out of the top 10, while Gonzaga, Houston, and Alabama could also move them out. Fifth-ranked Iowa State will remain in the top ten with one loss to Auburn in Maui.

In the top-15, no.12 North Carolina suffered their third loss of the season to unranked Michigan State, and no. 14 Indiana lost by double-digits to unranked Louisville and no. 3 Gonzaga.

So where will Wisconsin be ranked tomorrow?

My prediction for tomorrow's AP Top 10 is as follows: Auburn, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Marquette, Iowa State, Gonzaga, Duke, Purdue, and Wisconsin. I have a hard time seeing a Houston Cougars team with three losses staying in the top 10, while Alabama's loss to Oregon will temporarily keep them in the top 15.