The Wisconsin Badgers had a statement win in the Big 10 this weekend over the Iowa Hawkeyes. It wasn't just a small win; it was a massive win by 31 points 116-85. Thanks to this win, Wisconsin jumped into the top 25 in the NET rankings at exactly 25. They also jumped to 24 in the KenPom rankings, but will the AP follow suit and move them back into the top 25?
There is a strong case to be made that they jump into the top 25, and here are the reasons why. The first is that Wisconsin had already received votes before this weekend. They had seven votes as of last week. There were other teams receiving votes, but here's what happened with those:
Maryland, Drake, St. John's, Georgia, Missouri, San Diego State, Ohio State, North Carolina, Arizona State, and Texas Tech all suffered losses this last week. Michigan beat nobodies and struggled against USC, Penn State didn’t secure any impressive wins, and while St. Bonaventure remains undefeated, they’ve yet to face any strong competition. There are a few teams that may also make a strong case for the top 25 - Clemson won both games this week and had a top-10 win over Kentucky earlier in the season, Utah State has a good case with two wins over San Diego State, Nevada, and Fresno State. Indiana could make a case with victories over Winthrop and Rutgers, and Nebraska wowed voted by beating a no. 15 UCLA.
The other question becomes if there is room in the top 25 for teams to jump into it. Here is a look at what happened from teams ranked 20-25:
20 Purdue - Win over Minnesota -- To play Northwestern today.
21 Memphis - Win over Florida Atlantic -- To play North Texas today.
22 Illinois - Win over Oregon -- To play Washington today.
23 Arkansas - Win over Oakland, loss to Tennessee.
24 Ole Miss - Win over Georgia.
25 Baylor - Win over Utah, loss to Iowa State.
If we assume that Purdue beats Northwestern, Memphis beats North Texas, and Illinois beats Washington, then only Arkansas and Baylor will probably drop out of the rankings, with five teams trying to find their way in from Nebraska, Clemson, Indiana, Utah State, and Wisconsin.
Wisconsin had a more impressive win than Indiana, but Nebraska and Utah State both had ranked wins. Clemson has a pretty strong resume and should have a strong case. This set of circumstances seems to indicate that Wisconsin will just miss jumping into the top 25. The fact that they only played one game was a detriment for them even if they thumped Iowa.