After owning the top spot in every official RPI, Penn State has finally given up their placement as they fell to number four with lower-end wins over Indiana and Rutgers. While they have a chance to switch that around against Minnesota (7) and Wisconsin (10) this week, one team made a big jump from three to one as Kentucky is the new top team.
The Wildcats don’t just move in front of Penn State, but also Florida – who sticks at number two. The other team who jumped Penn State was Texas, who is now at three before being ranked fifth last week.
It really seems like the NCAA Tournament committee is going to have its hands full for picking the top four seeds with Stanford and Texas dominating their conferences while Penn State and Nebraska (6) and Kentucky and Florida could be in for conference splits.
Rounding out the top ten with the Big Ten schools in Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin, are Washington (8) and another big mover – Wichita State (9) after the Shockers were 16 last week.
Speaking of mid-major schools, sitting behind Wichita State – the new highest ranked after Creighton dominated that conversation – is the BlueJays at 16. BYU (18), Cal Poly (19), San Diego (20) and Western Kentucky (29) are the next closest.
Wichita State, Creighton, BYU, Cal Poly and San Diego are all on the first/second round hosting NCAA Tournament bubble, as it is always interesting to see how the committee balances RPI with the eye test. Other schools on that bubble searching for a good final week are essentially everyone in the 12-17 ranking.
In terms of conferences, the Big Ten and Pac-12 sit atop the rest once again, while the SEC continues to fill up the top 100:
| Conference | Top 50 Schools | Top 100 Schools |
| Big Ten | 11 | 12 |
| Pac-12 | 9 | 10 |
| ACC | 6 | 8 |
| SEC | 5 | 11 |
| Big 12 | 4 | 6 |
| WCC | 2 | 5 |
| Big East | 2 | 4 |
| Big West | 2 | 3 |
| MVC | 2 | 3 |
| C-USA | 1 | 5 |
| AAC | 1 | 4 |
| MWC | 1 | 3 |
| ASUN | 1 | 3 |
| CAA | 1 | 3 |
| A-10 | 1 | 2 |
| Big South | 1 | 2 |
The top 50 individually can also be seen below, with the entirety of the RPI here:
| RANK | SCHOOL | CONFERENCE | RECORD | ROAD | NEUTRAL | HOME | NON DIV I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky | Southeastern | 24-3 | 8-2 | 3-0 | 13-1 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Florida | Southeastern | 23-1 | 8-0 | 2-0 | 13-1 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Texas | Big 12 | 22-2 | 10-1 | 3-0 | 9-1 | 0-0 |
| 4 | Penn St. | Big Ten | 27-1 | 10-0 | 5-0 | 12-1 | 0-0 |
| 5 | Stanford | Pac-12 | 24-3 | 12-1 | 2-2 | 10-0 | 0-0 |
| 6 | Nebraska | Big Ten | 24-4 | 9-2 | 1-2 | 14-0 | 0-0 |
| 7 | Minnesota | Big Ten | 25-4 | 9-3 | 6-0 | 10-1 | 0-0 |
| 8 | Washington | Pac-12 | 22-7 | 8-4 | 3-0 | 11-3 | 0-0 |
| 9 | Wichita St. | AAC | 26-3 | 12-1 | 5-1 | 9-1 | 0-0 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | 19-8 | 6-5 | 2-0 | 11-3 | 0-0 |
| 11 | Southern California | Pac-12 | 21-8 | 8-5 | 3-2 | 10-1 | 0-0 |
| 12 | Kansas | Big 12 | 22-6 | 9-3 | 5-0 | 8-3 | 0-0 |
| 13 | Utah | Pac-12 | 21-8 | 7-4 | 4-0 | 10-4 | 0-0 |
| 14 | Baylor | Big 12 | 23-5 | 8-2 | 3-1 | 12-2 | 0-0 |
| 15 | Iowa St. | Big 12 | 20-6 | 8-3 | 3-0 | 9-3 | 0-0 |
| 16 | Creighton | Big East | 23-6 | 10-3 | 3-2 | 10-1 | 0-0 |
| 17 | Michigan St. | Big Ten | 20-7 | 5-5 | 4-0 | 11-2 | 0-0 |
| 18 | BYU | West Coast | 27-2 | 13-0 | 3-1 | 11-1 | 0-0 |
| 19 | Cal Poly | Big West | 26-2 | 11-2 | 7-0 | 8-0 | 0-0 |
| 20 | San Diego | West Coast | 23-4 | 10-1 | 3-1 | 10-2 | 0-0 |
| 21 | Louisville | Atlantic Coast | 22-6 | 7-4 | 2-1 | 13-1 | 0-0 |
| 22 | Colorado | Pac-12 | 21-8 | 7-5 | 3-1 | 11-2 | 0-0 |
| 23 | Oregon | Pac-12 | 16-10 | 4-5 | 1-1 | 11-4 | 0-0 |
| 24 | UCLA | Pac-12 | 17-10 | 7-6 | 3-0 | 7-4 | 0-0 |
| 25 | Purdue | Big Ten | 21-8 | 7-5 | 4-0 | 10-3 | 0-0 |
| 26 | Pittsburgh | Atlantic Coast | 23-6 | 8-3 | 3-2 | 12-1 | 0-0 |
| 27 | Oregon St. | Pac-12 | 21-9 | 7-6 | 5-1 | 9-2 | 0-0 |
| 28 | Illinois | Big Ten | 19-10 | 7-5 | 6-0 | 6-5 | 0-0 |
| 29 | Western Ky. | Conference USA | 30-3 | 10-2 | 5-1 | 15-0 | 0-0 |
| 30 | Michigan | Big Ten | 19-11 | 3-8 | 3-0 | 13-3 | 0-0 |
| 31 | Miami (FL) | Atlantic Coast | 19-5 | 7-3 | 4-0 | 8-2 | 0-0 |
| 32 | Marquette | Big East | 21-8 | 10-3 | 2-3 | 9-2 | 0-0 |
| 33 | Colorado St. | Mountain West | 27-3 | 9-1 | 2-0 | 16-2 | 0-0 |
| 34 | Missouri | Southeastern | 19-10 | 8-5 | 6-3 | 5-2 | 0-0 |
| 35 | Notre Dame | Atlantic Coast | 21-8 | 7-4 | 1-0 | 13-4 | 0-0 |
| 36 | VCU | Atlantic 10 | 30-2 | 11-1 | 7-1 | 12-0 | 0-0 |
| 37 | Washington St. | Pac-12 | 16-14 | 7-7 | 3-0 | 6-7 | 0-0 |
| 38 | LSU | Southeastern | 19-8 | 7-6 | 5-0 | 7-2 | 0-0 |
| 39 | Hawaii | Big West | 20-7 | 7-1 | 0-0 | 13-6 | 0-0 |
| 40 | Florida St. | Atlantic Coast | 16-10 | 5-5 | 2-0 | 9-5 | 0-0 |
| 41 | NC State | Atlantic Coast | 19-10 | 5-5 | 3-2 | 11-3 | 0-0 |
| 42 | Ohio St. | Big Ten | 14-15 | 4-7 | 2-0 | 8-8 | 0-0 |
| 43 | Kennesaw St. | ASUN | 21-4 | 9-3 | 2-1 | 10-0 | 0-0 |
| 44 | Missouri St. | Missouri Valley | 26-5 | 13-0 | 2-3 | 11-2 | 0-0 |
| 45 | High Point | Big South | 24-7 | 10-2 | 3-2 | 11-3 | 0-0 |
| 46 | Iowa | Big Ten | 18-13 | 6-5 | 2-1 | 10-7 | 0-0 |
| 47 | Maryland | Big Ten | 17-13 | 4-8 | 4-0 | 9-5 | 0-0 |
| 48 | UNI | Missouri Valley | 25-7 | 10-4 | 6-2 | 9-1 | 0-0 |
| 49 | Auburn | Southeastern | 15-10 | 5-4 | 3-1 | 7-5 | 0-0 |
| 50 | Col. of Charleston | Colonial | 27-5 | 9-3 | 4-1 | 14-1 | 0-0 |
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