UConn men’s basketball falls to No. 15 in latest AP Poll

UConn men’s basketball dropped nine spots to No. 15 in this week’s AP Poll after a tough road loss to Marquette and a surprising home loss to St. John’s. The Huskies, who still rank No. 6 in the country per KenPom, were the biggest movers in either direction in this week’s poll.

The Huskies remain one of four Big East schools ranked in the Top 25, joining Xavier (No. 8), Marquette (No. 20) and Providence (No. 22). Creighton was not ranked, but did receive votes. Alabama, which UConn defeated in the Phil Knight Invitational, stayed put at No. 4.

UConn wrapped up arguably the toughest stretch of their schedule against Marquette, where they played four teams in the KenPom top 30, three of which were on the road, in less than two weeks. After losing three of four in that span, the Huskies hoped to rebound against a solid but unspectacular St. John’s squad but were instead run off the court, getting out-hustled on both ends and losing by 11 despite 31 points from Jordan Hawkins. Despite the resume-denting loss to the Red Storm, UConn remains in a good position for a strong NCAA tournament seed provided they escape their current funk, but the possibility of a Big East regular season title is slowly getting out of reach.

Through eight conference games, UConn sits at 4-4 in the Big East. Despite their recent struggles, the Huskies are still projected to be favored to win the remainder of their regular season games per KenPom, largely because they welcome the league’s toughest teams — Marquette, Xavier and Providence — at home after already playing them on the road. If the Huskies can win out, an extremely tall task especially given how the team is currently playing, they still have a chance, but it’s becoming less and less likely by the game. Even though they have favorable win percentage for each remaining game, KenPom predicts three more conference losses for the Huskies, which would put them at 13-7 in Big East play for the year.