Big East Basketball Power Rankings, Week 14: Syracuse Basketball Drops To No. 7

Not only did the Syracuse Orange (No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) take a hit in the latest college basketball polls, released Monday, but the Orange (20-6, 7-6 Big East) also dropped a bit in the latest SB Nation Big East Power Rankings, posted Monday by The UConn Blog. SU earned a No. 7 ranking by the Big East Conference bloggers, the Orange were No.6 last week.

The St. John's Red Storm (15-9, 7-5) who won two games last week, jumped from No. 11 to into a tie with the West Virginia Mountaineers at No. 8. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (13-12, 4-9) moved from No. 14 to No. 13.

"I feel like I'm writing a different version of this every week," wrote Andrew Porter of The UConn Blog. "But there is so so much parity here it's tough to predict what will happen on any given day. There is currently a 4-team tie for 5th in the conference, which is just insane."

The Pittsburgh Panthers (23-2, 11-1), again, grabbed the top spot. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (21-4, 10-3) moved from No. 3 to No. 2. The biggest fall from grace came from the Villanova Wildcats (19-6, 7-5), who lost two games last week. The Wildcats dropped from No. 2 to No. 5.

NCAA College Basketball Rankings, Week 15: Syracuse Falls To No. 17/20

After suffering their third two-loss week of the season, the Syracuse Orange are ranked No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll in the latest college basketball rankings, released Monday. Last week, the Orange (20-6, 7-6 Big East) were ranked No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, but lost Wednesday to the No. 9 Georgetown Hoyas and Saturday to the No. 16 Louisville Cardinals. The latest ranking is Syracuse's lowest of the season. Two weeks ago, Syracuse was No. 17 in both polls after dropping four consecutive games.

Despite winning for the fourth time in five games, which included wins over two Top 10 teams -- the Duke Blue Devils and Connecticut Huskies -- The St. John's Red Storm just missed making the Top 25. The Johnnies (15-9, 7-5) are No. 31 in the AP poll and tied for No. 33, with the West Virginia Mountaineers, in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The last time St. John's was ranked in the Top 25 was on Nov. 28, 2000, at No. 24.

For the third straight week, the Big East Conference's top team, the Pittsburgh Panthers, are No. 4 in both polls. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish stayed at No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Hoyas were the final Big East team to earn a Top-10 ranking.

After losing to St. John's on Thursday, the Huskies fell to No. 13 in the AP poll and No. 12 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Villanova Wildcats dropped the farthest in the rankings. Last week, 'Nova was No. 9 in both polls, but this week they are No. 15 in the AP poll and No. 14 USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll.

The Kansas Jayhawks are the new No. 1 team in the nation in both polls after. No. 2 Ohio St. Buckeyes lost Saturday to No. 10 Wisconsin. The Texas Longhorns are No. 3, while Duke is No. 5.