Memphis basketball drops out of AP Top 25 after loss to Arkansas State

Memphis basketball is unranked once again just a week after cracking the Associated Press (AP) Top 25.

The Tigers dropped completely out of the rankings after becoming the No. 16 team in the country last Monday—thanks in large part to their 85-72 upset loss to Arkansas State on Sunday. They still received 123 votes, however, essentially slotting them at No. 28 this week.

Memphis also had to overcome a halftime deficit to beat Louisiana Tech last Wednesday, and Penny Hardaway gave his team a postgame challenge it ultimately failed against A-State.

“What I’m talking about is validating who you are. If you’re in the rankings, then let’s act like it,” Hardaway said. “Let’s stop reading the text messages about how great we are, and let’s buy into what we’re trying to do every single night.”

Colby Rogers seemingly concurred with Hardaway’s sentiment, but perhaps the message fell on dead ears as the Tigers trailed by as many as 18 points against the Red Wolves. In fact, no players spoke to reporters after falling Sunday afternoon.

“We are now the hunted, not the hunter now. That’s a total different mindset to have. We’re gonna get every team’s best shot moving forward,” Rogers said last Wednesday. “Knowing that, we gotta make sure that we step on the gas, we do things at a higher level, do the small things at an even higher level. Everything just has to kind of intensify.”

Memphis dropped out of the CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 too, but CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein still has the Tigers at No. 23 in his top 45 rankings. Hardaway’s club is down to No. 39 in KenPom, No. 42 in Bart Torvik and No. 48 in the NCAA’s NET rankings as well. Memphis’ tilt to A-State is considered a Quad 3 loss because the Red Wolves jumped from No. 167 to No. 124 in the NET.

Memphis plays at Clemson next Saturday (10 a.m., ESPN2). It’ll then visit Virginia on Dec. 18 before finishing its non-conference schedule with home games against Mississippi State and No. 23 Ole Miss later this month.

Three of those four matchups are currently projected Quad 1 opportunities, giving the Tigers plenty of chances to make up for last weekend’s setback.