College basketball rankings: Louisville shoots up AP Top 25; ACC six ranked teams

Louisville moves up four spots after a rivalry win over UK, while Villanova remains No. 1

The past week of college basketball provided little action that should cause a major stir in the pot that is the AP top 25 rankings. However we did have then-No. 6 ranked Kentucky falling on the road to No. 10 Louisville. As a result, the top-10 got a bit of a new look in the final poll of 2016.

Here is the latest AP top 25, with first-place votes in parentheses, with records through Dec. 25. We will also highlight some key takeaways from the latest release.

1. Villanova (56)

2. UCLA (3)

3. Kansas

4. Baylor (6)

5. Duke

6. Louisville

7. Gonzaga

8. Kentucky

9. North Carolina

10. Creighton

11. West Virginia

12. Virginia

13. Butler

14. Wisconsin

15. Purdue

16. Indiana

17. Xavier

18. Arizona

19. Saint Mary's

20. Florida State

21. Oregon

22. Southern California

23. Cincinnati

24. Notre Dame

25. Florida

Takeaways from this week's AP top 25.

Kentucky could use the Louisville loss as a turning point

John Calipari's Wildcats have suffered two losses this season to top-10 teams -- first UCLA, then Louisville. Don't expect the losing trend to continue. With SEC play starting this week, the Wildcats are the heavy favorites to win the conference. In fact, they are currently favored to win every game the rest of the regular season by KenPom. It's entirely possible they could only lose a few more games, if even that, the rest of the year.

Big road tests for Nos. 1 and 2 coming this week

Villanova gets Creighton. UCLA gets Oregon. The top teams in the country get tests against two hot squads.

The reigning national champions will get one of the most prolific offenses in Creighton -- and they'll have to try and slow them on the road.

Meanwhile, UCLA has to travel to Eugene, Ore., where the Bruins will face the preseason No. 5 Oregon Ducks. Dana Altman's crew has been hitting their stride with nine straight wins. It's been more than a month since the Ducks have lost.

Both No. 1 and No. 2 are on upset alert.

The ACC has elite teams and depth

This isn't a big surprise, but the ACC conference is loaded from top to bottom. This past week was proof of that with Louisville knocking off Kentucky and North Carolina taking the Cats to the wire within a four-day span, Florida State remaining at 12-1, and Notre Dame looking like a team that hasn't lost much from last year's team that went to the regional final. The conference now boasts six top-25 teams -- more than any conference in the country.