The latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll released Monday has a similar look at the top with No. 1 UConn and No. 2 Purdue clinging to the top two spots but some fresh changes in the top 10 after a dramatic week that included two big-name schools falling out of the top 10.
Duke was among the biggest fallers among them this week with the Blue Devils dropping five spots to No. 12 after narrowly escaping Georgia Tech at home then falling 80-76 to Pitt inside Cameron Indoor on Saturday. Baylor, too, fell out of the top 10, with the Bears dropping six spots to No. 15. Meanwhile, Memphis was the largest faller of the previous top-10 teams, dropping nine spots to No. 19 on the heels of consecutive losses in AAC play.
No. 1 UConn earned 44 first-place votes and retained its spot at No. 1 for a second consecutive week. Its 44 first-place votes were just ahead of No. 2 Purdue, which earned 17. It marked the first time since Week 6 that voters cast first-place votes for only two teams as chaos atop the sport sorted things out and cleared the way for UConn and Purdue to rise above the rest.
Kansas falling from No. 3 to No. 7 after its road loss to West Virginia paved the way for North Carolina, Houston and Tennessee to each move up one spot in the top five this week, with UNC up to a season-high No. 3 after extending its winning streak to eight games this week with victories over Louisville and Boston College. Houston and Tennessee both moved up to No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Kentucky just missed the top five, up two spots to No. 6 after a 2-0 week bookended by a 105-96 win over Georgia on Saturday.
The back end of the top 10 also saw some changes as well with Auburn, Arizona and Illinois up five, three and four spots to Nos. 8, 9 and 10, respectively. The Tigers throttled Vanderbilt in Nashville on Wednesday then made quick work of Ole Miss at home 82-59 on Saturday, to improve to 16-2 on the season and 5-0 in SEC play.
AP Top 25
1. UConn (44)
2. Purdue (17)
3. North Carolina
4. Houston
5. Tennessee
6. Kentucky
7. Kansas
8. Auburn
9. Arizona
10. Illinois
11. Oklahoma
12. Duke
13. Wisconsin
14. Marquette
15. Baylor
16. Dayton
17. Creighton
18. Utah State
19. Memphis
20. Texas Tech
21. BYU
22. FAU
23. Iowa State
24. Colorado State
25. New Mexico
Others receiving votes: Seton Hall 84, San Diego St. 64, Kansas St 39, Alabama 30, TCU 27, Mississippi 25, Princeton 21, Utah 20, Texas 16, Boise St. 9, Florida 6, Gonzaga 6, Grand Canyon 5, Michigan St. 3, Saint Mary’s 2, NC State 1, San Francisco 1, Indiana St 1, Samford 1, McNeese St. 1, Colorado 1.
