Funviralpark Purdue retains top spot in AP’s top 25 men’s college basketball poll For the third week in a row, preseason No. 1 North Carolina returns to the rankings, while New Mexico beats the poll for the first time in eight years.
In Monday’s latest poll, the Boilermakers won 40 of the 60 votes, while undefeated Connecticut took the remaining 20 votes to sit in second place at the top unchanged.
Purdue had never held the No. 1 ranking until last December when they stayed for a week and were unranked to start the season. However, Boilermakers reported that in late November he surged from No. 24 to No. 5 in one week, and on December 12 he rose to No. 1.
Boilermakers beat New Orleans last week Ranked 1st in the first home game.
“There are no handouts. We had to work for everything,” coach Matt Painter said afterward, adding: But we have to keep earning it. It’s not the season. That’s just one-third of the season. “
top tier
No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 Arizona all held the top five spot for the second week in a row.
Texas was next in sixth place, followed by Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas and Gonzaga. The No. 2 preseason choice is back in the top 10 after dropping to No. 18 earlier this month.
tar heels return
North Carolina is back in 25th place after a tumultuous start to the season.
Returning four starters to the NCAA title game from last year’s unexpected run, the Tar Heels started December as the sixth team to fall out of the preseason No. 1 rankings since at least the 1961-62 season. It was a four-game losing streak.
However, UNC has won four in a row since then, the last two being against a Big Ten team against Ohio State on December 17th. And Michigan last week—regrouping.
rising
Miami makes biggest leap of the week after win over Virginia, climbed eight places to 14th, their highest ranking since the 2017-18 season. Auburn, in 20th place, moved up three spots. Overall, 10 teams moved up from last week.
sliding
Virginia recorded its biggest drop of the week, dropping seven spots to No. 13. Mississippi State moved her down six spots to 21st. Duke dropped him three places to 17th.
Current status
Seven teams maintained their positions from last week, with No. 12 Baylor and No. 19 Kentucky still in the top five.
Welcome
Xavier and New Mexico are tied for 22nd, with 24th-ranked West Virginia joining the polls this season. For Lobos, it topped his AP top 25 for the first time since March 2014.
Farewell (for now)
Illinois (16th), Virginia Tech (21st), Marquette (24th) and Arizona State University (25th) dropped out of last week’s polls.
conference watch
The Southeastern Conference led all leagues with six teams, followed by the Big 12 with five and the Atlantic Coast Conference with four.
The Big Ten had three ranked teams, and the Pac-12 and Big East each had two ranked teams. The American Athletic, West Coast, and Mountain West conferences each had one.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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AP College Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
