Kansas held off Auburn for the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll on Monday as Southeastern Conference teams grabbed three of the top four spots and two-time reigning national champion UConn nearly fell out entirely after an 0-3 week at the Maui Invitational.
The Jayhawks earned 35 of 61 first-place votes in the poll, while the Tigers got the remaining 26 and climbed two spots to No. 2 after wining the Maui title. The Huskies fell all the way to No. 25, barely avoiding becoming only the second team to go from No. 2 to unranked in a week in nearly four decades.
It was part of a turbulent week with holiday-week tournaments, leading to six new teams entering the rankings headlined by No. 12 Oregon and No. 16 Memphis.
RANK TEAM RECORD PREVIOUS
1 Kansas 7-0 1
2 Auburn 7-0 4
3 Tennessee 7-0 7
4 Kentucky 7-0 8
5 Marquette 8-0 10
6 Iowa State 5-1 5
7 Gonzaga 7-1 3
8 Purdue 7-1 13
9 Duke 5-2 11
10 Alabama 6-2 9
11 Wisconsin 8-0 15
12 Oregon 8-0 –
13 Florida 8-0 18
14 Cincinnati 6-0 16
15 Baylor 5-2 17
16 Memphis 6-1 –
17 Houston 4-3 6
18 Pittsburgh 7-1 –
19 Illinois 6-1 –
20 North Carolina 4-3 12
21 Oklahoma 7-0 –
22 Texas A&M 6-2 20
23 Ole Miss 6-1 23
24 San Diego State 4-2 –
25 UConn 5-3 2