Reigning national champion Connecticut, Purdue, and North Carolina remained atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third consecutive week, while South Carolina cracked the rankings for the first time in nearly seven years.
RANK TEAM RECORD PREVIOUS
1 UConn 20-2 1
2 Purdue 21-2 2
3 North Carolina 18-4 3
4 Kansas 18-4 8
5 Houston 19-3 4
6 Tennessee 16-5 5
7 Marquette 17-5 9
8 Arizona 17-5 11
9 Duke 16-5 7
10 Illinois 17-5 14
11 Wisconsin 16-6 6
12 Auburn 18-4 16
13 Baylor 16-5 18
14 Iowa State 16-5 12
15 South Carolina 19-3 NR
16 Alabama 16-6 24
17 Kentucky 15-6 10
18 Dayton 18-3 21
19 Creighton 16-6 13
20 Florida Atlantic 18-4 20
21 BYU 16-5 22
22 Utah State 19-3 17
23 Texas Tech 16-5 15
24 San Diego State 17-5 NR
25 New Mexico 18-4 19
The Huskies earned 45 of 61 first-place votes to remain at No. 1 for the fourth straight week in Monday’s poll, while the Boilermakers topped the ballots of 16 other voters.
The top of the poll remained set after a big week that included four top-10 matchups over the weekend, with Purdue winning at Wisconsin and UNC beating rival Duke. The week also included Kansas beating Houston, which vaulted the Jayhawks to No. 4 and dropped the Cougars one spot to No. 5.