AP men’s college basketball Top 25: Arizona narrowly No. 1; Nebraska top 10 for first time since ’66

Arizona remains the No. 1 team in the country — but Michigan is as close as it can get.

The Wildcats, No. 1 since Dec. 8, eked out the top spot in Monday’s Associated Press men’s basketball Top 25 poll by one point — 1,494 to 1,493 — over the No. 2 Wolverines. Both teams remain undefeated and have been dominant in the season’s first two months: Arizona owns five wins over ranked teams, while Michigan on Friday became the first team ever to beat three consecutive ranked foes by 30-plus points.

The Wildcats received 32 of 61 first-place votes, with the Wolverines getting the other 29.

There were few changes among the rest of the top 10 this week, but one stands out: Nebraska entered the top 10 for the first time since the 1965-66 season. The Cornhuskers (14-0) defeated No. 12 Michigan State Friday to stay undefeated, and also own a victory over No. 16 Illinois. They’re looking to win an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in school history.

Iowa (12-2) was the biggest riser this week, jumping from 25th to 19th after Saturday’s 74-61 win over UCLA. No. 17 North Carolina (13-2) and No. 22 Kansas (10-4) were the biggest fallers, each dropping five spots after losing to SMU and UCF, respectively.

Speaking of SMU and UCF … the Mustangs (12-2) and Knights (12-1) joined the poll at No. 24 and 25, respectively. It’s SMU’s first appearance in the poll since the end of the 2016-17 season, and UCF’s first since March 2019.

Defending national champion Florida and USC fell out of the poll.

Here’s the full poll, along with the ballot of The Athletic’s C.J. Moore:

Others receiving votes: Villanova 127, Seton Hall 31, USC 28, Utah State 27, Miami (Ohio) 22, Clemson 21, Saint Louis 14, LSU 14, Texas 12, Florida 11, Saint Mary’s 10, Kentucky 9, California 8, Miami (Fla.) 5, Indiana 4, Auburn 3, TCU 2, UCLA 2, Virginia Tech 2.

Should Vandy be higher?

Vanderbilt just missed making the top 10 for the first time in-season since 1992-93. But should Vandy be even higher? The Commodores are top seven in every major resume metric and every quality metric except for BPI (they’re 11 there), and they’re as high as No. 2 at KPI.

Their best two wins (at UCF and a 19-point home win against SMU) look even better after this weekend. UCF knocked off Kansas and SMU looked extremely impressive in a win over North Carolina. Wake Forest, which Vandy recently smoked by 31 on the road, also picked up a quality win over Virginia Tech. Vandy plays Alabama Wednesday. Win that one and I’ll consider moving the Commodores up. Keep an eye on Duke Miles — Vandy’s leading scorer has missed the last two games.

Why I moved Iowa into the top 20

Iowa was my biggest riser this week, going from 23rd to 18th. The Hawkeyes are 0-2 against current Top 25 teams but have looked strong against other high-majors, including a 13-point win Saturday against UCLA. The quality-based metrics are high on Iowa, which ranks as high as 13 at the NET.

We’ll have a good feel for the Hawkeyes after the next two weeks. After a road game Tuesday at Minnesota, they play three straight quality opponents (hosting Illinois on Sunday, then road games against Purdue and Indiana next week). Coach Ben McCollum continues to look like one of the best hires of this cycle. In two years at the Division I level, he’s now 43-6, and 8-3 against high-majors.

Also rising: SMU

SMU made its debut in my poll this week, and if, for some reason, the Mustangs fall off the radar in the next few weeks, do not be surprised to see them reemerge in February. I’m a believer in the talent, but the schedule could produce some losses soon. SMU has a road swing this week against Clemson and Duke, then hosts Virginia and Virginia Tech. That means SMU will have played five of the league’s top nine teams to open ACC play. The back half of the schedule is a lot easier and most ACC bottom-half teams are going to struggle trying to keep pace with SMU’s offense, which has scored 87 or more in 12 of 14 games.