AP men’s college basketball Top 25: Arizona remains No. 1 as Duke drops out of top five

Arizona stayed atop the Associated Press men’s basketball Top 25 poll for the third consecutive week, while Duke (11-1) slid three spots to No. 6 after its first loss of the season, 82-81 to Texas Tech in New York City.

As a result of the Blue Devils’ drop, Iowa State (12-0), UConn (12-1) and Purdue (11-1) all moved up. The Red Raiders rose to No. 15.

Two early-season surprises, Vanderbilt (12-0) and Nebraska (12-0), continued their unbeaten starts and jumped two spots to No. 11 and No. 13, respectively. Alabama moved up to No. 14 after beating Kennesaw State.

Louisville (10-2) fell five places to No. 16 after losing to Tennessee by 21 on the road.

Coming off a four-game win streak with ranked wins over Louisville and Texas Tech, Arkansas (9-3) slid to No. 18 after a 94-85 loss to Houston on Saturday.

There were some slight shuffling at the bottom of the rankings as Illinois (8-3), which had eight days off following a Dec. 13 loss to Nebraska, fell two places. Tennessee (9-3), Virginia (10-1), Florida (8-4) and Georgia (10-1) all saw slight bumps.

USC and Iowa broke into the poll at No. 24 and No. 25, supplanting St. John and Auburn. However, Rodney Rice, the Trojans’ leading scorer, will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the season.

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

What to do about Duke?

Last week, I was the only AP voter without Duke in the top five, and I’m not here to gloat. It’s possible my Duke skepticism could look foolish by the end of the season. The Blue Devils have a resume worthy of a top-three spot, but it felt inflated by beating good teams but not great ones. The win at Michigan State was the one that made me question my stance, but the undefeated teams in front of Duke had at least one win that topped that one: Michigan (Gonzaga), Arizona (at UConn) and Iowa State (at Purdue). From there, I thought UConn’s best wins (BYU, Illinois, at Kansas) were more impressive than Duke’s, and UConn’s one loss was to Arizona when the Huskies were missing two starters. (And yes, I realize I just called that one the Wildcats’ best win. UConn missing two starters on its home floor is still a tough out.)

So what to do with Duke now? The Blue Devils are still third in the NET and fourth at Evan Miya, while they’ve slid to sixth at KenPom and eighth at Torvik. I thought about it like this: On a neutral floor, which one-loss teams would I favor against Duke today? Purdue, Gonzaga and Houston are my answers, so I slid Duke below those teams to eighth. — Moore

Houston trending up

I moved Houston from 10th to seventh on my ballot this week after the Cougars’ 94-85 win over Arkansas; Kelvin Sampson’s team has now bounced back from lackluster Players Era Festival showings two years running. I was not entirely sure Houston could reach that elite tier this year replacing program stalwart J’Wan Roberts with freshman forward Chris Cenac. When I visited Houston in the fall, Cenac was struggling during preseason practice. And while Cenac had a modest line on Saturday, finishing with nine points and seven boards, he’s carrying himself with a different confidence, has rebounded the ball well and is starting to show off glimpses of why he’s considered a lottery-pick talent. Also it’s possible that Kingston Flemings is the best guard Sampson has ever coached.

Jojo Tugler needs to stay out of foul trouble because Houston’s defense goes from elite to just good when he leaves the floor. Even with Tugler only playing 15 minutes against Arkansas, Houston won easily against a team that was hot. — Moore

St. John’s exits the rankings

I finally dropped St. John’s out of the top 25 this week. The computer numbers still suggest it’s OK to rank the Johnnies, who remain in the top 25 everywhere except the NET (28), but their resume is lacking. St. John’s best win is against likely bubble team Baylor, and it’s possible the bubble is where St. John’s is headed, too. I assume the Johnnies will still be the second-best team in the Big East, but where are they going to find quality wins? The Big East has only five top-50 NET teams — UConn (8), St. John’s (28), Villanova (29), Seton Hall (36) and Butler (46) — and the Huskies are the only one of the group I’d call a lock to make the tourney.

Here’s the number of top-50 teams for the other power leagues: 10 Big Ten (with six in the top 13), nine ACC, nine SEC (with five in the top 22) and eight Big 12 (with five in the top 16).

St. John’s currently has no Quad 1 wins, and using today’s NET rankings, Rick Pitino’s team would have seven Quad 1 opportunities left. Among high-majors last year, every at-large had at least five Q1 wins except for Georgia, which had four. I think St. John’s gets there, but it’s an uncomfortable spot for a preseason top-five team. — Moore