Auburn and Duke remain atop the AP Top 25, while the rest of the poll was a big jumble.
Auburn was the unanimous pick at No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving all 61 votes from a media panel in the poll released Monday. The Tigers held the top spot for the eighth straight week following lopsided wins over Ole Miss and then-No. 17 Kentucky.
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Duke was No. 2 for the second straight week after blowing out Miami and Florida State despite playing without guard Tyrese Proctor due to a bone bruise in his left knee.
No. 3 Houston moved up a spot after beating Texas Tech and Cincinnati, while Tennessee climbed to No. 4 following Jahmai Mashack’s last-second 3-pointer from well beyond half court to beat Alabama 79-76.
Florida rounded out the top five, dropping two places after losing to Georgia and beating Texas A&M.
St. John’s continued its turnaround in its second season under coach Rick Pitino, moving up a spot in this week’s poll to No. 6 — its highest ranking since reaching No. 5 in 1990-91.
TeamRecord1. Auburn (61)27-22. Duke26-33. Houston25-44. Tennessee24-55. Florida25-46. St. John’s26-47. Alabama23-68. Michigan State24-59. Texas Tech22-710. Iowa State22-711. Clemson24-512. Wisconsin22-713. Maryland22-714. Louisville23-615. Missouri21-816. Memphis24-517. Michigan22-718. Purdue20-919. Kentucky19-1020. Marquette22-721. Saint Mary’s27-422. Texas A&M20-923. BYU21-824. Arizona19-1025. Mississippi State20-9
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2 Big East) have not been to the NCAA tournament since 2019 but are pretty much a lock to end the drought after clinching their first Big East regular-season title in 40 years with Saturday’s 71-61 win over Seton Hall.
“We’re just getting started,” Pitino told the Madison Square Garden crowd after the win.
No. 8 Michigan State joined Auburn and Duke as the only teams to have the same ranking as last week.
No. 14 Louisville made the biggest move of the week, climbing five places following wins over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh.
No. 13 Maryland moved up three places after losing to Michigan State by three on Tre Holloman’s last-second heave from beyond midcourt and beating Penn State.
No. 22 Texas A&M had by far the biggest drop, losing 10 places after losing to Vanderbilt and Florida, stretching its losing streak to four straight.
No other team dropped more than two places.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The SEC continued its dominance with three of the top 5 and eight total in the Top 25 this week. The Big 12 has three teams in the top 10 and five ranked teams, while the Big Ten also had five teams in the poll. The ACC has three, the Big East two and the American and West Coast conferences have one ranked team apiece.
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