Tennessee and Auburn remained Nos. 1-2 atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. It’s a fitting spot for a pair of Southeastern Conference teams considering the league put 10 teams into Monday’s AP Top 25.
The Volunteers (11-0) and Tigers (11-1) spent a third straight week in the same position, and it marked a fourth consecutive week for Auburn sitting at No. 2. They were part of a top 10 that featured the same top-10 programs, though slightly reshuffled with Kentucky tumbling six spots to No. 10 after a loss to Ohio State.
The poll also featured four additions that previously had been ranked this season, including No. 19 Mississippi State and No. 23 Arkansas to add to the SEC’s seasonlong hauls.
The SEC has had as many as nine ranked teams three times this season, including in the preseason poll. This is the first time since at least the start of the 2012-13 season that one league had 10 ranked teams.
Iowa State was third, followed by Duke and Alabama to round out the top five. Florida, Kansas, Marquette and Oregon followed, with those teams all moving up one spot given the Wildcats’ fall to 10th.
Rising
San Diego State had the biggest jump among last week’s ranked teams, rising three spots to No. 20, while No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 17 Cincinnati and No. 18 Michigan State all climbed two spots. In all, 11 teams rose at least one spot this week.
Sliding
While Kentucky took the week’s biggest tumble, No. 21 Purdue and No. 22 UCLA also slid multiple spots. The Boilermakers fell five places after a lopsided loss to Auburn, while the Bruins fell four spots after blowing a 16-point lead and falling by two against an unranked North Carolina team that opened the year at No. 9.
No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 14 Gonzaga also slid one spot to round out the downward movers.
Status quo
Five teams held their positions from last week, starting with the Volunteers, Tigers and Cyclones at the top. Two-time reigning national champion UConn (No. 11) and Houston (No. 15) also stayed in place.
Welcome
No. 24 Illinois and No. 25 Baylor joined Mississippi State and Arkansas as the week’s new arrivals and poll returnees.
The Bears were the highest ranked of that group this year, opening the year at No. 8 and spending five weeks in the poll. The Razorbacks started at No. 16 and spent four weeks in the poll, while the Bulldogs and Illini have each had a pair of one-week stints in November and December.
Farewell (for now)
Memphis (No. 21), Dayton (No. 22), Michigan (No. 24) and Clemson (No. 25) fell out of the poll to make room for the new teams.
Conference watch
While the SEC gobbled up spots, the AP Top 25 featured teams from a total of seven leagues.
The Big Ten — headlined by ninth-ranked new league member Oregon — had five teams to join the Big 12 for second behind the SEC, while the Big East was the only other league with at least two ranked teams.
The Atlantic Coast, West Coast and Mountain West conferences each had one ranked team.
