Prior to its matchup with No. 11 Duke in Las Vegas, Kansas maintained its dominant lead at the top of the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll Monday. Meanwhile, two Magnolia State teams pushed their way back into the rankings.
Mississippi State made their season debut at No. 25, while Ole Miss made a comeback to the rankings at No. 23.
With 51 of 62 first-place votes from the national media panel, the Jayhawks were far ahead of UConn, the two-time defending national champion, which came in second with six first-place votes. With two first-place votes, Gonzaga came in third, followed by Auburn with three, and Iowa State completed a top five that remained the same from the week before.
However, with a number of high-profile games in holiday tournaments and the Vegas Showdown on Tuesday night between the Jayhawks and Duke, there’s a strong opportunity for movement next week.
“Yeah, I have seen them,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, who defeated UNC Wilmington last week to record his 800th career victory. Every one of them has talent. Although everyone will focus on Cooper Flagg, one of the three rookies they are starting, the other two could also be lottery picks.
The Jayhawks, who have already defeated Michigan State and No. 12 North Carolina this season, agree.
In this week’s poll, Tennessee rose four spots to No. 7, followed by Alabama and Kentucky, two SEC rivals. After defeating Georgia and then-No. 6 Purdue last week to go 6-0 for the first time since the 2011–12 season, Marquette was ranked 10th.
Purdue dropped seven spots in the poll, trailing the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. Cincinnati, Baylor, Florida, Arkansas, and Texas A&M completed the top 20, while Indiana and Wisconsin completed three consecutive Big Ten appearances.
Creighton, Ole Miss, Arizona, Mississippi State, and BYU were the final five. Following consecutive defeats to Wisconsin and Duke, the Wildcats narrowly extended their run in the AP Top 25 to 61 weeks, the fourth-longest active stretch in the country.
After the loss to the Blue Devils, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd stated, “We didn’t play great, so now we need to take a step back and figure out why.” Are there any issues with the schematic? Is there something wrong with the way our staff is assembled? Additionally, those are the items we will examine. I adore the men. I like the plan, really. Naturally, though, you have to be honest with yourself and attempt to figure out why things aren’t going as smoothly as you would like.
In and out
Ahead of Monday night’s trip to the Fort Myers Tip-Off, Xavier made its first appearance in the rankings since the 2022–23 season’s last poll. After a brief absence from the Top 25, Ole Miss has returned, while Mississippi State has returned after two weeks in the poll in November of last year but only six weeks overall over the previous six years.
The entry of those three came at the expense of Rutgers, Illinois, and St. John’s. Last week, St. John’s lost to Georgia and Baylor, and the Illini lost to Alabama. Kennesaw State defeated a ranked team for the first time in school history, defeating Rutgers 79-77.
Getting up and down
This week, Marquette rose five spots to No. 10, making the largest increase. This week, the Golden Eagles take a break against Stonehill and Western Carolina before facing No. 5 Iowa State and No. 15 Wisconsin in back-to-back games.
Despite dropping seven spots, Purdue, Creighton, and Arizona were still in the poll. The Bluejays lost to in-state foe Nebraska, and the Boilermakers fell to Marquette. For the first time in their history, the Wildcats fell to 2-2.500 at any time during a season, since they began the 2017–18 campaign with a 3–3 record.
Conference observation
With nine of the Top 25 teams this week, including four in the top 10 (Augsburg, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama), the SEC is in the lead. With six, the Big 12 comes in second, with three of the top six being Houston, Iowa State, and Kansas. The ACC had two, the Big Ten three, and the Big East four in the poll.
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