Although many teams ultimately folded, Tennessee emerged from the first weekend of SEC play unscathed.
Here’s everything you missed in Week 9 of the college basketball season and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
Tennessee holds on as SEC shakes up
Tennessee is the last undefeated team in the country.
THE The Volunteers toured Arkansas Saturday to improve to 14-0which corresponds to their best start in the history of the program in more than 100 years. It also kept them in first place in this week’s poll. They have now been at the top of the national rankings for five consecutive weeks, a school record.
Although it gets tougher for Tennessee as conference play gets underway — starting with a battle against Florida on Tuesday night — the Vols have the edge early in SEC play. This could be useful in the long run.
While Auburn and Alabama both won last week, Florida and Oklahoma ultimately lost for the first time this season. No. 6 Kentucky held on to beat the Gators 106-100 behind 23 points and seven 3-pointers off the bench from Koby Brea. This was the first ranked opponent the Gators faced all season, and they fell two spots to No. 8 as a result.
Although Florida largely kept pace with Kentucky in defeat, the Sooners fell completely flat against the Crimson Tide. Alabama earned a blowout victory by nearly 30 points against Oklahoma on Saturday. Mark Sears dropped 22 points and had 10 assists in the win, which marked his sixth straight. The Sooners, off to their best start in three decades, fell five spots to 17th this week.
There is no doubt that the top of the SEC is among the best in the country. The second group of teams, however, has some work to do to prove they belong. If Florida can’t hang with Tennessee on Tuesday night and Oklahoma doesn’t overcompensate right away against No. 10 Texas A&M on Wednesday, their departures might be for naught.
Kansas bounces back
Bill Self and the Jayhawks have more than put their bad loss to West Virginia behind them.
Kansas, after losing by just one point to the Mountaineers on New Year’s Eve, rolled to a wild 51-point victory over UCF on Sunday. It was the second-largest margin of victory in program history, with a perfect rebound.
Hunter Dickinson dropped 27 points, including 21 in the first 20 minutes, and nine rebounds in the victory. The Jayhawks shot nearly 51 percent from the field and nearly doubled UFC in rebounds. The Knights aren’t terrible either, which makes the victory even more impressive. They entered the game with a 10-2 record that included wins over Texas A&M and Texas Tech. But nothing was working and they seemed completely overwhelmed.
“We played hungry,” Dickinson said, via KUSports. “We played like we lost our first game in the Big 12 and we’re trying to get back into that Big 12 race. I think the guys were just playing hungry, playing hard, and that was kind of a reflection of that.
Kansas moved to 11th in this week’s poll. The Jayhawks are the second-highest ranked Big 12 team behind No. 3 Iowa State, who they play next week at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. Assuming the Jayhawks can get past Arizona State and Cincinnati this week, this battle should be one of the best of the season.
Games to watch this week
Tuesday January 7
#1 Tennessee to #8 Florida | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN2
Wednesday January 8
No. 10 Texas A&M at No. 17 Oklahoma | 9 p.m. ET | SECOND
Saturday January 11
No. 11 Kansas at Cincinnati | 2 p.m. ET | ESPN+
No. 5 Alabama at No. 10 Texas A&M | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN
No. 6 Kentucky at No. 14 Mississippi State | 8:30 p.m. | SECOND
AP Top 25
The complete Associated Press men’s basketball poll for January 6, 2025.
1.Tennessee (14-0)
2.Auburn (13-1)
3. Iowa State (12-1)
4. Duke (12-2)
5.Alabama (12-2)
6. Kentucky (12-2)
7. Marquette (13-2)
8. Florida (13-1)
9. UConn (12-3)
10. Texas A&M (12-2)
11. Kansas (10-3)
12. Houston (10-3)
13. Illinois (11-3)
14. Mississippi State (13-1)
15. Oregon (13-2)
16. Michigan State (12-2)
17. Oklahoma (13-1)
18. Gonzaga (12-4)
19. Memphis (12-3)
20. Purdue (11-4)
21. West Virginia (11-2)
22. UCLA (11-3)
23. Ole Miss (12-2)
24. Michigan (11-3)
25. Utah State (14-1)
Others receiving votes: Pittsburgh 91, Arkansas 62, Nebraska 62, Baylor 32, Wisconsin 31, St. John’s 27, San Diego State 26, Cincinnati 22, Clemson 19, Maryland 7, Georgia 6, St. Bonaventure 6, Texas Tech 6, Indiana 6, Missouri 5, Arizona 3, Dayton 1, Georgetown 1, Vanderbilt 1, Xavier 1
