Auburn rose to No. 1 in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll for its second trip to the top in program history, while fellow Southeastern Conference program Georgia is listed in the rankings for the first time in 13 years.
Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (15-1) earned 60 of 62 first-place votes to move up one spot after former No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Florida, to end the a five-week reign at the top. Auburn has only been No. 1 once before in the AP Top 25, during a three-week stint in January and February 2022, and is the third team to top the poll this season.
Auburn’s only loss came against Duke in early December and the Tigers have won eight straight games, although it is unclear when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury during of a victory against South Carolina.
The Tigers’ surge has made them the headliner in another SEC poll, with the league boasting nine teams in the AP Top 25, including three in the top five and five in the top 10 .
Iowa State moved up one spot to second, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each took first place.
The upper level
The Volunteers (15-1) had been No. 1 since Dec. 9 and were the last undefeated team in Division I before a 30-point loss to Florida. They recovered by beating Texas, but still fell five spots to 6th.
Marquette was next at No. 7 as the only team to remain in the same spot, followed by Kentucky, preseason No. 1 Kansas and Houston to round out the top 10.
Uprising
No. 12 Michigan State and No. 20 Michigan saw the biggest gains of the week, each moving up four spots. Florida and No. 17 Purdue were next, moving up three spots.
A total of 15 ranked teams moved up in the latest poll.
Fall
While Tennessee’s drop was notable, No. 19 Illinois had the biggest drop of the week, falling six spots after a weekend home loss to Southern California.
UConn, the two-time defending national champion, matched the Volunteers’ five-place decline, falling to 14th after a loss at Villanova.
Six ranked teams fell in the poll.
To welcome
No. 23 Georgia, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Baylor were the new additions. And for Georgia, it’s been a long time.
Mike White’s Bulldogs (14-2) have their first ranking in the AP Top 25 since spending a week at No. 24 in January 2011. That appearance alone was the only time the program has been ranked since the 2002-03 season, but the Bulldogs are coming off a week marked by victories against then-No. 6 Kentucky and then-No. 17 Oklahoma for the program’s first consecutive wins against ranked opponents since the 2006-07 season.
The Badgers and Bears have spent multiple weeks in the poll this season.
Goodbye (for now)
West Virginia (No. 21) and UCLA (No. 22) joined the Sooners in being excluded from this week’s ballot.
Eve of the conference
The SEC – which had 10 ranked teams on Dec. 23-30 – had nine teams ranked for the fifth time this season, including No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 21 Mississippi.
The Big Ten was next with six, followed by the Big 12 with four. The Big East had two, followed by the Atlantic Coast, West Coast, American Athletic and Mountain West conferences with one each.
