Kansas strengthens grip on No. 1 spot in AP poll
Kansas‘ comeback win in a marquee matchup kept the Jayhawks firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll on Monday while Miami climbed to its highest ranking in years.
The Jayhawks stayed at No. 1 and Miami climbed to No. 10 to replace a tumbling Florida Atlantic in the only major change at the top of the rankings.
Kansas (3-0) rallied from 14 down to beat Kentucky in last week’s Champions Classic, led by a huge game from transfer big man Hunter Dickinson in its lone game of the week. That helped the Jayhawks pick up an additional first-place vote from last week’s poll, topping 52 of 61 ballots.
The Hurricanes (5-0) offered the only change to the top tier of the poll after beating Kansas State to win the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship. They climbed two spots to crack the top 10 for the first time since spending four weeks there early in the 2017-18 season.
Miami replaced Florida Atlantic, which opened the year at No. 10 after last year’s Final Four run but fell nine spots to No. 19 in the week’s biggest drop after a home loss to Bryant.
There’s the potential for much more change next week with Thanksgiving holiday tournaments coming. The loaded Maui Invitational field includes five of the top 11 teams in Kansas, No. 2 Purdue, No. 4 Marquette, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 11 Gonzaga.
THE TOP TIER
Arizona checked in at No. 3 and reigning NCAA champion Connecticut Huskies was No. 5, followed by No. 6 Houston, Tennessee, Creighton, Duke and Miami.
ON THE RISE
Colorado had the week’s biggest jump, rising seven spots to No. 18 to extend the program’s first stay in the poll since the end of the 2020-21 season.
North Carolina was next by jumping six spots to No. 14, followed by No. 17 Alabama (five spots) and No. 15 Texas (four).
In all, nine teams moved up from last week’s poll.
ON THE FADE
There were multiple big slides in the poll behind the Owls.
No. 23 USC fell seven spots after a home loss to UC Irvine, while No. 20 Arkansas tumbled six spots after losing to UNC Greensboro at home.
No. 21 Michigan State was the fourth and final team to fall from last week, sliding three spots after a loss to Duke in the Champions Classic. The Spartans rebounded with big-margin wins against Butler and Alcorn State.
STATUS QUO
Ten teams stayed in their position last week, including the Zags.
WELCOME
No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Mississippi State were the week’s new additions, with the Bulldogs cracking the poll for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
FAREWELL (FOR NOW)
Villanova (No. 21) and Illinois (No. 23 fell out of the poll.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The Southeastern Conference led the way with six ranked teams, including No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 16 Kentucky. The Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conferences were next with four each.
The Pac-12 and Big East conferences each had three ranked teams, followed by the Big Ten with two. The American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt and West Coast Conference rounded out the field with one each.
