Auburn and Duke remain atop the AP Top 25. The rest of the poll was a big jumble.
Auburn was the unanimous pick at No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving all 61 votes from a media panel in the poll released Monday. The Tigers held the top spot for the eighth straight week after lopsided wins over Mississippi and then-No. 17 Kentucky.
Duke was No. 2 for the second straight week after blowing out Miami and Florida State despite playing without guard Tyrese Proctor because of a bone bruise in his left knee.
No. 3 Houston moved up a spot after beating Texas Tech and Cincinnati, while Tennessee climbed to No. 4 after Jahmai Mashack’s last-second 3-pointer from well beyond midcourt to beat Alabama 79-76.
Florida rounded out the top five, dropping two places after losing to Georgia and beating Texas A&M.
No. 8 Michigan State joined Auburn and Duke as the only teams to have the same ranking as last week.
Rising Red Storm
St. John’s has pulled off quite the turnaround in its second season under coach Rick Pitino.
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2 Big East) haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019 but are a lock to end the drought after clinching their first Big East regular-season title in 40 years with Saturday’s 71-61 win over Seton Hall.
“We’re just getting started,” Pitino told the Madison Square Garden crowd after the win.
St. John’s also beat Butler last week and moved up a spot in this week’s poll to No. 6, its highest ranking reaching No. 5 in 1990-91.
In and out
No teams moved in or out of this week’s poll.
Rising and falling
No. 14 Louisville made the biggest move of the week, climbing five places after wins over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. No. 13 Maryland moved up three places after losing to Michigan State by three on Tre Holloman’s last-second heave from beyond midcourt and beating Penn State.
No. 22 Texas A&M had by far the biggest drop, losing 10 places after losing to Vanderbilt and Florida, stretching its losing streak to four.
No other team dropped more than two places.
Conference watch
The SEC continued its dominance with three of the top five and eight in the Top 25. The Big 12 has three teams in the top 10 and five ranked teams, while the Big Ten also has five teams in the poll.
The ACC has three ranked teams, the Big East two and the American Athletic and West Coast conferences one apiece.
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