January 29, 2024, 1:25 p.m. ET
The top five of the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll remained unchanged Monday, with reigning national champion UConn still ahead of mighty Purdue and North Carolina, defensive-minded Houston and Tennessee trailing.
There was plenty of chaos as the poll continued, with ten teams shifting at least five positions one way or the other.
Still the clear No. 1 seed, the Huskies picked up four more first-place votes after a 99-56 win over Xavier for their eighth straight win. They topped the poll with 48 of 63 votes from the national media panel, while the Boilermakers received 14 votes for No. 1 and the Cougars received the remaining vote.
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“I think last January helped us a lot,” UConn coach Danny Hurley said. “We've had an absolutely devastating month of January so we're not necessarily going into the games with any fear of defeat. We went through the fire and still dominated the NCAA tournament last year.”
“In a weird way,” Hurley said, “we’re not afraid to drop a game and we go out and really attack those games.”
The Boilermakers remained No. 2 after reigning AP Player of the Year Zach Edey scored 26 points in a win over Rutgers, making him the sixth Big Ten player with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
| team | Record |
|---|---|
| 1. UConn (48) | 18-2 |
| 2. Purdue (14) | 19-2 |
| 3. North Carolina | 17-3 |
| 4.Houston (1) | 18-2 |
| 5. Tennessee | 15-4 |
| 6.Wisconsin | 16-4 |
| 7th Duke | 15-4 |
| 8. Kansas | 16-4 |
| 9.Marquette | 15-5 |
| 10.Kentucky | 15-4 |
| 11.Arizona | 15-5 |
| 12. Iowa State | 16-4 |
| 13. Creighton | 16-5 |
| 14. Illinois | 15-5 |
| 15. Texas Tech | 16-3 |
| 16. Auburn | 16-4 |
| 17. Utah State | 18-2 |
| 18. Baylor | 14-5 |
| 19. New Mexico | 18-3 |
| 20. Florida Atlantic | 17-4 |
| 21. Dayton | 16-3 |
| 22.BYU | 15-5 |
| 23.Oklahoma | 15-5 |
| 24.Alabama | 14-6 |
| 25. TCU | 15-5 |
The third-ranked Tar Heels extended their winning streak to 10 with wins over Wake Forest and Florida State, while the Cougars eliminated No. 21 BYU and Kansas State to remain at No. 4. Tennessee defeated Vanderbilt and remained fifth.
This is where the wild movement in the survey begins.
Wisconsin suffered a series of losses to top-10 teams and won against Minnesota and Michigan State to climb seven spots to No. 6, the Badgers' best ranking since Dec. 28, 2020. Duke climbed five spots to No. 6 7. They were followed by Kansas, Marquette and Kentucky, which fell four spots after their loss to South Carolina last week.
Arizona was No. 11, while Iowa State made the biggest jump, moving up 11 spots to No. 12 after beating Kansas State and seventh-ranked Kansas. The Cyclones were followed by Creighton, Illinois and Texas Tech, which moved up five spots after beating Oklahoma to enter the week atop the Big 12 at 16-3 overall and 5-1 in league play.
Auburn fell eight spots to No. 16 after two losses to Alabama and Mississippi State, followed by Utah State and Baylor. New Mexico moved up six spots to No. 19 after ending a nine-game losing streak against Nevada with an 89-55 win. Florida Atlantic survived a slugfest with North Texas to finish in 20th place.
The final five consisted of Dayton, BYU and Oklahoma – which fell 12 spots after their losses to Texas and Texas Tech – as well as Alabama and TCU, both of which returned to the poll after being eliminated earlier this season.
Up and down
Iowa State made one of the biggest jumps of the season by moving up to No. 12. Wisconsin moved up seven spots; New Mexico advanced by six; and Duke, Marquette and Texas Tech all moved up five spots.
The Cyclones' win came partly at the expense of Oklahoma, which fell 12 spots to No. 23. Auburn dropped eight spots and Dayton fell five behind the Flyers' blowout loss to Richmond.
In and out
Alabama started the season at No. 17 before being eliminated on Nov. 27, and TCU returned to the top 25 along with the Crimson Tide at No. 19 in mid-January for the first time in a week.
Memphis dropped out of the poll at No. 19 after losing to UAB, which was its third straight loss to an unranked team. Colorado State also was eliminated after a loss to Nevada and an overtime loss to Wyoming.
On the doorstep
South Carolina received no votes last week and is now the top school outside the top 25. The Gamecocks, who were 11-21 last season, improved to 17 overall with their wins over Kentucky and second-year coach Lamont Paris 3 Missouri.
Conference clock
The Big East, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and SEC each have a top-five team – in fact, each had two ranked in the top 10. But the Big 12 still leads the total top 25 with eight ranked Teams on The Horned Frogs returned to the polls this week.