Auburn, Gonzaga remain at top of AP men’s college basketball poll

Auburn remained No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the second straight week, while Kentucky jumped into the top five for the first time in more than two years.

Bruce Pearl’s Tigers earned 49 of 61 first-place votes to extend the program’s first stay at the top and stay comfortably ahead of Gonzaga, which earned the other 12 first-place votes. Auburn (20-1) has won 17 straight games since losing a double-overtime game to Connecticut in November.

UCLA climbed to No. 3, followed by Purdue — which claimed its first No. 1 ranking earlier this season — and Kentucky. John Calipari’s Wildcats (17-4) had the week’s biggest jump, rising seven spots after winning by 18 at Kansas on Saturday.

This marks the highest ranking for Kentucky since the 2019-20 season, when the Wildcats spent one week at No. 1 in the first regular-season poll and sat at No. 6 in early March.

Houston and Arizona were next, followed by reigning national champion Baylor — which spent five weeks at No. 1 but has split its last six games after Saturday’s loss at Alabama. The Bears’ four-spot slide marked the first time the Big 12 hasn’t had at least one team in the top five since the final poll of the 2018-19 season.

Duke and Kansas rounded out the top 10, with the Jayhawks falling five spots after the Kentucky loss.

No. 25 LSU took the week’s biggest tumble, falling six spots after losing at TCU. Texas re-joined the poll at No. 23 as the lone new addition following a one-week absence in a season that saw the Longhorns open at No. 5.

Davidson fell out of the poll from No. 25 after earning the program’s first AP Top 25 ranking since March 2015.

The Top 25

1. Auburn 20-1

2. Gonzaga 17-2

3. UCLA 16-2

4. Purdue 18-3

5. Kentucky 17-4

6. Houston 18-2

7. Arizona 17-2

8. Baylor 18-3

9. Duke 17-3

10. Kansas 17-3

11. Wisconsin 17-3

12. Villanova 16-5

13. Michigan St. 16-4

14. Texas Tech 16-5

15. Providence 18-2

16. Ohio St. 13-5

17. UConn 15-4

18. Illinois 15-5

19. Southern Cal 18-3

20. Iowa St. 16-5

21. Xavier 15-5

22. Tennessee 14-6

23. Texas 16-5

24. Marquette 15-7

25. LSU 16-5

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