Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history, while fellow Southeastern Conference program Georgia is in the rankings for the first time in 14 years.
Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (15-1) claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot Monday after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Florida, to end a five-week reign at the top. Auburn has been No. 1 only once before in the AP Top 25, during a three-week stint in January and February of 2022, and is the third team to sit atop the poll this season.
Auburn’s only loss came at Duke in early December and the Tigers have won eight straight games, though there is no word on when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday’s win over South Carolina.
The Tigers’ rise made them the headliner in another SEC-heavy poll, with the league having nine teams in the AP Top 25 — including three of the top five and five of the top 10.
Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each claimed a first-place vote.
The top tier
The Volunteers (15-1) had been No. 1 since Dec. 9 and stood as Division I’s last unbeaten team before a 30-point loss to Florida. They recovered by beating Texas but still tumbled five spots to No. 6.
Marquette was next at No. 7 as the only team to stay at the same spot from last week, followed by Kentucky, preseason No. 1 Kansas and Houston to round out the top 10.
Rising
No. 12 Michigan State and No. 20 Michigan had the week’s biggest jumps, both rising four spots. Florida and No. 17 Purdue were next by climbing three positions.
In all, 15 teams that were ranked last week moved up in the latest poll.
Falling
While Tennessee’s tumble was notable, No. 19 Illinois had the week’s biggest slide by falling six spots after a weekend home loss to USC.
Two-time reigning national champion UConn matched the Volunteers’ five-spot decline, checking in at No. 14 after last week’s loss at Villanova.
Six teams that were ranked last week moved down in Monday’s poll.
Welcome
No. 23 Georgia Bulldogs, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Baylor were the week’s additions. And for Georgia, it has been a while.
Mike White’s Bulldogs (14-2) have their first AP Top 25 ranking since spending a week at No. 24 in January 2011. That lone appearance had stood as the program’s only time being ranked since the 2002-03 season, but the Bulldogs are coming off a week that featured wins against then-No. 6 Kentucky and then-No. 17 Oklahoma for the program’s first back-to-back victories against ranked opponents since the 2006-07 season.
Both the Badgers and Bears have spent multiple weeks in the poll this season.
Farewell (for now)
West Virginia (No. 21) and UCLA (No. 22) joined the Sooners in falling out of this week’s poll.
Conference watch
The SEC — which had 10 ranked teams Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 — had nine ranked teams 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.
