Auburn closes gap with Tennessee, No. 1 in AP poll

Tennessee remained at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the second straight week, although No. 2 Auburn closed the gap as the top five remained unchanged in Monday's men's college basketball poll.

The Volunteers received 50 first-place votes from a panel of national media after wins over Miami and Illinois pushed coach Rick Barnes' program to 10-0 for just the fifth time in school history. Auburn earned nine first-place votes last week and had 12 total. Iowa State, Duke and Kentucky rounded out the top five.

Tennessee is among five remaining undefeated teams in Division I men's basketball and one of three teams in the Southeastern Conference, joining No. 7 Florida (10-0) and No. 14 Oklahoma (10-0). . Drake (9-0) and Utah State (10-0) also enter this week undefeated.

“We know from watching film that there are a lot of areas where we have to improve and be more consistent,” Barnes said Monday. “It's about everyone. Coaches get better, players get better. When you're in December, you have to be real. Watch the video and realize we've done this or that, but we have a long way to go to be where we are.” . I want to be.”

Auburn improved to 9-1 with its 91-53 beating of Ohio State in Atlanta. Johni Broome led the way with 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Tigers' first 20-20 game in 35 years, then returned to Auburn for graduation Saturday night.

“They may be the best team in the country right now,” Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said. “They have a lot of experience and they made us pay when we made a mistake.”

The SEC continued to dominate the Top 25 with the Vols and Tigers joined by Kentucky, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Florida to give the conference five of the top seven. Kansas moved up two spots to No. 8, while Marquette and Oregon rounded out the top 10.

Two-time defending national champion UConn jumped seven spots to No. 11 after beating then-No. 8 Gonzaga. The Huskies were followed by Texas A&M, the Bulldogs, the Sooners and Houston, which remained in 15th place.

Purdue fell five spots to No. 16 after its loss to the Aggies, and was followed by Ole Miss, UCLA, Cincinnati and Michigan State. Dayton entered the poll for the first time this season at No. 22, just behind Memphis, which returned after its win over Clemson. Wisconsin withdrew after its loss to Illinois, and Mississippi State withdrew after a narrow victory over McNeese State.

San Diego State, Michigan and Clemson rounded out the Top 25.

Higher average monitoring: Drake appeared on 11 ballots after an easy victory over St. Ambrose that kept first-year coach Ben McCollum's club undefeated. Utah State appeared on 10 ballots after defeating South Florida to give the Aggies their best start in school history.

“I've said all along, this is a place where you can win at a high level consistently, and we've proven that, right? Year after year,” Utah State coach Jarrod Calhoun said. “We never talked about making history. We never talked about that all week… It's about getting better every day. It's about enjoying the process.”

Going up and down: UConn made the biggest jump this week, moving up seven spots to No. 11 after beating Gonzaga. UCLA moved up six spots to No. 18 after beating Arizona for its eighth straight win, and Texas A&M moved up five spots to No. 12.

Michigan fell 10 spots to No. 24 after blowing its halftime lead in an 89-87 loss to Arkansas in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Clemson fell nine spots to No. 25, and Gonzaga and Purdue each fell five spots.

Inside and outside: Memphis spent a week ranked 16th earlier this season before losing to Arkansas State. The Tigers returned as Dayton made its season debut at the expense of Wisconsin and Mississippi State, which received the most votes of those outside the Top 25.

Conference surveillance: The SEC has eight teams in the Top 25 along with the top three outside the poll in Mississippi State, Arkansas and Missouri. The Big Ten has five, the Big 12 has four and the ACC and Big East two each. Nine leagues had a qualified team.