Kansas strengthened its hold on the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll on Monday, while the rest of the top 10 became a mix of teams swapping spots.
The Jayhawks earned five first-place votes, receiving 49 from a 61-person media panel. No. 2 UConn got seven first-place votes, No. 3 Gonzaga got two and No. 4 Auburn three. Iowa State moved up two spots to round out the top five.
The confusion began with No. 8 Alabama's 87-78 loss to No. 6 Purdue, a game that dropped the Crimson Tide six spots and moved the Boilermakers up seven. The losses to Duke and Arizona further shook the top 10.
The No. 12 Blue Devils fell six spots from last week after their 77-72 loss to No. 9 Kentucky. The Wildcats moved up 10 spots for their first top-10 ranking this season. Arizona lost 103-88 at No. 19 Wisconsin and fell eight spots to No. 17. The Badgers are ranked for the first time this season.
Kansas backed up its win over North Carolina in the first week of the season by beating Michigan State and Oakland last week.
UConn continued to make progress in its bid for a third straight national championship, defeating Le Moyne 90-49. Gonzaga crushed UMass Lowell, Auburn topped Kent State and Iowa State beat Kansas City by 26.
No. 7 Houston moved up one spot, bouncing back from a 74-69 loss to Auburn by defeating Louisiana.
ON THE INCREASE
Wisconsin had to reload its roster after an upset loss to James Madison in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.
Coach Greg Gard filled in the gaps with some solid additions through the transfer portal, but the Badgers were still picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten.
The projections could have been wrong.
After posting three easy wins against smaller conference schools, Wisconsin made some waves by sweeping Arizona. John Tonje scored 41 points, two shy of the school record, and the Badgers never trailed in a convincing victory over a top-10 team that led to an impassioned postgame speech by Gard.
WHO IS INSIDE; WHO'S OUT
No. 25 Illinois joined Wisconsin as the only teams to rank in the top 25. The Illini defeated Oakland 66-54 last week.
Ole Miss dropped out of the 25th spot despite beating South Alabama and Colorado State last week. Ohio State fell from No. 21 after its 78-64 loss to No. 23 Texas A&M.
BIG MOVES
Arizona had the biggest drop, losing eight spots. Alabama and Duke were next, each dropping six spots.
Kentucky had the biggest jump among teams already in the poll, moving up 10 spots and Purdue was next at seven.
CONFERENCE MONITORING
The Southeastern Conference led the way with seven ranked teams, including No. 11 Tennessee, No. 20 Arkansas and No. 21 Florida.
The Big 12 has six teams in the poll and the Big Ten five, followed by the Big East with four. The Atlantic Coast Conference has two, while the West Coast Conference has one.
