Tennessee and Auburn remained at 1-2 atop the Associated Press men's college basketball poll. It's a fitting spot for a pair of Southeastern Conference teams considering the league placed 10 teams in Monday's AP Top 25.
The Volunteers (11-0) and Tigers (11-1) spent a third straight week in the same position, and it marked Auburn's fourth straight week at No. 2. They were part of a top 10 that included the same. Top 10 programs, albeit slightly reshuffled, with Kentucky dropping six spots to No. 10 after a loss to Ohio State.
The poll also included four additions that had previously been ranked this season, including No. 19 Mississippi State and No. 23 Arkansas to add to the SEC's season-long lineup.
The SEC has had as many as nine teams ranked three times this season, including in the preseason poll. This is the first time since at least the start of the 2012-13 season that a league has 10 qualified teams.
Iowa State was third, followed by Duke and Alabama to round out the top five. Florida, Kansas, Marquette and Oregon followed, with all of those teams moving up one spot as the Wildcats dropped to 10th.
Growing
San Diego State had the biggest jump among last week's ranked teams, moving up three spots to No. 20, while Oklahoma (12th), Cincinnati (17th) and Michigan State (18th) all moved up two spots. In total, 11 teams moved up at least one spot this week.
Sliding
While Kentucky suffered the biggest drop of the week, No. 21 Purdue and No. 22 UCLA also fell several spots. The Boilermakers fell five spots after a lopsided loss to Auburn, while the Bruins fell four spots after blowing a 16-point lead and falling by two to an unranked North Carolina team that opened the year ranked No. 9. .
No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 14 Gonzaga also fell one spot to complete the downward moves.
Status quo
Five teams maintained their positions from last week, starting with the Volunteers, Tigers and Cyclones at the top. Two-time reigning national champion UConn (No. 11) and Houston (No. 15) also remained in place.
Welcome
No. 24 Illinois and No. 25 Baylor joined Mississippi State and Arkansas as the week's polling newcomers and returnees.
The Bears were the highest-ranked of that group this year, opening the year at No. 8 and spending five weeks in the poll. The Razorbacks started at No. 16 and spent four weeks in the poll, while the Bulldogs and Illini each had a pair of one-week stints in November and December.
Goodbye (for now)
Memphis (No. 21), Dayton (No. 22), Michigan (No. 24) and Clemson (No. 25) were left out of the poll to make room for new teams.
Conference surveillance
While the SEC gobbled up spots, the AP Top 25 featured teams from a total of seven leagues.
The Big Ten, led by ninth-ranked league newcomer Oregon, had five teams to join the Big 12 in second place behind the SEC, while the Big East was the only other league with at least two ranked teams. .
The Atlantic Coast, West Coast, and Mountain West conferences each had one ranked team.
