The top five of the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll remained unchanged Monday, with defending national champion UConn still ahead of powerhouse Purdue, beating North Carolina, defensive-minded Houston and Tennessee.
There was a lot of chaos in the rest of the poll, where 10 teams moved up at least five spots one way or another.
The Huskies remained the clear No. 1, earning four more first-place votes after a 99-56 rout of Xavier for their eighth straight victory. They topped the poll with 48 of 63 votes from the national media panel, while the Boilermakers received 14 No. 1 votes and the Cougars took the remaining.
“I think last January helped us a lot,” UConn coach Danny Hurley said. “We went through an absolutely devastating month of January, so we went into games not necessarily afraid of losing. We walked through fire and still dominated the NCAA tournament last year.
“So in a weird way,” Hurley said, “we're not afraid of losing a game, and we go out and really attack those games.”
The Boilermakers remained in the No. 2 spot after reigning AP Player of the Year Zach Edey scored 26 points in a win over Rutgers, making him the sixth Big Ten player with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
The third-ranked Tar Heels extended their winning streak to 10 with wins over Wake Forest and Florida State, while the Cougars held off No. 21 BYU and Kansas State to remain at No. 4. Tennessee beat Vanderbilt to remain fifth .
That's where the wild movement in the polls begins.
Wisconsin suffered a series of losses by top 10 teams and wins over Minnesota and Michigan State, moving up seven spots to No. 6 for the Badgers' highest ranking since Dec. 28, 2020. Duke moved up five spots to No. 6. 7th place and was followed by Kansas, Marquette and Kentucky, which fell four positions after its loss to South Carolina last week.
Arizona was ranked No. 11, while Iowa State made the biggest jump, jumping 11 spots to No. 12 after beating Kansas State and seventh-ranked Kansas. The Cyclones were followed by Creighton, Illinois and Texas Tech, which moved up five spots after their win over Oklahoma and entered the week atop the Big 12 at 16-3 overall and 5-1 in the league.
Auburn fell eight spots to No. 16 after consecutive losses to Alabama and Mississippi State, and was followed by Utah State and Baylor. New Mexico rose six spots to No. 19 after ending a nine-game losing streak to Nevada with an 89-55 rout. Florida Atlantic survived a fight with North Texas and made it to 20th place.
The bottom five consisted of Dayton, BYU and Oklahoma, which fell 12 spots after their losses to Texas and Texas Tech, along with Alabama and TCU, which returned to the poll after falling earlier this season.
Up and down
Iowa State made one of the biggest jumps of the season, moving to No. 12. Wisconsin moved up seven spots; New Mexico was up six; and Duke, Marquette and Texas Tech moved up five spots.
The Cyclones' gain came in part at the expense of Oklahoma, which fell 12 spots to No. 23. Auburn fell eight spots and Dayton fell five after the Flyers' blowout loss to Richmond.
In and out
Alabama reached No. 17 early in the season before falling on Nov. 27, and TCU joined the Crimson Tide in returning to the Top 25 for the first time since spending a week at No. 19 in mid-January.
Memphis fell from No. 19 in the poll after falling to UAB, its third straight loss to an unranked team. Colorado State also bowed out after a loss to Nevada and an overtime loss to Wyoming.
at the door
South Carolina went from receiving no votes last week to having the most schools outside the Top 25. The Gamecocks, who went 11-21 last season, improved to 17-3 overall under coach sophomore Lamont Paris with his wins over Kentucky and Missouri.
Conference surveillance
The Big East, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and SEC each have a top-five team; in fact, they each had two in the top 10. But the Big 12 still leads the overall Top 25 count with eight teams qualified after the Horned Frogs returned to the polls this week.
