Auburn now unanimous no. 1; Duke moves to No. 2

A wild week of disturbances and legal storms led to a massive shake-up in the city AP Top 25.

One constant: Auburn.

The Tigers were the unanimous pick at No. 1 in the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday, holding onto the top spot after a week in which 19 ranked teams lost at least once — including seven teams in the top 10.

Auburn claimed the program’s second No. 1 last week and won both of its games despite playing without injured big man Johni Broome. Tigers rolled over no. 14 Mississippi State 88-66 and survived a late comeback to beat then-No. 19 Georgia 70-68.

2. Duke moved up a spot after winning both of its games last week, trading spots with No. 3 at Iowa State, which blew out No. 12 Kansas but lost to no. 23 West Virginia. Alabama and Florida rounded out the top five despite each losing a game last week.

Only three teams — Alabama, Florida and No. 6 Tennessee – had the same spot from a week ago. The chaotic week allowed the no. 8 in Michigan State to move into the top 10 for the first time this season and No. 22 in Missouri in the poll for the first time since 2022-23.

The rise of Louisville

Louisville has made quite a turnaround under first-year coach Pat Kelsey.

The Cardinals won a combined 12 games the previous two seasons, but are playing some of their best basketball in years. After a three-game skid, Louisville has won eight straight to enter the poll for the first time in four years at No. 25. Last week, the Cardinals won at Syracuse for the first time in eight years and finished the week by sweeping Virginia for the first time since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013.

Rising Red Storm

No. 20 St. John’s moved back up the poll this week and has its highest ranking since reaching no. 15 on December 29, 2014 under coach Steve Lavin. The Red Storm, in their second season under Rick Pitino, moved into first place in the Big East with their win over Seton Hall and Marquette’s loss to Xavier. They haven’t won a share of the Big East regular season title since 1992.

St. John’s (16-3) is off to its best start through 19 games since opening 17-2 (eventually 20-2) in 1985-86. And the Johnnies are 7-1 in Big East play for the first time since opening 8-1 in 1998-99.

Rises and falls

No. 11 Purdue and no. 18 Wisconsin had the biggest jump among the teams in the poll, each climbing six spots. No. 16 Ole Miss is up five spots after splitting games against No. 4 Alabama and no. 14 Mississippi State.

No. 24 Memphis had the biggest drop of the week, dropping six spots after losing to Temple and beating Charlotte. Two-time NCAA champion UConn fell five spots to No. 19 after seeing its 28-game home winning streak end with a 68-63 loss to Creighton.

Welcome back

No. 22 Missouri is ranked for the first time this season after ending Florida’s 16-game home winning streak and posting an 18-point victory over Arkansas. No. 23 West Virginia is back in the poll after knocking off Iowa State.

Louisville had not been ranked since reaching No. 25 on 25 January 2021.

Three ranked teams lost both of their games last week and dropped out of the poll.

Gonzaga lost to Oregon State and Santa Clara and fell out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since the beginning of last year. Georgia dropped from No. 23 after losses to Tennessee and Auburn. Baylor, no. 25 a week ago, is out after losses to Arizona and TCU.

Utah State’s stay in the AP Top 25 lasted two weeks. The Aggies fell from No. 22 after a 65-62 loss to UNLV.

Conference clock

The SEC has eight ranked teams after Georgia fell out of the poll, including five in the top 10.

The Big Ten was next with six, followed by the Big 12 with five. The Big East and Atlantic Coast each had two ranked teams, with the American Athletic and Mountain West conferences at one each.