The high 5 of the AP Top 25 males’s school basketball ballot remained unchanged Monday with defending nationwide champ UConn nonetheless forward of mighty Purdue, streaking North Carolina, defensive-minded Houston and Tennessee.
There was loads of chaos in the remainder of the ballot, the place 10 groups moved not less than 5 positions a method or one other.
The Huskies had been nonetheless the clear No. 1, selecting up 4 extra first-place votes after a 99-56 rout of Xavier for his or her eighth straight win. They topped the ballot on 48 of 63 ballots from the nationwide panel of media, whereas the Boilermakers obtained 14 votes for No. 1 and the Cougars picked up the remaining one.
“I think last January helped us a lot,” UConn coach Danny Hurley mentioned. “We went through an absolutely crushing month of January, so we go into games not necessarily afraid to lose. We walked through the fire and still dominated the NCAA Tournament last year.
“So in a weird way,” Hurley mentioned, “we’re not afraid to drop a game, and we go out and we’re really attacking these games.”
The Boilermakers remained No. 2 after reigning AP participant of the yr Zach Edey scored 26 factors in a win over Rutgers, which made him solely the sixth Big Ten participant with not less than 2,000 factors and 1,000 rebounds.
The third-ranked Tar Heels prolonged their profitable streak to 10 with wins over Wake Forest and Florida State, whereas the Cougars stymied No. 21 BYU and Kansas State to stay at No. 4. Tennessee beat Vanderbilt to stay fifth.
That’s the place the wild motion within the ballot begins.
Wisconsin rode a slew of losses by high-10 groups, and wins over Minnesota and Michigan State, to climb seven spots to No. 6 for the Badgers’ greatest rating since Dec. 28, 2020. Duke climbed 5 spots to No. 7, and was adopted by Kansas, Marquette and Kentucky, which fell 4 positions following its loss to South Carolina final week.
Arizona was No. 11 whereas Iowa State made the largest leap, vaulting 11 spots to No. 12 after beating Kansas State and seventh-ranked Kansas. The Cyclones had been adopted by Creighton, Illinois and Texas Tech, which moved up 5 spots after its win over Oklahoma and headed into the week atop the Big 12 at 16-3 total and 5-1 in league play.
Auburn tumbled eight spots to No. 16 after again-to-again losses to Alabama and Mississippi State, and was adopted by Utah State and Baylor. New Mexico moved up six positions to No. 19 after ending a 9-recreation shedding streak to Nevada with an 89-55 rout. Florida Atlantic survived a slugfest with North Texas and got here in at No. 20.
The ultimate 5 consisted of Dayton, BYU and Oklahoma — which fell 12 spots after its losses to Texas and Texas Tech — together with Alabama and TCU, who each returned to the ballot after falling out earlier this season.
Iowa State made one of many largest jumps of the season with its transfer to No. 12. Wisconsin moved up seven spots, New Mexico moved up six and Duke, Marquette and Texas Tech all superior 5 spots.
Their achieve got here partially on the expense of Oklahoma, which tumbled 12 spots to No. 23. Auburn dropped eight spots and Dayton fell 5 after the Flyers’ court docket-storming loss to Richmond.
Alabama was as excessive as No. 17 early within the season earlier than falling out on Nov. 27, whereas TCU joined the Crimson Tide in returning to the Top 25 for the primary time since spending per week at No. 19 in mid-January.
Memphis dropped from No. 19 out of the ballot after falling to UAB, its third straight loss to an unranked crew. Colorado State additionally dropped out after a loss to Nevada and an additional time loss to Wyoming.
South Carolina went from receiving no votes final week to probably the most of any faculty exterior the Top 25. The Gamecocks, who had been 11-21 final season, improved to 17-3 total underneath second-yr coach Lamont Paris with their wins over Kentucky and Missouri.
The Big East, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and SEC every have a high-5 crew — in actual fact, every had two within the high 10. But the Big 12 nonetheless leads the general Top 25 depend with eight ranked groups after the Horned Frogs returned to the ballot this week.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
