Kansas strengthens grip on No. 1 spot in AP Top 25; Miami earned its first top-10 ranking since 2018
Kansas’ comeback win in a landmark game kept the Jayhawks firmly at the top Associated Press poll of the top 25 men in college basketball Monday as Miami climbed to its highest ranking in nearly five years.
The Jayhawks remained at No. 1 and Miami rose to No. 10, replacing a slumping Florida Atlantic in the only major change at the top of the standings.
Kansas (3-0) They rose from 14 down to beat Kentucky In the Champions Classic last week, led by a huge game from big man Hunter Dickenson in her only game of the week. That helped the Jayhawks pick up an additional first-place vote from last week, topping 52 of 61 ballots.
The Hurricanes (5-0) offered the only change at the top level of the poll after beating Kansas State to win the Baja Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship. They moved up two places to finish in the top 10 for the first time since they spent four weeks there early in the 2017-18 season.
Miami displaces Florida Atlantic, which opened the year in 10th place after last year’s Final Four run but fell nine spots to 19th in the biggest drop of the week. After losing at home to Bryant.
There is potential for more change next week with the Thanksgiving holiday cycles. The loaded Maui Invitational field includes five of Kansas’ top 11 teams, No. 2 Purdue, No. 4 Marquette, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 11 Gonzaga.
Upper class
Arizona checked in at No. 3 and NCAA champion Connecticut was No. 5, followed by No. 6 Houston, Tennessee, Creighton, Duke and Miami.
increasing
Colorado made its biggest jump this week, rising seven spots to No. 18 to extend the program’s first stay in the poll since the end of the 2020-21 season.
North Carolina was next, jumping six spots to No. 14, followed by No. 17 Alabama (five spots) and No. 15 Texas (four).
In all, nine teams rose from last week’s poll.
On the fade
There were several large segments in the poll behind the Owls.
No. 23 USC dropped seven points after losing at home to UC Irvine, while No. 20 Arkansas dropped six points after losing to UNC Greensboro at home.
No. 21 Michigan State was the fourth and final team to fall from last week, down three points after losing to Duke in the Tournament of Champions Classic. The Spartans rebounded with big wins over Butler and Alcorn State.
the current situation
Ten teams remained in their positions last week, including the Zags.
Welcome
No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Mississippi State were the new additions this week, as the Bulldogs cracked the poll for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
Goodbye (for now)
Villanova (No. 21) and Illinois (No. 23) dropped out of the poll.
Conference monitoring
The Southeastern Conference led the way with six ranked teams, including No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 16 Kentucky. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conferences were next with four each.
The Pac-12 and Big East conferences each had three ranked teams, followed by the Big Ten with two. The American Athletic Conference, Sun Belt Conference and West Coast Conference rounded out the field with one each.
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