College basketball rankings: UConn remains in AP Top 25 poll; Tennessee, Kentucky move into top five

Back-to-back NCAA Tournament champion UConn narrowly avoided falling out of the AP Top 25 college basketball poll entirely on Monday after an 0-3 week at the Maui Invitational in which it lost to three unranked teams in as many days. The Huskies dropped 23 spots from No. 2 to No. 25 to keep its ranked streak alive. The AP poll has included UConn in its top 25 in every poll since the preseason rankings ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Auburn moved up two spots to the No. 2 spot UConn previously held, while Tennessee, Kentucky and Marquette all benefited in part from UConn’s precipitous fall in the rankings to move into the top five.

No. 1 Kansas retained its spot atop the poll for a fifth consecutive week, though its grasp loosened a smidge after Auburn’s run last week in Hawaii culminated with a Maui Invitational title. The Jayhawks went from earning 51 first-place votes last week to 35 this week. Auburn was the only team to siphon first-place votes from them, earning 26. It had a total 1,490 points in the poll to KU’s 1,499.

AP Top 25

1. Kansas (35)
2. Auburn (26)
3. Tennessee
4. Kentucky
5. Marquette
6. Iowa State
7. Gonzaga
8. Purdue
9. Duke
10. Alabama
11. Wisconsin
12. Oregon
13. Florida
14. Cincinnati
15. Baylor
16. Memphis
17. Houston
18. Pittsburgh
19. Illinois
20. North Carolina
21. Oklahoma
22. Texas A&M
23. Ole Miss
24. San Diego State
25. UConn

Also receiving votes: Michigan State, 108, Arkansas 104, Texas 97, Michigan 95, Arizona State 89, Indiana 72, Drake 58, Xavier 33, Utah State 28, Louisville 27, West Virginia 26, Clemson 25, BYU 24, Dayton 24, Texas Tech 22, Nebraska 22, Mississippi State 20, Ohio State 19, Maryland 13, UCLA 13, Creighton 12, Saint Mary’s 11, Georgia 10, St. John’s 7, Loyola Chicago 4, Florida State 3, DePaul 3, UC Irvine 2, Columbia 2.