Arizona falls out of No. 1 ranking; Grand Canyon earns top-25 AP votes

Purdue's win against Arizona on Saturday moved the Wildcats out of the No. 1 spot in the men's college basketball rankings by the AP.

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dec 18, 2023, 11:13 AM Updated: 11:25 am

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Braden Smith #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers shoots the ball against KJ Lewis #5 of the Arizona Wildcats during the second half in the Indy Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on December 16, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

(Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Purdue’s slide from No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll turned out to be brief.

The Boilermakers headlined Monday’s latest poll for the second time this season after beating former No. 1 Arizona over the weekend. The Wildcats had spent two weeks at No. 1 after Purdue’s loss to Northwestern ended the Boilermakers’ stint at the top after one week.

The Wildcats fell to fourth. Elsewhere in the state Grand Canyon Antelopes earned two votes in the AP poll, with six wins in a row and a 9-1 record bolstered by a victory against then-ranked San Diego State on Dec. 5.

Purdue received 48 of 62 first-place votes in the latest poll to jump from third with the Arizona win, which marked the program’s first win against a No. 1 team in 23 years. It also marked the latest impressive nonconference win to a resume that already includes ranked teams in Gonzaga, Tennessee and Marquette.

Preseason No. 1 Kansas stayed at No. 2 with six first-place votes, while Houston moved up one spot to No. 3 and had the other eight votes.

UConn, Marquette, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky and Baylor rounded out the top 10.

No. 23 Memphis and No. 25 Mississippi were the week’s new additions. Miami (No. 24) and Northwestern (No. 25) fell out from last week.

Men’s college basketball AP rankings – Dec. 18

	Record	Pts	Prv
1. Purdue (48)	10-1	1534	3
2. Kansas (6)	10-1	1457	2
3. Houston (8)	11-0	1394	4
4. Arizona	8-1	1372	1
5. UConn	10-1	1367	5
6. Marquette	9-2	1235	7
7. Oklahoma	10-0	1062	11
8. Tennessee	8-3	983	12
9. Kentucky	8-2	981	14
10. Baylor	9-1	896	6
11. North Carolina	7-3	773	9
12. Creighton	9-2	734	8
13. Illinois	8-2	727	16
14. FAU	9-2	716	15
15. Gonzaga	8-3	642	10
16. Colorado St.	10-1	588	17
17. BYU	10-1	569	18
18. Clemson	9-1	501	13
19. Texas	8-2	449	19
20. James Madison	10-0	442	20
21. Duke	7-3	311	21
22. Virginia	9-1	287	22
23. Memphis	8-2	274	–
24. Wisconsin	8-3	269	23
25. Mississippi	10-0	180	–

Others receiving votes: Miami 97, Auburn 87, Colorado 84, Utah 37, Iowa St. 24, Ohio St. 12, Michigan St. 10, TCU 10, Texas A&M 9, San Diego St. 8, Northwestern 5, Providence 5, Alabama 3, Dayton 3, Nevada 3, New Mexico 2, Grand Canyon 2, Washington 2, Saint Joseph’s 2, South Carolina 1, Mississippi St. 1.