ARIZONA WILDCATS BASKETBALL

Arizona hoops sniffing AP top 25 again with 4-0 start in Big 12

Jan 13, 2025, 2:32 PM

Caleb Love #1, Henri Veesaar #13, and Trey Townsend #4 of the Arizona Wildcats celebrate in the sec...

Caleb Love #1, Henri Veesaar #13, and Trey Townsend #4 of the Arizona Wildcats celebrate in the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Fifth Third Arena on January 04, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

The Arizona Wildcats won their sixth game in a row and remain with No. 2 Iowa State and No. 10- Houston as Big 12 teams that remain undefeated through four conference games.

With that, Arizona is four spots out outside the top 25 of The Associated Press’ men’s basketball rankings.

The Wildcats tallied road victories over top 25 teams Cincinnati (16th) and West Virginia (21st) last week before beating UCF at home on Saturday.

Arizona next faces No. 25 Baylor on Tuesday night. The Bears are coming off a road win against Arizona State.

There’s a new No. 1 atop the AP top 25 rankings for men’s basketball

Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history, while fellow SEC program Georgia is in the rankings for the first time in 14 years.

Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (15-1) claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot Monday after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Florida, to end a five-week reign at the top. Auburn has been No. 1 only once before in the AP Top 25, during a three-week stint in January and February of 2022, and is the third team to sit atop the poll this season.

Auburn’s only loss came at Duke in early December and the Tigers have won eight straight games, though there is no word on when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday’s win over South Carolina.

The Tigers’ rise made them the headliner in another SEC-heavy poll, with the league having nine teams in the AP top 25 — including three of the top five and five of the top 10.

Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each claimed a first-place vote.

After Iowa State, the Big 12 is also represented by No. 9 Kansas, No. 10 Houston and No. 25 Baylor.

Men’s basketball AP top 25 rankings  – Jan. 13

Record Pts Prv
1. Auburn (60) 15-1 1548 2
2. Iowa St. 14-1 1469 3
3. Duke (1) 14-2 1403 4
4. Alabama 14-2 1338 5
5. Florida (1) 15-1 1326 8
6. Tennessee 15-1 1251 1
7. Marquette 14-2 1184 7
8. Kentucky 13-3 1039 6
9. Kansas 12-3 983 11
10. Houston 12-3 935 12
11. Texas A&M 13-3 883 10
12. Michigan St. 14-2 797 16
13. Oregon 15-2 781 15
14. UConn 13-4 665 9
15. Mississippi St. 14-2 624 14
16. Gonzaga 14-4 569 18
17. Purdue 13-4 553 20
18. Memphis 13-3 511 19
19. Illinois 12-4 496 13
20. Michigan 13-3 418 24
21. Mississippi 14-2 351 23
22. Utah St. 16-1 250 25
23. Georgia 14-2 221
24. Wisconsin 13-3 132
25. Baylor 11-4 119

Others receiving votes: St. John’s 83, Oklahoma 63, West Virginia 61, Arizona 26, Louisville 17, Texas Tech 12, Maryland 11, Clemson 8, Missouri 8, Cincinnati 4, San Diego St. 4, Saint Mary’s 3, UC Irvine 2, New Mexico 2.

USA Today Coaches poll for men’s basketball – Jan. 13

Rank School (record) Points Last week’s rank First-place votes
1 Auburn (15-1) 768 2 25
2 Iowa State (14-1) 739 3 5
3 Duke (14-2) 705 4 0
4 Florida (15-1) 649 8 0
5 Alabama (14-2) 648 5 0
6 Tennessee (15-1) 626 1 1
7 Marquette (14-2) 587 6 0
8 Houston (12-3) 522 11 0
9 Kentucky (13-3) 514 7 0
10 Kansas (12-3) 460 12 0
11 Texas A&M (13-3) 425 9 0
12 Michigan State (14-2) 424 14 0
13 Connecticut (13-4) 345 10 0
14 Oregon (15-2) 343 17 0
15 Purdue (13-4) 294 19 0
16 Gonzaga (14-4) 285 18 0
17 Memphis (13-3) 272 20 0
18 Mississippi State (14-2) 267 13 0
19 Michigan (13-3) 231 24 0
20 Illinois (12-4) 223 15 0
21 Mississippi (14-2) 195 22 0
22 Utah State (16-1) 143 25 0
23 Georgia (14-2) 80 NR 0
24 Baylor (11-4) 72 NR 0
25 West Virginia (12-3) 69 23 0

Others receiving votes: St. John’s (14-3) 52; Arizona (10-5) 29; Wisconsin (13-3) 29; New Mexico (14-3) 19; Oklahoma (13-3) 14; UCLA (11-5) 12; Maryland (12-4) 8; Texas Tech (11-4) 6; Clemson (13-4) 5; Saint Mary’s (15-3) 4; Indiana (13-4) 3; Louisville (12-5) 3; Missouri (13-3) 2; San Diego State (10-4) 2; UC Irvine (15-2) 1.

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