Kansas’ comeback victory in a remarkable matchup kept the Jayhawks firmly entrenched atop the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll on Monday, while Miami climbed to its highest ranking in nearly five years.
The Jayhawks remained at No. 1 and Miami moved up to No. 10 to replace a falling Florida Atlantic in the only major change at the top of the rankings.
Kansas (3-0) rallied from 14 down to beat Kentucky in last week’s Champions Classic, led by a huge game from transfer great Hunter Dickinson in the week’s only game. That helped the Jayhawks get another first-place finish from last week, passing 52 of 61 votes.
The Hurricanes (5-0) offered the only change at the top level of the poll after beating Kansas State to win the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship. They moved up two spots to break into the top 10 for the first time since spending four weeks there at the start of the 2017-18 season.
Miami replaced Florida Atlantic, which opened the year at No. 10 after last year’s Final Four, but fell nine spots to No. 19 in the week’s biggest fall following its home loss to Bryant.
There is the potential for many more changes next week with the Thanksgiving holiday tournaments. The loaded field at the Maui Invitational features five of the top 11 teams in Kansas, No. 2 Purdue, the no. 4 Marquette, the no. 7 Tennessee and no. 11 of Gonzaga.
THE NEXT LEVEL
Arizona was ranked No. 3 and defending NCAA champion Connecticut was No. 5, followed by No. 6 Houston, Tennessee, Creighton, Duke and Miami.
INCREASING
Colorado posted its biggest jump of the 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 improved from last week’s poll.
ON THE FADE
There were many great slides in the survey behind the Owls.
No. 23 USC fell seven spots after a home loss to UC Irvine, while No. 20 Arkansas fell six spots after losing at home to UNC Greensboro.
No. 21 Michigan State was the fourth and final team to fall from last week, slipping three spots after a loss to Duke in the Champions Classic. The Spartans bounced back with wide-margin wins against Butler and Alcorn State.
STATUS QUO
Ten teams remained in place last week, including the Zags.
WELCOME
No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Mississippi State were the new additions of the week, with the Bulldogs topping 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 WATCH
The Southeastern Conference led the way with six ranked teams, including No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 16 Kentucky. The Atlantic Coast Conferences and Big 12 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 and West Coast Conference rounded out the field with one each.
THE TOP 25
1. Kansas (52 first-place votes) 3-0
2. Purdue (5) 3-0
3. Arizona (3) 5-0
4. Marquette 3-0
5. UConn (1) 4-0
6.Houston 6-0
7.Tennessee 3-0
8. Creighton 4-0
9. Duke 3-1
10. Miami 5-0
11. Gonzaga 2-0
12. Texas A&M 4-0
13. Baylor 4-0
14. North Carolina 3-0
15.Texas 4-0
16.Kentucky 3-1
17. Alabama 4-0
18.Colorado 3-0
19.FAUE 2-1
20. Arkansas 3-1
21. Michigan St. 3-2
22. James Madison 4-0
23. Southern Cal 3-1
24.Virginia 4-0
25. Mississippi St. 5-0
