Kentucky beat two ranked teams in a week. Where did that put Cats in latest poll?
With wins over two top 25 teams last week, Kentucky inched up one spot to No. 7 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll released Monday.
The Cats leaped over No. 8 Nevada, a team with just one top 25 win, but could not move past No. 6 Michigan State despite the Spartans’ loss at Purdue on Sunday. Like Kentucky, Michigan State also defeated two top 25 teams in the last seven days.
UK opened the week with a win over No. 22 Mississippi State and finished with a convincing win over then-No. 9 Kansas. The Bulldogs held onto their spot in the rankings after recovering to beat then-No. 16 Auburn later in the week. Kansas dropped to No. 11.
Tennessee earned 48 of 64 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to extend the program’s first stint at No. 1 since February 2008. Tennessee (18-1) has won 14 straight games.
The top six remained unchanged, with Duke sitting at No. 2, followed by Virginia, Gonzaga, Michigan and Michigan State. North Carolina and Marquette each rose two spots to round out the top 10.
No. 15 Louisville made the week’s biggest jump — moving up eight spots — while No. 17 Purdue, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Florida State returned to the rankings.
Auburn, Iowa and Mississippi fell out of the poll.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 27, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:
| | Record | Pts | Pvs |
1. Tennessee (48) | 18-1 | 1,575 | 1 |
2. Duke (12) | 17-2 | 1,527 | 2 |
3. Virginia (4) | 18-1 | 1,473 | 3 |
4. Gonzaga | 19-2 | 1,382 | 4 |
5. Michigan | 19-1 | 1,381 | 5 |
6. Michigan St. | 18-3 | 1,235 | 6 |
7. Kentucky | 16-3 | 1,226 | 8 |
8. Nevada | 19-1 | 1,158 | 7 |
9. North Carolina | 15-4 | 1,065 | 11 |
10. Marquette | 18-3 | 973 | 12 |
11. Kansas | 16-4 | 972 | 9 |
12. Virginia Tech | 16-3 | 858 | 10 |
13. Houston | 20-1 | 795 | 17 |
14. Villanova | 16-4 | 734 | 18 |
15. Louisville | 15-5 | 658 | 23 |
16. Texas Tech | 16-4 | 561 | 14 |
17. Purdue | 14-6 | 532 | — |
18. Buffalo | 18-2 | 468 | 14 |
19. LSU | 16-3 | 435 | 25 |
20. Iowa St. | 15-5 | 327 | 24 |
21. Maryland | 16-5 | 280 | 13 |
22. Mississippi St. | 15-4 | 236 | 22 |
23. N.C. State | 16-4 | 203 | 21 |
24. Wisconsin | 14-6 | 179 | — |
25. Florida St. | 15-5 | 141 | — |
Others receiving votes: Auburn 85, Cincinnati 76, Washington 75, Kansas St. 73, Oklahoma 41, Iowa 28, Wofford 10, Hofstra 9, TCU 7, Mississippi 7, Nebraska 6, Davidson 5, Syracuse 3, Minnesota 1.