Tennessee leads AP poll again; top 6 unchanged
NEW YORK — Tennessee stayed atop the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a second straight week.
First-place votes in parentheses
The Volunteers 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, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) has won 14 straight games — the program’s longest winning streak since the 1922-23 season and one shy of the school record — since suffering a neutral-court loss to Kansas in November.
The top six teams in the poll remained unchanged, with Duke sitting at No. 2, followed by Virginia, Gonzaga, Michigan and Michigan State. The Spartans stayed put despite suffering their first Big Ten loss at Purdue in a game that helped lift the Boilermakers back into the poll.
Kentucky moved past Nevada to reach No. 7, while North Carolina and Marquette each rose two spots to round out the top 10.
No. 15 Louisville moved up eight spots for the week’s biggest jump after improving to 6-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while No. 19 LSU rose six spots. No. 13 Houston, No. 14 Villanova and No. 20 Iowa State each jumped four spots.
No. 17 Purdue, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Florida State returned to the poll after being ranked for multiple weeks earlier this season.
Maryland had the week’s biggest slide among ranked teams, falling eight spots to No. 21. Auburn, Iowa and Mississippi fell out of the poll.