Michigan State ascended to its highest ranking in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll this season on Monday with a move up one spot to No. 7 after another perfect week in Big Ten play. The Spartans went 2-0 on the week with wins over Illinois and Rutgers to improve to 8-0 in conference play. It is one of four remaining teams in the sport still unbeaten in league play along with Duke (ACC), Auburn (SEC) and Houston (Big 12).
The Spartans began the year unranked in the AP Top 25 poll but appeared in the rankings in Week 6 for the first time after an 8-2 start to the season which included wins over North Carolina, Minnesota and Nebraska at the time, and have steadily risen each of the last five weeks. They’ve yet to lose since Nov. 26 and own a 12-game winning streak in that span, tied for the second-longest active streak in college hoops.
The team with the longest active winning streak, Duke, once again held steady at No. 2 in this week’s poll for a second consecutive week firmly entrenched still behind unanimous No. 1 Auburn. The Tigers earned all 62 available first-place votes for a second consecutive week, and the entire top-five remained unchanged behind the two as Iowa State, Alabama and Florida remained at Nos. 3-5.
AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:
Also receiving votes: Michigan 129, Maryland 116, Utah St. 99, Clemson 92, Arizona 47, Saint Mary’s 45, Gonzaga 34, Texas 22, Creighton 12, Baylor 8, New Mexico 4, VCU 4, West Virginia 3, Oklahoma 2, Bradley 1, UCLA 1.
Vanderbilt ranked for first time in nine years
It comes at a steep cost (Vandy was hit over the weekend by the SEC for court-storming following its 74-69 win over Kentucky) but the Commodores are ranked, coming in at No. 24 in the first season under Mark Byington. It’s the first time the since Dec. 2015 that Vanderbilt is in the AP Top 25 poll. The Wildcats dropped from No. 9 last week to No. 12 in this week’s poll.
SEC flexes its muscles again
With Vanderbilt appearing in the rankings this week, the SEC once again led all conferences with 10 ranked teams — five more than the Big Ten;s five ranked teams. Vandy’s appearance also marks the 14th different SEC team to be in the rankings this season.
UConn once again hangs in
With three losses in its last five games imcluding a 76-72 loss at Xavier over the weekend, UConn fell six spots in the rankings and once again narrowly avoided falling out of the Top 25. It’s the second time this season UConn has taken a big fall after a rough week and snagged at No. 25, the last time coming after its three-game losing skid during the Maui Invitational in November.