Auburn retained its spot at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll Monday despite its first loss in SEC play this weekend but paid the price by losing its unanimous status among voters. The Tigers edged out Alabama for No. 1 but garnered just 34 of a possible 62 first-place votes.
The Crimson Tide, which moved up one spot this week, received 23 first-place votes, while Florida received three and Tennessee received one.
It marks the fifth consecutive week Auburn is at the top of the AP poll , but ends a streak of three weeks in which it was the unanimous No. 1. The Tigers fell to No. 2 in the Coaches Poll with Alabama supplanting the Tigers at No. 1.
College basketball rankings: Why Auburn deserves to be voted the No. 1 team in the country
Gary Parrish
Duke and Florida are tied at No. 3. Tennessee rounded out the top five at No. 5, falling one spot to make way for Florida’s three-spot leap into the top three after defeating No. 1 Auburn on Saturday.
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: UCLA 123, UConn 106, Illinois 59, Louisville 53, New Mexico 40, Drake 21, Saint Mary’s 20, Utah St. 8, George Mason 7, Gonzaga 5.
St. John’s makes push into top 10
Following Friday night’s 68-62 road win over UConn to extend its winning streak to 10 games, St. John’s rose three spots up to No. 9 in this week’s poll, the first time it has been inside the top 10 of the AP poll since finishing the 1999-2000 season at No. 9.
It’s the first time since Jan. 28, 1991, St. John’s is the highest-ranked Big East team in an in-season AP poll, per ESPN.
UConn poll streak ends
Back-to-back national champion UConn dropped out of the poll this week from No. 19 to unranked following its home loss to St. John’s, ending the nation’s fourth-longest active streak (53 weeks) of being ranked. The Huskies fell to No. 25 in the Week 5 and Week 13 poll earlier this season but Friday’s loss, their fourth in the last eight games, pushed them out.
Gators charge to No. 3
No. 3 Florida has its highest ranking in the AP poll since reaching No. 1 in the 2013-14 season after defeating No. 1 Auburn on the road Saturday. It was the program’s second win over a No. 1-ranked team this season after defeating then-No. 1 Tennessee 73-43 on Jan. 7.
