Houston retained its spot at No. 1 in Monday's updated AP Top 25 men's college basketball rankings, holding off cross-state foe Texas, which gained ground on Houston's grip for the top spot but held steady at No. 2. Houston received 37 first-place votes to Texas' 14 after the gap was a 45-8 advantage in favor of the Cougars last week. No. 3 Virginia and No. 4 Purdue received three and eight first-place votes, respectively.
While Houston clung to its top spot, preseason No. 1 North Carolina's fall continued in the latest rankings, as it officially fell out of the top 25, marking the earliest a preseason No. 1 team has fallen out of the rankings in the AP Top 25 era. UNC opened its season 5-0 but has lost its last four, including to Indiana and Virginia Tech on the road in the last week. UCLA in 1965-66 had a similar fall from grace after the then-preseason No. 1 Bruins fell out of the rankings after just three weeks -- back when only 10 teams were ranked.
The top of the AP poll this week -- even while the top three remained the same -- also has a new look. Purdue moved up one spot to No. 4, UConn and Kansas jumped up three spots to No. 5 and No. 6, Tennessee moved from outside the top 10 to No. 7 and Alabama went from No. 11 to No. 8. Arkansas, which was also No. 11 last week tied with Alabama, moved up to No. 9, while Arizona stayed in the top 10 at No. 10 despite a surprising loss to Utah on Thursday.
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:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (37) | 8-0 | 1,502 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas (14) | 6-0 | 1,473 | 2 |
| 3 | Virginia (3) | 7-0 | 1,416 | 3 |
| 4 | Purdue (8) | 8-0 | 1,411 | 5 |
| 5 | UConn | 9-0 | 1,295 | 8 |
| 6 | Kansas | 8-1 | 1,131 | 9 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 7-1 | 1,046 | 13 |
| 8 | Alabama | 7-1 | 1,029 | T-11 |
| 9 | Arkansas | 7-1 | 1,021 | T-11 |
| 10 | Arizona | 7-1 | 1,013 | 4 |
| 11 | Auburn | 8-0 | 853 | 15 |
| 12 | Baylor | 6-2 | 841 | 6 |
| 13 | Maryland | 8-0 | 811 | 22 |
| 14 | Indiana | 7-1 | 759 | 18 |
| 15 | Duke | 8-2 | 745 | 17 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 6-2 | 596 | 19 |
| 17 | Illinois | 6-2 | 554 | 16 |
| 18 | Gonzaga | 5-3 | 517 | 14 |
| 19 | UCLA | 7-2 | 479 | 21 |
| 20 | Iowa State | 7-1 | 376 | 23 |
| 21 | Creighton | 6-3 | 346 | 7 |
| 22 | San Diego State | 6-2 | 265 | 24 |
| 23 | Mississippi State | 8-0 | 187 | NR |
| 24 | TCU | 6-1 | 113 | NR |
| 25 | Ohio State | 6-2 | 81 | 25 |
Others receiving votes: Iowa 70, Charleston 54, Miami 29, Virginia Tech 27, Arizona St 20, Utah 16, Wisconsin 16, UNLV 14, Texas Tech 10, West Virginia 8, Marquette 7, Xavier 6, New Mexico 3, Michigan State 3, Memphis 3, Missouri 2, North Carolina 1, Kansas State 1.
