Kansas remained atop the first Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll of the regular season after winning a matchup of basketball bluebloods, while Gonzaga and Auburn moved into the top five after impressive opening week wins and Rick Pitino-led St. John’s joined the ranking added. .
The Jayhawks received 44 of 62 first-place votes after a home win against North Carolina, a game in which Kansas opened a 20-point lead but held on for a 92-89 win. That kept them ahead of Alabama and two-time reigning national champion UConn in an unchanged 1-2-3 lineup in the poll, with the Crimson Tide getting six first-place votes and the Huskies getting seven.
Mark Few’s Zags moved up two spots to No. 4 after knocking out then-No. 8 Baylor to open the season and then move past Arizona State. Next came Bruce Pearl’s Tigers, who jumped six spots to No. 5 for the biggest jump of the week after beating then-No. 5. 4 Houston. The Zags and Tigers earned the remaining five first-place votes.
Auburn was the only newcomer in a largely reshuffled top 10, with Duke moving up one spot to No. 6 to lead the next group. Iowa State was seventh, followed by Houston, Arizona and North Carolina, which fell one spot after the loss at KU’s Allen Fieldhouse.
Welcome back
St. John’s coming in at number 22 marked a remarkable return for two reasons. It marks the Red Storm’s first appearance since spending a week at No. 24 in January 2019, but it also marks a return for Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.
This marks the first time a Pitino-coached team has appeared in the Top 25 since the last poll of the 2016-17 season when he was at Louisville. Pitino was fired shortly before the following season amid a federal corruption investigation into college basketball that had ensnared the Cardinals and several other programs.
Pitino spent three seasons at Iona (2020-23) before taking over at St. John’s last season.
In and out
No. 21 Ohio State joined St. John’s as the newcomers of the week, marking the Buckeyes’ first appearance since January 2023.
Texas (No. 19) and UCLA (No. 22) dropped out of the preseason poll.
Rising
After Auburn, Kentucky had the second-biggest jump of the week by moving up four spots to No. 19 to start Mark Pope’s tenure, while No. 15 Marquette and No. 17 Cincinnati were next by moving up three spots.
A total of 13 teams have moved up from their rankings in the preseason poll.
Sliding
Texas A&M took the biggest fall of the week, falling 10 spots to No. 23 after losing at UCF to open the season. Houston joined No. 12 Baylor in dropping four spots after losses to ranked opponents.
A total of seven teams have dropped from the previous poll.
Watching conference
The Southeastern Conference led the way with eight ranked teams, including No. 11 Tennessee, No. 18 Arkansas under new coach John Calipari, No. 20 Florida and No. 25 Mississippi.
The Big 12 is next with six teams, followed by the Big East and Big Ten with four each. The Atlantic Coast Conference has two, while the West Coast Conference has one.
