Auburn closes gap on No. 1 Tennessee in AP basketball poll

Tennessee held onto No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the second consecutive week, though No. 2 Auburn closed the gap as the top five remained unchanged in the men’s college basketball poll Monday.

The Volunteers received 50 first-place votes from the national media panel after wins over Miami and Illinois pushed coach Rick Barnes’ program to 10-0 for only the fifth time in school history. Auburn picked up nine first-place votes from last week and had 12 total. Iowa State, Duke and Kentucky rounded out the top five.

Tennessee is among five unbeatens left in men’s Division I basketball and one of three from the Southeastern Conference, joining No. 7 Florida (10-0)and No. 14 Oklahoma (10-0). Drake (9-0) and Utah State (10-0) also enter this week undefeated.

Auburn improved to 9-1 with its 91-53 blowout of Ohio State in Atlanta. Johni Broome showed the way with 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Tigers’ first 20-20 game in 35 years, then he raced back to Auburn for his graduation Saturday night.

The SEC continued to dominate the Top 25 with the Vols and Tigers joined by Kentucky, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Florida in giving the league five of the top seven. Kansas moved up two spots to No. 8 while Marquette and Oregon rounded out the top 10.

Purdue dropped five spots to No. 16 after its loss to the Aggies, and was followed by Ole Miss, UCLA, Cincinnati and Michigan State. Dayton entered the poll for the first time this season at No. 22, just behind Memphis, which returned after its win over Clemson. Wisconsin dropped out after its loss to Illinois while Mississippi State fell out after a narrow win over McNeese State.

San Diego State, Michigan and Clemson round out the Top 25.

The SEC has eight teams in the Top 25 along with the first three outside the poll in Mississippi State, Arkansas and Missouri. The Big Ten has five, the Big 12 has four, and the ACC and Big East two apiece.


(AP Photo Craig Pessman)