Purdue, Arizona top AP college basketball poll

Purdue remained at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while Arizona jumped to No. 2 to continue its opening-month rise after another impressive win against a ranked opponent.

The Boilermakers (6-0) earned 46 of 61 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to remain at the top after beating then-No. 15 Texas Tech by 30 to win the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas.

The Wildcats (5-0) earned 11 first-place votes to jump two spots. That came after last week’s win at then-No. 3 UConn, part of run that began with a victory over reigning NCAA champion Florida in Las Vegas and a win against a ranked UCLA team in Los Angeles.

Arizona was ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25, but jumped to No. 5 after the Florida win before inching up to No. 4 last week.

Houston, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this month, slid a spot to No. 3 to make room for the Wildcats, while Duke and UConn rounded out the top five.

Louisville, Michigan, Alabama, BYU and Florida rounded out the top 10, with the Crimson Tide rising from No. 11 after its win against then-No. 8 Illinois in Chicago.

No. 11 Michigan State had the week’s biggest jump, climbing six spots after beating Kentucky in the Champions Classic.

No. 17 Tennessee climbed three spots, while No. 16 North Carolina and No. 23 N.C. State each rose two spots.

Kentucky’s 17-point loss to the Spartans triggered the week’s biggest fall of seven spots to No. 19, while the 13th-ranked Illini and 20th-ranked Red Raiders each tumbled five spots.

In all, six teams fell from last week’s poll.

No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Indiana were the new additions to the poll, replacing Wisconsin (No. 23 last week) and Kansas (24th).



(AP Photo Michael Conroy)