AP Top 25: Kanas remains No. 1, St. John’s makes first appearance in 5 years

Kansas remained atop the first Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll of the regular season after winning a matchup of basketball blue bloods, while Gonzaga and Auburn cracked the top five after impressive opening-week wins. St. John’s, led by Rick Pitino, joined the rankings.

The Jayhawks received 44 of 62 first-place votes after a home win against North Carolina, a game that saw Kansas blow a 20-point lead but hold 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 Tide getting six first-place votes and the Huskies getting seven.

Mark Few’s Zags moved up two spots to No. 4 after blowing out then-No. 8 Baylor to open the season, then pushing past Arizona State. Next came Bruce Pearl’s Tigers, who jumped six spots to No. 5 for the week’s biggest leap after beating then-No. 4 Houston. The Zags and Tigers earned the remaining five first-place votes.

Auburn was the only new arrival in a largely reshuffled top 10, with Duke rising one spot to No. 6 to lead the next group. Iowa State was seventh, followed by Houston, Arizona and UNC, which fell one spot after the loss at KU’s Allen Fieldhouse.

St. John’s jumping in at No. 22 marked a notable 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 Pitino.

This is the first time a Pitino-coached team has appeared in the Top 25 since the final poll of the 2016-17 season when he was at Louisville. Pitino was fired shortly before the next season amid a federal corruption investigation into college basketball, which had entangled the Cardinals and multiple other programs. Pitino spent three seasons at Iona (2020-23) before taking over at St. John’s before last season.

No. 21 Ohio State joined St. John’s as the week’s new arrivals, marking the Buckeyes’ first appearance since Jan. 2023.

Texas (No. 19) and UCLA (No. 22) fell out from the preseason poll.

After Auburn, Kentucky had the week’s next-biggest jump by rising four spots to No. 19 to start Mark Pope’s tenure, while No. 15 Marquette and No. 17 Cincinnati were next by climbing three spots.

In all, 13 teams climbed from their preseason poll position.

Texas A&M took the week’s biggest tumble, falling 10 spots to No. 23 after losing at UCF to open the season. Houston joined No. 12 Baylor by falling four spots after losses against ranked opponents.

In all, seven teams slid from the previous poll.

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 Ole Miss.

The Big 12 is next with six teams, followed by the Big East and Big Ten with four each. The ACC has two, while the West Coast Conference has one.

Here’s the full AP Top 25: 

1. Kansas 
2. Alabama 
3. UConn 
4. Gonzaga 
5. Auburn 
6. Duke 
7. Iowa St 
8. Houston 
9. Arizona 
10. UNC 
11. Tennessee 
12. Baylor
13. Purdue 
14. Creighton 
15. Marquette 
16. Indiana 
17. Cincinnati 
18. Arkansas 
19. Kentucky 
20. Florida 
21. Ohio State 
22. St. John’s 
23. Texas A&M 
24. Rutgers 
25. Ole Miss

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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