Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Auburn rises to No. 1 in AP Top 25 after Tennessee loses, Georgia is ranked for 1st time since 2011

Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history

Aaron Beard
Monday 13 January 2025 13:03 EST
Kentucky Georgia Basketball
Kentucky Georgia Basketball (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men's basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history, while fellow Southeastern Conference program Georgia is in the rankings for the first time in 13 years.

Bruce Pearl's Tigers (15-1) claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot Monday after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Florida, to end a five-week reign at the top. Auburn has been No. 1 only once before in the AP Top 25, during a three-week stint in January and February of 2022, and is the third team to sit atop the poll this season.

Auburn's only loss came at Duke in early December and the Tigers have won eight straight games, though there is no word on when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday's win over South Carolina.

The Tigers' rise made them the headliner in another SEC-heavy poll, with the league having nine teams in the AP Top 25 — including three of the top five and five of the top 10.

Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each claimed a first-place vote.

The top tier

The Volunteers (15-1) had been No. 1 since Dec. 9 and stood as Division I's last unbeaten team before a 30-point loss to Florida. They recovered by beating Texas but still tumbled five spots to No. 6.

Marquette was next at No. 7 as the only team to stay at the same spot from last week, followed by Kentucky, preseason No. 1 Kansas and Houston to round out the top 10.

Rising

No. 12 Michigan State and No. 20 Michigan had the week's biggest jumps, each rising four spots. Florida and No. 17 Purdue were next by climbing three positions.

In all, 15 teams that were ranked last week moved up in the latest poll.

Falling

While Tennessee's tumble was notable, No. 19 Illinois had the week's biggest slide by falling six spots after a weekend home loss to Southern California.

Two-time reigning national champion UConn matched the Volunteers' five-spot decline, checking in at No. 14 after last week's loss at Villanova.

Six teams that were ranked last week moved down in Monday's poll.

Welcome

No. 23 Georgia, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Baylor were the week's new additions. And for Georgia, it's been a while.

Mike White's Bulldogs (14-2) have their first AP Top 25 ranking since spending a week at No. 24 in January 2011. That lone appearance had stood as the program's only time being ranked since the 2002-03 season, but the Bulldogs are coming off a week that featured wins against then-No. 6 Kentucky and then-No. 17 Oklahoma for the program's first back-to-back victories against ranked opponents since the 2006-07 season.

Both the Badgers and Bears have spent multiple weeks in the poll this season.

Farewell (for now)

West Virginia (No. 21) and UCLA (No. 22) joined the Sooners in falling out of this week's poll.

Conference watch

The SEC — which had 10 ranked teams on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 — had nine ranked teams for the fifth time this season, including No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 21 Mississippi.

The Big Ten was next with six, followed by the Big 12 with four. The Big East had two, followed by the Atlantic Coast, West Coast, American Athletic and Mountain West conferences with one each.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in