Arizona slides down in AP poll

The Arizona Wildcats fell six spots in The Associated Press’ top 25 men’s basketball rankings released Monday.

Arizona’s (17-8) descension in the AP poll follows the pair of losses the Wildcats suffered last week. Arizona lost at Kansas State on Tuesday and fell late to Houston at home on Saturday. Tuesday’s loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Wildcats.

The two-game skid comes after Wildcats had won 13 of their past 14 games after a 4-5 start to the season.

With six conference games to play, the Wildcats sit two games back of Houston for the conference lead and are tied with Texas Tech.

Houston rose to No. 5 after Saturday’s win at the McKale Center. The Cougars play at Arizona State on Tuesday.

Arizona plays at Baylor on Monday and hosts BYU on Saturday.

Auburn’s win at Alabama assured the Tigers would keep the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a sixth consecutive week.

The Tigers (23-2) received 59 of 60 first-place votes in Monday’s poll, reclaiming nearly all the support lost when they fell at home to Florida on Feb. 8. Auburn had been the unanimous No. 1 for three straight weeks before that loss, but remained at the top last week despite seeing nearly half of those first-place votes go primarily to Alabama, with a few to Florida and Tennessee.

But the Tigers won Saturday in a 1-vs.-2 road matchup against the rival Crimson Tide, hours after the committee that will choose the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament put Auburn as its No. 1 overall seed in its preliminary rankings.

The top tier

The two teams to beat the Tigers sit right behind them. Florida and Duke were tied for third last week, and the Gators inched past the Blue Devils to break that tie and take the No. 2 spot while claiming the remaining first-place vote.

Alabama fell to No. 4, followed by Houston, Tennessee, Texas A&M — with its highest ranking since December 2017 — Iowa State, Texas Tech and St. John’s to round out the top 10.

Of that group, the Red Raiders represented the only change from last week’s set of teams, climbing three spots to replace Purdue for their first top-10 appearance in three years. Grant McCasland’s squad, which has lost just twice since the start of 2025, was unranked until cracking the poll at No. 22 on Jan. 27.

Rising

Michigan had the week’s biggest jump among ranked teams, climbing eight spots to No. 12 after beating Purdue last week and pushing its win streak to six games.

No. 15 Missouri jumped six spots, while No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 18 Clemson and No. 20 Maryland each rose five spots.

In all, 12 teams moved up from their position last week.

Sliding

Memphis took the biggest tumble of the week, falling eight spots to No. 22 after its overtime loss at Wichita State ended an eight-game winning streak.

No. 13 Purdue and No. 23 Kansas — the preseason No. 1-ranked team — also fell six spots, while No. 24 Mississippi tumbled five.

Ten teams fell from last week’s poll.

Welcome back

No. 25 Louisville was the week’s lone new addition, returning to the poll for the second time after a two-week stint in January. First-year coach Pat Kelsey has guided the program to its first 20-win season since 2019-20, with the Cardinals having lost just once since mid-December.

Farewell (for now)

Creighton (No. 24) fell out of the rankings for the second time this season. The Bluejays were ranked for the first four weeks, then returned last week for what turned out to be a one-week stay.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference had a national-best nine teams, including three of the top four and five of the top 10. The Big 12 and Big Ten each had five teams, though the Big 12 had three in the top 10 while the highest-ranked Big Ten team checked in at 11th.

The Atlantic Coast Conference had three, followed by the Big East with two and the American Athletic Conference with one.

Arizona falls 6 spots in AP men’s college basketball rankings – Feb. 17

Team Record Pts Prv
1. Auburn 23-2 1499 1
2. Florida 22-3 1387 T3
3. Duke 22-3 1382 T3
4. Alabama 21-4 1335 2
5. Houston 21-4 1290 6
6. Tennessee 21-5 1147 5
7. Texas A&M 20-5 1140 8
8. Iowa State 20-5 1034 10
9. Texas Tech 205-5 969 12
10. St. John’s 22-4 933 9
11. Wisconsin 20-5 879 16
12. Michigan 20-5 734 20
13. Purdue 19-7 732 7
14. Michigan State 20-5 724 11
15. Missouri 19-6 573 21
16. Marquette 19-6 527 18
17. Kentucky 17-8 518 15
18. Clemson 21-5 499 23
19. Arizona 17-8 362 13
20. Maryland 20-6 361 25
21. Mississippi State 18-7 325 22
22. Memphis 21-5 308 14
23. Kansas 17-8 193 17
24. Ole Miss 19-7 177 19
25. Louisville 20-6 137 25

Others receiving votes:

New Mexico 117, Saint Mary’s 63, UCLA 56, Creighton 27, Illinois 22, UConn 20, George Mason 15, Gonzaga 14, High Point 1.

Arizona in the USA Today Coaches Poll

Team Record Pts Prv
1. Auburn 23-2 775 2
2. Florida 22-3 712 3
3. Duke 22-3 704 5
4. Alabama 21-4 692 1
5. Houston 21-4 672 6
6. Tennessee 21-5 605 4
7. Texas A&M 20-5 570 9
8. Iowa State 20-5 534 10
9. St. John’s 22-4 501 8
10. Texas Tech 20-5 488 12
11. Wisconsin 20-5 441 15
12. Michigan 20-5 413 17
13. Michigan State 20-5 407 11
14. Purdue 19-7 388 7
15. Marquette 19-6 284 16
16. Missouri 19-6 272 22
17. Clemson 21-5 267 19
18. Arizona 17-8 223 13
19. Memphis 21-5 184 14
20. Maryland 20-6 183 25
21. Kentucky 17-8 162 18
22. Louisville 20-6 109 NR
23. Mississippi State 18-7 106 NR
24. Saint Mary’s 23-4 86 NR
25. Kansas 17-8 69 20

Others Receiving Votes

Ole Miss 64; UCLA 49; New Mexico 41; Creighton 37; Gonzaga 15; UConn 11; Illinois 5; UC San Diego 3; VCU 2; George Mason 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.




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