Purdue remains No. 1; Gonzaga holds on at No. 24
Purdue Boilermakers guard Carson Barrett (34) drives to the basket during the NCAA men s basketball game against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue Boilermakers won 80-53. credits: Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK Purdue stayed at No. 1 in the first Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll of the new year, released on Monday.
The Boilermakers (12-1) received 49 of 63 first-place votes after running their winning streak to five games with an 80-53 rout of Eastern Kentucky on Friday.
No. 2 Kansas (12-1) got five votes and No. 3 Houston (13-0) collected the other nine. UConn (11-2) and Tennessee (9-3) each moved up one spot to round out the top five.
Arizona (10-3) dropped six spots to No. 10 following Sunday's setback at Stanford and No. 17 Florida Atlantic (10-3) fell 10 places after Saturday's stunning loss to Florida Gulf Coast.
Taking the steepest plunge this week, however, was No. 24 Gonzaga (9-4). The Zags tumbled 11 spots following a loss to San Diego State on Friday but managed to keep alive their streak of 142 consecutive weeks in the poll.
Creighton dropped out and Auburn (10-2) joined the poll at No. 25.
The complete Top 25:
1. Purdue
2. Kansas
3. Houston
4. UConn
5. Tennessee
6. Kentucky
7. Marquette
8. North Carolina
9. Illinois
10. Arizona
11. Oklahoma
12. BYU
13. Colorado State
14. Duke
15. Memphis
16. Clemson
17. Florida Atlantic
18. Baylor
19. James Madison
20. Texas
21. Wisconsin
22. Ole Miss
23. Providence
24. Gonzaga
25. Auburn
—Field Level Media