In the latest AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll released on Monday, Arizona retained a unanimous No. 1 ranking, bolstered by its record-setting 22-0 start for the season. The Wildcats secured all 59 first-place votes from a national media panel, maintaining the top spot for the eighth consecutive week.
Michigan made a significant leap to second place, overtaking UConn after securing victories against previously undefeated Nebraska and in-state rival Michigan State. Following Arizona, the rankings placed UConn third, with Duke and Illinois completing the top five slots.
Arizona's head coach Tommy Lloyd emphasized the importance of consistency over momentum in the team’s sustained success. He remarked, "We value steadiness. A lot of people talk about momentum, momentum, momentum. I understand what momentum is, but I think there's way more value in being steady and consistent." The Wildcats are scheduled to face Oklahoma State on Saturday, which could extend their win streak to a school-record 23 consecutive games if victorious. Presently, this unbeaten streak ties Arizona teams from 1914-17, which also achieved 22 consecutive wins under coach Pop McKale, the namesake of their arena, over a three-year period.
Gonzaga maintained its position in sixth place, while Iowa State and Houston each advanced one position. Nebraska experienced a four-place decline to ninth after losses to Michigan and Illinois. Michigan State fell three spots to No. 10 following a win against Rutgers and a loss to Michigan.
Consecutive defeats have narrowed the pool of undefeated Division I men's college basketball teams to Arizona and No. 23 Miami (Ohio). Nebraska forward Pryce Sandfort responded to his team's back-to-back losses by stating, "Obviously, back-to-back losses, we just have to look at the film and learn from it. Keep our heads high and flush it as we get ready for Rutgers this week."
Kansas climbed three spots to No. 11 after a win over BYU. Purdue retained the twelfth spot, while Texas Tech, which faced Kansas Monday night, sat at No. 13. North Carolina and Vanderbilt were ranked 14th and 15th, respectively.
The teams following in order included BYU, Florida, Virginia, Saint Louis, and Clemson. Saint Louis, having secured 15 consecutive victories, reached their highest ranking since March 2014 when they were No. 18 in the year they claimed the Atlantic 10 championship.
Rounding out the Top 25 were Arkansas, St. John’s, Miami (Ohio), Louisville, and Tennessee. Miami (Ohio) moved up one spot to the 23rd position, marking their highest standing since November 1998. Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele reflected on the increasing difficulty of competition, noting, "The further you go, the harder it gets."
The most substantial gains in this week's poll were made by Kansas, Vanderbilt, and St. John’s, each moving up three spots. Tennessee re-entered the rankings at No. 25 after two weeks out, resulting in Alabama dropping out and ending its 42-week poll streak—the fifth-longest active at the time.
The NCAA's NET rankings released Sunday demonstrated some divergence from the AP poll. Duke took the No. 1 spot, followed by Arizona at No. 2 and Michigan at No. 3. The rest of the rankings were largely consistent with the AP poll, except for Miami (Ohio), which was positioned at No. 53 in the NET ranking due to a softer schedule and absence of any Quad 1 wins.
Conference representation in the Top 25 was led by the Big 12 with six teams, while the Big Ten and ACC each had five teams, though the Big Ten boasted four of its five teams in the top ten. The SEC counted four ranked teams, the Big East two, and the West Coast Conference, Atlantic 10, and Mid-American Conference each had one representative.