Duke remains at No. 1 in AP Top 25 entering March Madness; St. John's rises to No. 5

Duke remains at No. 1 in AP Top 25 entering March Madness; St. John’s rises to No. 5

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Duke guard Tyrese Proctor celebrates after scoring during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Louisville in the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Houston forward Ja’Vier Francis (5) puts up a shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona for the championship in the Big 12 Conference tournament, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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Florida center Rueben Chinyelu (9) cunte part of the net to celebrate victory over Tennessee after an NCAA college basketball game in the final round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Auburn guard Miles Kelly (13) reacts to play against Tennessee during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino admires the tournment trophy after an NCAA college basketball game against Creighton in the championship of the Big East Conference tournament Saturday, March 15, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

By AARON BEARD

Duke remained atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll on Monday a day after the committee that selects the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament went with Auburn as the No. 1 overall seed.

The Blue Devils (31-3) earned 49 of 59 first-place votes in the latest poll after sweeping the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles. That marks Duke’s second straight week at No. 1, the first such stint in the three-year tenure of Jon Scheyer as the successor to retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski.

The Blue Devils completed its ACC title run despite losing freshman star Cooper Flagg (ankle) and versatile defender Maliq Brown (shoulder) to injuries in the quarterfinals. Scheyer has said he’s optimistic Flagg will be ready to go for the first round of the NCAAs, with the Blue Devils headlining the East Region.

Big 12 Tournament champion Houston also stayed at No. 2 while collecting six-first-place votes, followed by Southeastern Conference Tournament champion Florida and then Auburn, which had spent a national-best eight weeks at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 this season.

The Gators and Tigers each earned the remaining two first-place votes, and the top four teams of the AP Top 25 all earned 1-seeds for March Madness with Sunday night’s bracket unveiling.

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The top tier

St. John’s climbed one spot to No. 5 after winning the Big East title, with Rick Pitino guiding the Red Storm to its highest ranking since spending a week at the same spot in January 1991. St. John’s (30-4) has reached the 30-win mark for the first time since late coaching great Lou Carnesecca won a program-record 31 games in both the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.

SEC runner-up Tennessee, which beat Auburn in that league’s semifinals, was next at No. 6, followed by Alabama, Michigan State, Texas Tech and Louisville.

Rising

Michigan made the biggest jump among ranked teams, jumping eight spots to No. 14 after beating three straight ranked teams on the way to Big Ten title. Runner-up Wisconsin also made a healthy jump of five spots to No. 13 after beating regular-season champ Michigan State in the semifinals. Only six ranked teams moved up in the poll this week.

Sliding

No. 19 Texas A&M took the week’s biggest tumble, falling five spots after losing to Texas in a one-and-done showing at the SEC Tournament. No. 15 Iowa State and No. 18 Kentucky each fell three spots. In all, 11 ranked teams slid from last week’s position.

Status quo

Six teams held their position from last week, including No. 11 Maryland, No. 16 Memphis and No. 17 BYU.

Comings and goings

No. 21 Arizona and No. 24 Gonzaga were the week’s new additions, though they had both been in the poll for numerous weeks this season. The Wildcats reached the Big 12 title game before falling to Houston, while the Zags beat regular-season champion Saint Mary’s to win the West Coast Conference Tournament.

Illinois (No. 24) and Marquette (25th) fell out to make room for Arizona and Gonzaga.

Conference watch

The SEC, which thrice had as many as 10 ranked teams this season, led the way with seven AP Top 25 teams. The Big Ten was next with six, followed by the Big 12 with five, the Atlantic Coast Conference with three and the WCC with two.

The Big East and American Athletic Conference each had one.

The road since October

Four teams have held the No. 1 ranking through 20 polls this season, starting with Kansas for the preseason and the first four weeks of the regular season. Tennessee took over for five weeks before giving way to Auburn’s long reign and now Duke.

In all, 50 teams have spent at least one week in the poll this season. Forty-three ultimately earned NCAA bids, with West Virginia, Cincinnati, Dayton, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Rutgers and Ohio State as the outliers. Of that group, the Mountaineers were the first team out, followed by the Hoosiers and Buckeyes.

One to go

This is the penultimate edition of the AP Top 25 for the 2024-25 season. The final rankings will move April 8, the day after the NCAA championship game. This is the second year with a post-tournament poll.

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