Kansas stays at No. 1 ahead of showdown vs. No. 11 Duke; Ole Miss, Mississippi St back in AP Top 25

Kansas remained solidly entrenched at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll Monday ahead of its showdown with No. 11 Duke in Las Vegas, while a pair of schools from the Magnolia State elbowed their way back into the rankings.

Ole Miss returned to the poll at No. 23 while Mississippi State made its season debut at No. 25.

The Jayhawks received 51 of 62 first-place votes from the national panel of media, putting them well ahead of two-time reigning national champion UConn, which was second with six first-place votes. Gonzaga was third with two first-place votes, Auburn was next with three, and Iowa State rounded out a top five that was unchanged from the previous week.

There’s a good chance for movement next week, though, with a host of high-profile matchups in holiday tournaments, and that matchup between the Jayhawks and Duke on Tuesday night in the Vegas Showdown.

“Oh yeah, I’ve watched them,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, who picked up his 800th career win by beating UNC Wilmington last week. “They’re talented across the board. They’re starting three freshmen, and everybody’s going to talk about the one (Cooper Flagg), but the other two are potential lottery picks, if not lottery picks too.”

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So do the Jayhawks, who have already beaten No. 12 North Carolina and Michigan State this season.

Tennessee climbed four spots to No. 7 in this week’s poll, followed by SEC rivals Kentucky and Alabama. Marquette was 10th after beating then-No. 6 Purdue and Georgia last week to reach 6-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

The Blue Devils and Tar Heels were followed by Purdue, which fell seven spots in the poll. Indiana and Wisconsin made it three straight Big Ten schools, while Cincinnati, Baylor, Florida, Arkansas and Texas A&M rounded out the top 20.

The last five were Creighton, Ole Miss, Arizona, Mississippi State and BYU. The Wildcats narrowly extended their run in the AP Top 25 to 61 weeks — the fourth-longest active streak in the nation — after back-to-back losses to Wisconsin and Duke.

“We didn’t play great,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after the loss to the Blue Devils, “so now we need to take a step back and figure out why. Are there some schematic problems? Are there some problems with how our personnel is kind of put together? And those are the things we’re going to take a look at. I love the guys. I mean, I like the plan. But obviously when it’s not going as well as you would like, you have to be honest with yourself and try to figure it out.”

In and out

Xavier returned to the poll for the first time since the final poll of the 2022-23 season ahead of its trip to the Fort Myers Tip-Off beginning Monday night. Ole Miss is back in the Top 25 after briefly dropping out, while Mississippi State is back after spending two weeks in the poll last November but just six weeks total over the past six years.

Those three entered at the expense of Illinois, St. John’s and Rutgers. The Illini lost to Alabama last week, while St. John’s fell to Baylor and Georgia. Rutgers lost 79-77 at Kennesaw State, which beat a ranked team for the first time in school history.

Rising and falling

Marquette made the biggest climb this week, moving up five spots to No. 10. The Golden Eagles catch a breather this week with Stonehill and Western Carolina before back-to-back showdowns with No. 5 Iowa State and No. 15 Wisconsin.

Purdue, Creighton and Arizona all dropped seven spots but remained in the poll. The Boilermakers lost to Marquette while the Bluejays lost to in-state rival Nebraska. The Wildcats dropped to 2-2, the first time they have been .500 at any point in a season since they were 3-3 to start the 2017-18 season.

Conference watch

The SEC leads the way with nine of the Top 25 teams this week, including four in the top 10: Auburn, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. The Big 12 is next with six, including three of the first six in top-ranked Kansas, Iowa State and Houston. The Big East had four in the poll, the Big Ten three and the ACC two.

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