Auburn’s position at the top of the college basketball rankings remains secure despite a recent defeat against third-ranked Florida. In a surprising turn of events, UConn’s latest loss has caused the two-time defending national champions to fall out of the rankings for the first time in two years.
On Monday, Auburn maintained its top ranking for the fifth consecutive week, garnering 34 first-place votes from a media panel composed of 61 members. Alabama climbed to the second spot with 23 first-place votes, trailing Auburn by just nine points. Florida collected three first-place votes, while Tennessee at No. 5 obtained one.
Duke is now tied with Florida, holding the No. 3 position, while St. John’s has made its way into the top 10 for the first time since finishing the 1999-2000 season ranked at No. 9. UConn fell from No. 19 in the rankings after a 68-62 defeat at home against St. John’s last Friday, marking the end of the fourth-longest active ranking streak in the nation at 53 weeks.
Florida is enjoying its highest ranking since the 2013-14 season, following their victory over Auburn, which was a significant 90-81 win and marked the first true road victory against a top-ranked team in the history of their program. This win follows Florida’s earlier triumph over then-No. 1 Tennessee at home on January 7.
Auburn had been riding a wave of success with a 14-game winning streak and had been the unanimous No. 1 for the past three weeks. They weren’t alone in suffering a loss, as Duke fell two spots to No. 4 after their 77-71 setback against Clemson, ending a dynamic 16-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Iowa State slid two positions after their 69-52 loss to No. 17 Kansas. Though the Cyclones had reached a historic high by ranking No. 2 last month, they have since succumbed to three consecutive defeats before managing to bounce back with a strong performance against TCU.
UConn began the season ranked No. 3 and even achieved a No. 2 ranking in their pursuit of becoming the first team since UCLA’s legendary John Wooden-led squads to capture three straight national titles back in the early 1960s. However, with a record now sitting at 16-7 and 8-4 in the Big East, UConn finds itself in fourth place, trailing St. John’s by three and a half games.
“I’m very optimistic,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley expressed. “I think right now is a really good time to play us. I think we have a chance in February to really start gaining momentum and we can look a lot different come March.”
In terms of movement within the rankings, the biggest rise of the week came from No. 13 Arizona, which jumped seven spots after securing victories over both BYU and No. 12 Texas Tech. No. 16 Ole Miss also enjoyed a six-spot climb after defeating No. 15 Kentucky and narrowly beating LSU with a last-second shot by Dre Davis.
Conversely, No. 18 Marquette and No. 25 Maryland experienced the steepest drops, each falling seven places in the rankings. No. 21 Missouri also saw a decline of six spots after succumbing to losses against No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Texas A&M, the latter falling to a last-second three-pointer.
In and out of the rankings, No. 24 Creighton marked its return for the first time since November 25, following victories over Providence and Marquette. No. 23 Clemson is also back in the rankings after their impressive win against Duke, while Illinois dropped out alongside UConn after losing 82-73 to Rutgers.
In conference standings, the SEC continues to dominate with at least nine teams represented in the rankings for the seventh consecutive week, including three in the top spots and five in the overall top 10. No other conference has had more than six ranked teams in any week this season. Following the SEC are the Big Ten with six ranked teams, the Big 12 with five, and the Big East with three. Both the Atlantic Coast and American Athletic conferences have one ranked team each.
