Purdue reclaimed the top spot and Alabama also hopscotched over Houston into the second spot of the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday.
The Boilermakers (19-1) received 39 first-place votes while the Crimson Tide (17-2) garnered 23. Houston (18-2) fell to No. 3 after its upset loss at the hands of Temple on Sunday.
Purdue is back to No. 1 after a four-week stint there earlier this season. The Boilermakers have won six straight since a loss to Rutgers on Jan. 3 knocked them from the perch.
Tennessee (16-3) vaults five places to No. 4 this week while Kansas State (17-2) climbs eight spots to round out the top five. The Wildcats were the week’s biggest climber and enjoy their highest ranking since 2010-11 (No. 3) after knocking off then-No. 2 Kansas last week.
Arizona (17-3), Virginia (15-3), UCLA (17-3), Kansas (16-3) and Texas (16-3) round out the top 10. The Jayhawks’ drop of seven spots was rivaled only by Gonzaga’s precipitous eight-spot fall to No. 14 following its shocking home loss to Loyola Marymount on Thursday. LMU ended the Zags’ 75-game home winning streak.
Saint Mary’s (No. 22) makes it season debut in the Top 25 and New Mexico (No. 25) returns to the poll this week, while Rutgers and Arkansas dropped out.
The rest of the poll:
No. 11 TCU
No. 12 Iowa State
No. 13 Xavier
No. 14 Gonzaga
No. 15 Auburn
No. 16 Marquette
No. 17 Baylor
No. 18 Charleston
No. 19 UConn
No. 20 Miami (FL)
No. 21 Florida Atlantic
No. 22 Saint Mary’s
No. 23 Providence
No. 24 Clemson
No. 25 New Mexico
–Field Level Media
