Houston and Kansas remained atop the Associated Press men’s basketball poll Monday after a record-breaking 25-loss weekend, while Florida Atlantic took advantage of the chaos to break the standings for the first time in school history.
Eleven top 25 teams fell on Saturday, tying a record that has stood for nearly 12 years, while Connecticut and Marquette also lost on Sunday to give the AP Poll one of the biggest shake-ups in recent history.
The conflicted Cougars, who had to battle out of South Florida to avoid their upset loss, watched their lead over the Jayhawks shrink ever so slightly, as they received 34 of 60 first-place votes from a national media panel. Kansas received 23 votes to remain in second place while Purdue picked the remaining three to remain in third place.
Alabama stayed in fourth while UCLA, on a 13-game winning streak, moved up two places to move closer to the top five.
“We’ve dodged a lot of bullets this year in terms of injuries and things. Sometimes it’s just luck,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. “I thought we were lucky (against South Florida). We could have lost that game.”
Not many other teams have been so lucky.
Tennessee dropped four spots to No. 9 after losing to unranked Kentucky. UConn dropped from 6th to 15th after falling to Marquette and St. Louis. Arizona State fell to No. 11 after losing to Oregon and Kansas State fell twice to No. 13 after losing to TCU. Arkansas dropped 10 spots to No. 25 after Alabama and Vanderbilt lost. And Missouri and Wisconsin pulled out completely after losing twice each last week.
Kansas had perhaps the most impressive week, beating Oklahoma on Tuesday before squeaking Iowa 62-60 on Saturday — though the Hurricanes were notable enough in defeat that they actually moved up to 12th in the poll.
“We could play better, but it’s been a great week,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. “I don’t mean to say this in a way that comes out wrong, but people are going to get excited about playing against Kansas because of the time, and then you add a national championship to it, I mean, it’s a big game for people.” Big games for us too. So I think sometimes we look at it like, ‘Okay, we should do this better,’ which is true in some cases, but sometimes we get some good efforts from other opponents.
“So being able to win those games, I think is a sign of a pretty decent team,” Self said.
Gonzaga rose to sixth in the poll on Monday, followed by Texas, Xavier, Tennessee and Virginia. Arizona State was in 11th place, with the Hurricanes holding off their Big 12 rivals, Kansas State, and California State University. Oconon, Auburn, Miami, Charleston, Clemson and Marquette rounded out the top 20. The Final Five were Baylor, Providence, Rutgers, FAW, and Arkansas.
FAU, which had only made one NCAA Tournament appearance in three decades of Division I rings, continued its rise under the leadership of Dusty Mae, a one-time student manager for Bob Knight who also worked with Mike White at Florida.
May said of the Owls, who won 15 after an early loss to Ole Miss: “This group is in a very good position. Even when there’s friction, they stick together and love each other and support each other. That’s the sign of a really good team.”
high and low
Xavier moved up four places to eighth after taking his winning streak to 11 games, Charleston also moved up from four to 18th on the heels of his 17-game winning streak, while Marquette moved up five places despite a close loss to the Knights. .
Arkansas had the biggest relegation, dropping 10 spots to 25th, while UConn dropped nine to 15th.
inside and outside
Clemson made its 19th overall debut after head coach Brad Brownell notched his 400th victory and the Tigers improved on the best start in ACC play in school history (7-0) with a 72-64 win over Duke on Saturday. Baylor, Rutgers, and the Polling Unit also entered at the expense of San Diego State, Wisconsin, Missouri, and the Blue Devils.
“If you want to be good, you need a superpower,” Brownell said. “Maybe it’s the defense, the shooting, the rebounding—you know, I hope it’s really good multiple things. I think our greatest strength is our camaraderie. Obviously the unity, the real care and love for each other. I think that’s why we won.”
Waiting in the wings
North Carolina and St. Mary’s are the first teams to fall outside the top 25, while North Carolina went from not receiving votes a week ago to almost polling with wins over Virginia Tech and Miami.
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AP College Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball And https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll And https://twitter.com/AP_Top25