AP men’s basketball Top 25: Arizona climbs to No. 2, Kansas falls out, Indiana joins poll

Purdue strengthened its position atop the Associated Press men’s basketball Top 25 poll Monday, receiving 46 of 61 first-place votes after a 30-point win over No. 20 Texas Tech on Friday.

The Boilermakers, the preseason No. 1 team, have started 6-0 with wins over the Red Raiders and No. 8 Alabama.

Arizona rose to a season-high No. 2 position after its win at UConn on Wednesday, receiving 11 first-place votes. No. 3 Houston (four first-place votes), No. 4 Duke and No. 5 UConn rounded out the top five.

Michigan State was the poll’s biggest riser, going from No. 17 to No. 11 after an impressive Champions Classic win over No. 19 Kentucky. The Wildcats dropped seven spots, the most of any team in the poll.

Wisconsin and Kansas both fell out of the poll after losses to BYU and Duke, respectively. No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Indiana took their places.

Here’s the full poll, along with the ballot of The Athletic’s C.J. Moore:

RankTeamRecordPrevCJ’s vote

1

6-0

1

1

2

5-0

4

2

3

5-0

2

3

4

7-0

5

8

5

5-1

3

6

6

5-0

6

4

7

4-0

7

7

8

3-1

11

9

9

4-1

9

11

10

4-1

10

12

11

5-0

17

16

12

5-0

13

5

13

5-1

8

10

14

3-1

14

13

15

4-0

16

15

16

5-0

18

14

17

5-0

20

18

18

5-1

19

17

19

4-2

12

22

20

4-2

15

21

21

4-1

22

NR

22

5-1

21

NR

23

4-0

25

NR

24

5-0

NR

23

25

5-0

NR

19

NR

3-2

24

20

NR

6-0

NR

24

NR

6-0

NR

25

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 45, Kansas 34, Oregon 31, Georgetown 31, Saint Mary’s 27, Nebraska 27, Ohio State 26, Missouri 20, Utah State 16, Baylor 14, USC 10, Ole Miss 10, Iowa 6, Clemson 6, Santa Clara 3, Creighton 3, Oklahoma State 2, Virginia Tech 2, Buffalo 1.

Purdue vs. Arizona for No. 1

There’s an argument to be made this week to bump Arizona up to No. 1, but I kept Purdue there. The Wildcats have the most impressive resume in the sport, with a road win at UConn along with neutral-site wins over Florida and UCLA, but I’d argue Purdue has the two most impressive performances thus far. The Boilers won at Alabama and then beat Texas Tech by 30 (!) on a neutral floor.

Is the poll late to Gonzaga?

My fellow pollsters continue to rank Gonzaga too low. The Zags are up to No. 3 at KenPom, and if you take preseason bias out of the equation at Bart Torvik, they are No. 1. They have three wins over high-majors and could get another three this week, starting with Alabama on Monday. If the Zags win all three and are not in the top five next week, that will really make no sense.

Arkansas’ unimpressive start

One team that continues to be ranked but I have not been ranking is Arkansas. The Razorbacks have only one loss, to Michigan State, but they haven’t been very impressive in their wins. They beat Winthrop by 1 point, and Winthrop has losses to George Mason and Coastal Carolina. They beat Samford by 4, and Samford has losses by wider margins to Tulane, Florida Gulf Coast and New Mexico State. Arkansas has dropped to No. 37 at KenPom, and using the same Torvik trick to take preseason bias out, Arkansas ranks 46th. The Razorbacks do get a chance to justify their ranking with a Thanksgiving Day game against Duke. Win that and I’ll eat my words.