A wild week in college basketball produced significant changes across the latest AP Top 25 poll released on Monday with UCLA moving up to No. 5 and Xavier and Virginia entering the top 10. The Bruins bumped up two spots from No. 7 last week after both Tennessee and UConn -- ranked No. 4 and No. 5 last week -- stumbled.
UCLA meanwhile handled business at home vs. Utah and Colorado on the week to keep its perfect Pac-12 record intact as its lead in the league standings held at one game.
The top of the poll remained the same as it did last week with Houston retaining its spot at No. 1 and Kansas, Purdue and Alabama all holding on to its spots at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. The Cougars earned the same number of first-place votes as last week (34) while Kansas received one more (23). Purdue received the final three.
Xavier's rise up four spots to No. 8 this week marked the program's first top-10 ranking since the 2017-18 season when it climbed as high as No. 3 under then-coach Chris Mack. First-year coach Sean Miller has led the Musketeers to a 15-3 overall record and a 7-0 mark in the Big East which is its best start in league play since joining the league. Xavier's hot start has made such an impression that Marquette -- which beat UConn earlier in the week then lost to Xavier on Sunday -- still climbed in the poll five spots up to No. 20.
Elsewhere in the rankings, FAU entered the rankings at No. 24, its first time in the AP poll in program history after a 16-1 start to the season. The Owls' rise coincided with Duke's dip out of the rankings for the first time since the 2020-21 season following its loss over the weekend to ACC-leading Clemson.
AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (34) | 17-1 | 1,460 | 1 |
| 2 | Kansas (23) | 16-1 | 1,446 | 2 |
| 3 | Purdue (3) | 16-1 | 1,382 | 3 |
| 4 | Alabama | 15-2 | 1,347 | 4 |
| 5 | UCLA | 16-2 | 1,237 | 7 |
| 6 | Gonzaga | 16-3 | 1,178 | 8 |
| 7 | Texas | 15-2 | 1,122 | 10 |
| 8 | Xavier | 15-3 | 1,047 | 12 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 14-3 | 1,019 | 5 |
| 10 | Virginia | 13-3 | 926 | 13 |
| 11 | Arizona | 15-3 | 838 | 9 |
| 12 | Iowa State | 13-3 | 795 | 14 |
| 13 | Kansas State | 15-2 | 771 | 11 |
| 14 | TCU | 14-3 | 753 | 17 |
| 15 | UConn | 15-4 | 668 | 6 |
| 16 | Auburn | 14-3 | 553 | 21 |
| 17 | Miami (Fla.) | 14-3 | 487 | 16 |
| 18 | Charleston | 18-1 | 351 | 22 |
| 19 | Clemson | 15-3 | 339 | NR |
| 20 | Marquette | 14-5 | 306 | 25 |
| 21 | Baylor | 12-5 | 267 | NR |
| 22 | Providence | 14-4 | 262 | 19 |
| 23 | Rutgers | 13-5 | 131 | NR |
| 24 | Florida Atlantic | 16-1 | 126 | NR |
| 25 | Arkansas | 12-5 | 115 | 15 |
Others receiving votes: NC State 111, Saint Mary's 106, Arizona St 79, New Mexico 67, Illinois 61, San Diego State 44, Michigan State 29, Duke 24, Wisconsin 14, Creighton 9, Kent State 8, Boise State 6, Texas A&M 5, Ohio State 3, Missouri 3, Iowa 2, VCU 2, North Carolina 1.
