Houston retained its spot at number one in the Top 25 men’s college basketball rankings updated Monday, fending off cross-state foe Texas, which gained ground in Houston’s grip on the lead but settled for number two. Put the votes to 14 in Texas after a 45-8 gap advantage in favor of the Cougars last week. No. 3 Virginia and No. 4 Purdue received three and eight votes, respectively.
While Houston clung on to the top spot, North Carolina’s preseason fall in the rankings continued, officially falling out of the Top 25, marking the first preseason team to ever fall out of the rankings in the AP Top 25 era. UNC opened its season 5-0 but has lost its last four games, including Indiana and Virginia Tech on the road last week. 1965-66 UCLA experienced a similar decline after the preseason No. 1 Bruins fell after just three weeks – when only 10 teams were ranked.
This week’s AP poll top — even with the top three remaining intact — also has a new look. Purdue moved up one place to fourth, UConn and Kansas jumped three places to fifth and sixth, Tennessee moved from outside the top ten to seventh and Alabama moved from eleventh to eighth. Arizona, which was also in No. 11 last week tied with Alabama, moved up to No. 9, while Arizona stayed in the top 10 at No. 10 despite an upset loss to Utah on Thursday.
AP top 25
Top 25 teams in the Associated Press college basketball poll, with first-place votes in brackets, score as of 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 | register | points | Previous. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston (37) | 8-0 | 1,502 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas (14) | 6-0 | 1,473 | 2 |
| 3 | Virginia (3) | 7-0 | 1,416 | 3 |
| 4 | Bordeaux (8) | 8-0 | 1,411 | 5 |
| 5 | Okun | 9-0 | 1,295 | 8 |
| 6 | Kansas | 8-1 | 1131 | 9 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 7-1 | 1,046 | 13 |
| 8 | Alabama | 7-1 | 1,029 | T11 |
| 9 | Arkansas | 7-1 | 1,021 | T11 |
| 10 | Arizona | 7-1 | 1,013 | 4 |
| 11 | Auburn | 8-0 | 853 | 15th |
| 12 | Baylor | 6-2 | 841 | 6 |
| 13 | Maryland | 8-0 | 811 | 22 |
| 14 | Indiana | 7-1 | 759 | 18 |
| 15th | duke | 8-2 | 745 | 17 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 6-2 | 596 | 19 |
| 17 | Illinois | 6-2 | 554 | 16 |
| 18 | Gonzaga | 5-3 | 517 | 14 |
| 19 | University of California | 7-2 | 479 | 21 |
| 20 | Iowa | 7-1 | 376 | 23 |
| 21 | Creighton | 6-3 | 346 | 7 |
| 22 | San Diego State | 6-2 | 265 | 24 |
| 23 | Mississippi | 8-0 | 187 | N.R |
| 24 | TCU | 6-1 | 113 | N.R |
| 25 | Ohio State | 6-2 | 81 | 25 |
Others get votes: Yes 70, Charleston 54, Miami 29, Virginia Tech 27, Arizona st 20, Utah 16, Wisconsin 16, UNLV 14, Texas Tech 10, West Virginia 8, Market 7, Xavier 6, New Mexico 3, Michigan State 3, Memphis 3, Missouri 2, North Carolina 1, Kansas State 1.
