Kentucky, Nevada and North Carolina continue to climb in the Associated Press Top 25, while Tennessee maintained the No. 1 spot in the latest poll released Monday.
Duke, Virginia and Gonzaga followed the Vols in an unchanged top four, while the bottom half of the top 10 was reshuffled.
Tennessee received 48 of the 64 first-place votes for the second consecutive week. Duke received 12 first-place votes, while Virginia had the other four.
Kentucky, on the strength of wins over Vanderbilt and Florida, climbed two spots to No. 5. Nevada also moved two places to No. 6, and North Carolina climbed a spot to No. 8.
Losses to unranked Big Ten opponents sent Michigan and Michigan State plummeting. The Wolverines fell two spots to No. 7, and the Spartans dropped three places to No. 9.
Marquette retained its place at No. 10.
Wisconsin, one of six ranked Big Ten teams, made the biggest climb of the week, moving up five spots to No. 19 after wins over Nebraska and Maryland.
Buffalo, on the heels of a loss to Bowling Green on Saturday, dropped five places to No. 23. Maryland fell three spots to sit behind Buffalo at No. 24.
Kansas slides again
Kansas, despite beating a ranked (No. 18) Texas Tech team, moved down to No. 13. Kansas also lost to Texas during the week.
This is the third consecutive weeks the Jayhawks (17-5) have dropped two spots. They were No. 1 on Dec. 17.
Returning to the Top 25 this week was Iowa at No. 25 following a 15-point win over Michigan.
Cincinnati made its season debut at No. 25.
Mississippi State and North Carolina State fell out of the poll. The Wolfpack managed just 24 points in a loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday.
For the sixth consecutive week, the Pac-12 did not place a team in the Top 25, although Washington was first among other teams receiving votes. The Huskies are 18-4 on the season and have won 11 straight games, including nine against conference opponents.
–Field Level Media
