Auburn‘s run at No. 1 is still intact despite a loss to No. 3 Florida, while UConn‘s latest loss has dropped the two-time defending national champion out of the poll for the first time in two years.
The Tigers held the top spot in the poll for the fifth straight week Monday, receiving 34 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel. No. 2 Alabama moved up a spot and had 23 first-place votes, just nine points behind Auburn, while Florida earned three top votes and No. 5 Tennessee got one.
Duke was tied with Florida at No. 3, with No. 9 St. John’s moving into the top 10 for the first time since finishing the 1999-2000 season at No. 9.
UConn dropped out of the poll from No. 19 after a 68-62 home loss to St. John’s on Friday, ending the nation’s fourth-longest active streak of being ranked (53 weeks). The Huskies (16-7, 8-4 Big East) have lost three of five and are down to fourth in the Big East, 3½ games behind St. John’s.
“I’m very optimistic,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “I think right now is a really good time to play us. I think we’ve got a chance in February to kind of get this thing rolling and be looking a lot different in March.”
The Huskies started the season at No. 3 and climbed to No. 2 in their bid to become the first team since John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins in the 1960s-1970s to win three straight national championships.
Florida has its highest ranking since reaching No. 1 in 2013-14, beating Auburn 90-81 for the first true road win over a top-ranked team in program history. It was the Gators’ second win over a top-ranked team this season after beating then-No. 1 Tennessee at home Jan. 7.
Auburn had won 14 straight and was a unanimous No. 1 the past three weeks.
The Tigers weren’t the only top team to lose.
Duke dropped two places to No. 4 after a 77-71 loss to Clemson ended its 16-game winning streak. No. 10 Iowa State also dropped two places after losing 69-52 to No. 17 Kansas. The Cyclones reached their highest ranking ever at No. 2 last month, but they then lost three in a row before routing TCU on Saturday.
Rising and falling
No. 13 Arizona had the week’s biggest jump, climbing seven places after beating BYU and No. 12 Texas Tech last week. No. 16 Ole Miss moved up six places after taking down No. 15 Kentucky and beating LSU 72-70 on Dre Davis‘ last-second shot.
No. 18 Marquette and No. 25 Maryland had the biggest drops of teams still in the poll, each losing seven places. No. 21 Missouri fell six spots after losing to No. 5 Tennessee and to No. 8 Texas A&M on a last-second 3-pointer.
Who’s in; who’s out
No. 24 Creighton returned to the poll for the first time since Nov. 25 after wins over Providence and Marquette. No. 23 Clemson is back in after taking down Duke. Illinois joined UConn in dropping out of the poll following its 82-73 loss to Rutgers.
Conference watch
The SEC had at least nine teams in the poll for the seventh straight week, including the top three overall and five in the top 10. No other league has had more than six ranked teams in any week this season.
The Big Ten has six ranked teams, followed by the Big 12 with five and the Big East with three. The Atlantic Coast and American Athletic conferences each had one.
