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Kansas remains No. 1 in AP Top 25 basketball poll, Gonzaga, Auburn crack top 5, St. John’s is coming back

By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer

Kansas remained atop the first Associated Press men’s basketball top 25 poll of the regular season after winning a blueblood basketball game, while Gonzaga and Auburn rounded out the top five after impressive opening week wins, and St. John’s led by Rick Pitino joined the ranks. .

The Jayhawks received 44 of 62 first-place votes after a home win against North Carolina, a game in which Kansas blew a 20-point lead but held on for a 92-89 victory. That kept them ahead of Alabama and two-time national champion UConn in an unchanged 1-2-3 line in the poll, with the Crimson Tide getting six first-place votes and the Huskies getting seven.

Mark Few’s Zags moved up two spots to No. 4 after falling from No. 8 Baylor to open the season, then rolled over Arizona State. Next up is Bruce Pearl’s Tigers, who jumped six places to No. 5 for the biggest jump of the week after beating her then. 4 Houston. The Zags and Tigers earned the remaining five first-place votes.

Auburn was the only newcomer to a largely reshuffled top 10, with Duke moving up one spot to No. 6 to lead the next group. Iowa State was seventh, followed by Houston, Arizona and North Carolina, which dropped one spot after the loss at KU’s Allen Fieldhouse.

welcome back

St. John’s jump to 22nd place marked a remarkable comeback for two reasons. It marks the Red Storm’s first appearance since spending a week at No. 24 in January 2019, but it also marks the return of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.

It’s the first time a Pitino-coached team has appeared in the Top 25 since the 2016-17 season finale poll, when he was at Louisville. Pitino was fired shortly before the next season amid a federal investigation into college basketball corruption that has embroiled the Cardinals and several other programs.

Pitino spent three seasons at Iona (2020-23) before taking over at St. John’s before last season.

In and out

No. 21 Ohio State joined St. John’s as newcomers of the week, marking the Buckeye’s first appearance since January 2023.

Texas (No. 19) and UCLA (No. 22) fell from the preseason poll.

Rising

After Auburn, Kentucky had the next biggest jump of the week, climbing four spots to No. 19 to start Mark Pope’s tenure, while No. 15 Marquette and No. 17 Cincinnati were next, climbing three spots.

In all, 13 teams moved up from their preseason poll position.

slip

Texas A&M had the biggest drop of the week, falling 10 spots to No. 23 after losing at UCF to open the season. Houston joined no. 12 Baylor falling four spots after losses against ranked opponents.

In all, seven teams have slipped since the previous poll.

The conference

The Southeastern Conference led the way with eight ranked teams, including No. 11 Tennessee, No. 18 Arkansas under new coach John Calipari, No. 20 Florida and No. 25 Mississippi.

The Big 12 is next with six teams, followed by the Big East and Big Ten with four each. The Atlantic Coast Conference has two, while the West Coast Conference has one.

The Associated Press contributed to this article