Both Auburn and Duke stay atop the AP men’s college basketball rankings, while the rest of the list sees changes after a hectic week of games. Houston, Tennessee, and Florida round out the top five, and St. John’s moves up to sixth in what is their highest mark on the poll in more than three decades. Maryland and Louisville made the biggest jumps, while Texas A&M had the biggest drop, falling ten spots in this week’s rankings.
Auburn is now ranked as the best college basketball team in the country for the eighth straight week. The Tigers beat both Ole Miss and Kentucky dominantly, as they remain the only SEC team with one conference loss. Johni Broome continues to lead the charge of Player of the Year, as his 18.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.4 blocks per game have been a huge key in their success.
Duke had wins over Miami and Florida State to stay second in the rankings. Cooper Flagg continues to prove why he’ll be the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and the Blue Devils look like they will take home the ACC regular season title.
Houston had a major win over Texas Tech and followed it up with a victory at home against Cincinnati. With a four-game lead for first place in the Big 12, they took the conference title last week and are now ranked third nationally. With a top-ranked defense and only one conference loss, the Cougars will hope to grab a number one seed in the March Madness tournament.
Tennessee had a big-time win against Alabama on a half-court buzzer-beater from Jahmai Mashack as they bounced back up to fourth. Right behind them, Florida fell two spots after losing to Georgia and beating Texas A&M last week.
Led by Rick Pitino, St. John’s sees themselves at the program’s highest ranking in 34 years. They beat Butler and Seton Hall to reach the sixth spot in the rankings, also clinching the Big East regular season title. They are one of only four teams in this week’s rankings that aren’t in a Power Four conference, and are top-ten nationally in rebounds per game.
Michigan State stays eighth, but they finished last week with two massive wins against Maryland and Wisconsin. Despite losing by three, the Terapins followed that up by beating Penn State and moving up three spots to 13th. Right behind them, Louisville jumped up five spots to be in 14th after wins against Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. The Cardinals are tied with Clemson for second place in the ACC, both a game back behind Duke heading into the last week of the regular season.
Memphis, Purdue, St. Mary’s, and BYU each moved up two spots a little later in the rankings. Purdue was the only squad out of all four to have a loss last week, falling to an underwhelming Indiana team on the road.
Alabama, Iowa State, and Wisconsin each fell one spot from last week after losing to ranked teams. The Crimson Tide gave away the win against the Volunteers after having multiple chances to grow their lead in the final minutes. Following two trips down the court in the final minute in which they couldn’t score, they gave up the half-court buzzer-beater to Tennessee. The loss all but confirms they will just miss out on the SEC regular season title. Both of Alabama’s final games of the season are against top-ten-ranked opponents.
Texas A&M saw the biggest drop in the rankings after losses to Vanderbilt and Florida last week. Those games after back-to-back defeats against Mississippi State and Tennesee the week before, as the team has dropped 15 spots over their past four games. The Aggies were in line to finish the season in the top three of the conference standings, but they’ve now dropped to sixth after four straight losses.
Kentucky and Arizona both dropped two spots after both lost to top-ten ranked teams. Both are the only two in the top-25 rankings that have ten losses, and both have lost three of their last five after strong middle stretches during the season.
The success St. John’s is seeing under Pitino this year is the story of this week’s rankings. The last time the Red Storm were that high in the AP Poll was in the 1990-91 season, and they are doing it in a dominant defensive fashion. Along with Duke, they are the only team to be that highly ranked without scoring 100 points in a game. They also have only one player averaging at least 15 points per game, in the form of RJ Luis Jr., but have five players averaging at least four rebounds a game. In his second year, Pitino is doing the most with this team after losing 13 total games in 2023-24.
Auburn and Duke remain the two best teams in the country, as every week they just get the job done. The Tigers never seem flustered, despite the highly ranked teams they’ve played this season. The Blue Devils have won their last six games by an average of 31.6 points, with Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Tyrese Proctor all playing efficient basketball. Houston, Tennessee, Florida, and St John’s have all looked strong, but they’ll still have to beat the top two teams later in March.
Besides other teams moving up or down a few spots, things now look over for Texas A&M, who had title hopes just two weeks ago. Along with the Aggies, Kentucky and Arizona will both have to find a groove if they want to make any progress in the postseason.
This is the last week of the regular season in college basketball, with each team having a game or two left to play. Conference tournaments will begin next week, followed by the March Madness tournament, which begins with Selection Sunday on March 16th.
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