The first AP Top 25 poll of March was released on Monday, and there was significant movement throughout. Duke, Arizona and Michigan held firm at their respective ranking, but after five teams in the backhalf of the top 10 lost at least one game last week, there was bound to be a shakeup.
One of the biggest winners from last week was Florida. The Gators moved up two spots to No. 5 after capturing a share of the SEC regular season title with an 111-77 win over Arkansas. Florida has now won nine consecutive games and is in contention for a potential move to the No. 1 seed line on Selection Sunday in less than two weeks.
Another team that benefited from the chaos throughout the top 10 was UConn. The Huskies made a statement with a 72-40 win over St. John’s to move closer toward capturing at least a share of the Big East regular season title.
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UConn also survived a scare days later against Seton Hall, but was able to walk away with a 71-67 win. UConn moved up two spots to No. 4 after another 2-0 week.
Louisville began the season ranked No. 11 in the preseason Top 25 poll and climbed as high as sixth this season. However, for the first time this season, the Cardinals dropped out of the poll after a 0-2 week with losses against Clemson and North Carolina. Louisville has lost three of its last four games entering the final week of the regular season.
AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through 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 | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke (55) | 27-2 | 1,471 | 1 |
| 2 | Arizona (4) | 27-2 | 1,392 | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan | 27-2 | 1,385 | 3 |
| 4 | UConn | 27-3 | 1,275 | 6 |
| 5 | Florida | 23-6 | 1,234 | 7 |
| 6 | Iowa State | 24-5 | 1,118 | 4 |
| 7 | Houston | 24-5 | 1,094 | 5 |
| 8 | Michigan State | 24-5 | 1,055 | 13 |
| 9 | Nebraska | 25-4 | 1,002 | 12 |
| 10 | Texas Tech | 22-7 | 855 | 16 |
| 11 | Illinois | 22-7 | 838 | 10 |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 28-3 | 752 | 9 |
| 13 | Virginia | 25-4 | 731 | 11 |
| 14 | Kansas | 21-8 | 722 | 14 |
| 15 | Purdue | 22-7 | 712 | 8 |
| 16 | Alabama | 22-7 | 657 | 17 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 23-6 | 554 | 18 |
| 18 | St. John’s | 23-6 | 547 | 15 |
| 19 | Miami (OH) | 29-0 | 360 | 21 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 21-8 | 333 | 20 |
| 21 | Saint Mary’s | 27-4 | 304 | NR |
| 22 | Miami (FL) | 23-6 | 153 | NR |
| 23 | Tennessee | 20-9 | 118 | 22 |
| 24 | Vanderbilt | 22-7 | 117 | 25 |
| 25 | Saint Louis | 26-3 | 103 | 23 |
Others receiving votes: BYU 74, Kentucky 47, Louisville 47, Missouri 40, Wisconsin 27, Clemson 16, Utah State 10, UCF 7, High Point 7, Dayton 5, Villanova 4, Navy 3, NC State 2, TCU 2, Ohio State 1, Santa Clara 1.
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