Tennessee remains No. 1 after a quiet holiday week in the AP Top 25.
The Volunteers received 41 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday. No. 2 Auburn had 20 first-place votes, with Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounding out the top five.
The Tigers gained ground on Tennessee’s No. 1 spot last Monday and did it again this week despite not playing, picking up eight additional first-place votes.
The top 13 teams remained unchanged following a week in which 12 ranked teams didn’t play.
Illinois jumped two spots to No. 22 after handily defeating Chicago State 117-64 on Sunday.
Tennessee won its lone game of Christmas week, beating Middle Tennessee 82-64 last Monday night to retain the No. 1 spot for the third straight week.
Tennessee is among four unbeatens left in men’s Division I basketball, including three from the Southeastern Conference, joining No. 6 Florida (10-0) and No. 12 Oklahoma (10-0). Drake (9-0) also begins this week undefeated.
The Gators beat Stetson 85-45 and the Sooners knocked off Prairie View 89-67.
The SEC continued to dominate the Top 25, with No. 6 Florida giving the league four of the top six.
UCLA’s rise
Most of the AP Top 25 teams in action last week went up against schools from smaller conferences.
Not UCLA and Gonzaga.
The Zags and Bruins played the final marquee game of the nonconference season on Saturday, squaring off in the first college basketball game played at Intuit Dome, the new home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.
UCLA held off Gonzaga’s late rally to pull out a 65-62 win behind Eric Dailey Jr.’s 18 points and was rewarded in this week’s poll by moving up seven spots to No. 15. Gonzaga dropped five spots to No. 19 with the loss.
Rising and falling
UCLA was the only team to move up more than two spots in this week’s poll.
No. 24 Mississippi barely held on to a ranking, dropping eight places following an 87-70 loss to No. 21 Memphis on Saturday.
In and out
Memphis was the only team to move into this week’s poll after the win over Ole Miss.
San Diego State dropped out from No. 20 after losing 67-66 to Utah State on Tucker Anderson’s 3-pointer with 6.8 seconds left. The Aggies appeared on 14 ballots after the win.
Conference watch
The SEC leads all conferences with 10 ranked teams. The Big Ten and Big 12 each have five and the Big East two. The Atlantic Coast, West Coast and American Athletic conferences each have one.
AP Top 25 men’s basketball (Week 9)
1. Tennessee
2. Auburn
3. Iowa State
4. Duke
5. Alabama
6. Florida
7. Kansas
8. Marquette
9. Oregon
10. Kentucky
11. UConn
12. Oklahoma
13. Texas A&M
14. Houston
15. UCLA
16. Cincinnati
17. Mississippi State
18. Michigan State
19. Gonzaga
20. Purdue
21. Memphis
22. Illinois
23. Arkansas
24. Mississippi
25. Baylor
Others receiving votes: Maryland 133, Drake 100, St. John’s 98, Dayton 90, Michigan 65, Utah State 59, Georgia 48, Pittsburgh 35, West Virginia 30, San Diego State 28, Ohio State 19, Missouri 19, North Carolina 19, Arizona State 13, Indiana 11, Texas Tech 8, Clemson 8, Wisconsin 7, Penn State 5, St. Bonaventure 2, Nebraska 1.
