Auburn stays at No. 1 in AP Top 25 for 6th straight week, Florida up to No. 2; Louisville returns

 

[February 18, 2025]  By AARON BEARD

Auburn's win at Alabama assured the Tigers would keep the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll for a sixth consecutive week.

The Tigers (23-2) received 59 of 60 first-place votes in Monday's poll, reclaiming nearly all the support lost when they fell at home to Florida on Feb. 8. Auburn had been the unanimous No. 1 for three straight weeks before that loss, but remained at the top last week despite seeing nearly half of those first-place votes go primarily to Alabama, with a few to Florida and Tennessee.

But the Tigers won Saturday in a 1-vs.-2 road matchup against the rival Crimson Tide, hours after the committee that will choose the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament put Auburn as its No. 1 overall seed in its preliminary rankings.

The top tier
The two teams to beat the Tigers sit right behind them. Florida and Duke were tied for third last week, and the Gators inched past the Blue Devils to break that tie and take the No. 2 spot while claiming the remaining first-place vote.

Alabama fell to No. 4, followed by Houston, Tennessee, Texas A&M — with its highest ranking since December 2017 — Iowa State, Texas Tech and St. John's to round out the top 10.

Of that group, the Red Raiders represented the only change from last week's set of teams, climbing three spots to replace Purdue for their first top-10 appearance in three years. Grant McCasland's squad, which has lost just twice since the start of 2025, was unranked until cracking the poll at No. 22 on Jan. 27.

Rising
Michigan had the week's biggest jump among ranked teams, climbing eight spots to No. 12 after beating Purdue last week and pushing its win streak to six games.

No. 15 Missouri jumped six spots, while No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 18 Clemson and No. 20 Maryland each rose five spots.

In all, 12 teams moved up from their position last week.

Auburn's Chad Baker-Mazara celebrates after a win over Alabama at an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Sliding
Memphis took the biggest tumble of the week, falling eight spots to No. 22 after its overtime loss at Wichita State ended an eight-game winning streak.

No. 13 Purdue, No. 19 Arizona and No. 23 Kansas — the preseason No. 1-ranked team — all fell six spots, while No. 24 Mississippi tumbled five.

Ten teams fell from last week's poll.

Welcome back
No. 25 Louisville was the week's lone new addition, returning to the poll for the second time after a two-week stint in January. First-year coach Pat Kelsey has guided the program to its first 20-win season since 2019-20, with the Cardinals having lost just once since mid-December.

Farewell (for now)
Creighton (No. 24) fell out of the rankings for the second time this season. The Bluejays were ranked for the first four weeks, then returned last week for what turned out to be a one-week stay.

Conference watch
The Southeastern Conference had a national-best nine teams, including three of the top four and five of the top 10. The Big 12 and Big Ten each had five teams, though the Big 12 had three in the top 10 while the highest-ranked Big Ten team checked in at 11th.

The Atlantic Coast Conference had three, followed by the Big East with two and the American Athletic Conference with one.

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