Auburn atop AP Top 25 for 8th
straight week; No. 6 St. John's has highest ranking in 34 years
[March 04, 2025]
By JOHN MARSHALL
Auburn and Duke remain atop the AP Top 25. The rest of the poll was
a big jumble.
Auburn was the unanimous pick at No. 1 for the second straight week,
receiving all 61 votes from a media panel in the poll released on
Monday. The Tigers held the top spot for the eighth straight week
following lopsided wins over Ole Miss and then-No. 17 Kentucky.
Duke was No. 2 for the second straight week after blowing out Miami
and Florida State despite playing without guard Tyrese Proctor due
to a bone bruise in his left knee.
No. 3 Houston moved up a spot after beating Texas Tech and
Cincinnati, while Tennessee climbed to No. 4 following Jahmai
Mashack's last-second 3-pointer from well beyond halfcourt to beat
Alabama 79-76.
Florida rounded out the top five, dropping two places after losing
to Georgia and beating Texas A&M.
No. 8 Michigan State joined Auburn and Duke as the only teams to
have the same ranking as last week.
Rising Red Storm
St. John's has pulled off quite the turnaround in its second season
under coach Rick Pitino.
The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2Big East) have not been to the NCAA
Tournament since 2019, but are pretty much a lock to end the drought
after clinching their first Big East regular-season title in 40
years with Saturday's 71-61 win over Seton Hall.
“We're just getting started,” Pitino told the Madison Square Garden
crowd after the win.
St. John's also beat Butler last week and moved up a spot in this
week's poll to No. 6, its highest ranking reaching No. 5 in 1990-91.
In and out
No teams moved in or out of this week's poll.
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Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, left, enjoys a lighter moment with
referee Chuck Jones in the second half of an NCAA college basketball
game against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, March 1, 2025.
(AP Photo/James Crisp)
Rising and falling
No. 14 Louisville made the biggest move of the week, climbing five
places following wins over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. No. 13
Maryland moved up three places after losing to Michigan State by
three on Tre Holloman's last-second heave from beyond midcourt and
beating Penn State.
No. 22 Texas A&M had by far the biggest drop, losing 10 places after
losing to Vanderbilt and Florida, stretching its losing streak to
four straight.
No other team dropped more than two places.
Conference watch
The SEC continued its dominance with three of the top five and eight
total in the Top 25 this week. The Big 12 has three teams in the top
10 and five ranked teams, while the Big Ten also had five teams in
the poll. The ACC has three, the Big East two and the American and
West Coast conferences have one ranked team apiece.
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