Duke rises to No. 1 in AP poll, Kansas drops to 5th
Duke moved to No. 1 after blowing out Kentucky in its season opener, only to lose the top spot two weeks later with a loss to Gonzaga in Maui.
Well, the Blue Devils are back at No. 1.
Buoyed by a win over No. 12 Texas Tech and Kansas’ loss at No. 18 Arizona State, Duke moved atop The Associated Press Top 25 released on Monday, receiving 35 of 64 first-place votes.
No. 2 Michigan received nine first-place votes, No. 3 Tennessee got 12, and No. 4 Virginia and No. 5 Kansas received four each.
No. 6 UNR, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Florida State and Virginia Tech rounded out the top 10.
Duke (11-1) started the season No. 4 in the preseason poll, but moved to No. 1 for a record-tying 135th week in the first regular-season poll after turning its opener against then-No. 2 Kentucky into a laugher.
The Blue Devils stayed in the top spot until a rally against Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational title game came up short. Duke worked its way up to No. 2 and slid into the top spot after routing Princeton and holding off No. 12 Texas Tech last week.
The 69-58 win over the previously-unbeaten Red Raiders had a March-like feel at Madison Square Garden as two Elite Eight teams from a year ago played for the first time.
“This is a great night for college basketball,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
AP TOP 25 POLL
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses and records through Dec. 23.
1. Duke (35) 11-1
2. Michigan (9) 12-0
3. Tennessee (12) 10-1
4. Virginia (4) 11-0
5. Kansas (4) 10-1
6. UNR 12-0
7. Gonzaga 11-2
8. Michigan St. 10-2
9. Florida St. 11-1
10. Virginia Tech 10-1
11. Texas Tech 10-1
12. Auburn 10-2
13. Ohio St. 11-1
14. North Carolina 8-3
15. Wisconsin 10-2
16. Kentucky 9-2
17. Arizona St. 9-2
18. Marquette 10-2
19. Mississippi St. 11-1
20. N.C. State 11-1
21. Buffalo 11-1
22. Houston 12-0
23. Indiana 11-2
24. Iowa 10-2
25. Oklahoma 11-1
Others receiving votes: Nebraska 160, Kansas St. 69, St. John’s 67, Villanova 44, Cincinnati 11, Iowa St. 11, TCU 6, Seton Hall 5, Louisville 4, Purdue 3, Belmont 2, Furman 2, NJIT 1, Penn 1, San Francisco 1.
