There’s a new No. 1 in college basketball. After a wild week that saw five top-10 teams lose, including former No. 1 North Carolina, Kentucky has now claimed the top spot in the new AP Poll that was announced on Monday.
College basketball rankings 2015: Kentucky stands alone at No. 1
John Calipari’s Wildcats lead the way in the new AP Poll.
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The Wildcats are followed by Maryland, Michigan State, Iowa State and Kansas in the top five. Michigan State has made the biggest jump of any team over the last two weeks thanks to its decisive victory over the Jayhawks last Tuesday. The Spartans started the year No. 13 in the preseason poll.
North Carolina dropped to No. 9 after losing to Northern Iowa on Saturday.
By beating Duke on Tuesday, John Calipari’s Wildcats have already passed their toughest test of the non-conference season. Kentucky’s next three games are against mid-majors before a December slate that includes UCLA, Arizona State, Ohio State and Louisville.
Maryland’s schedule will get very interesting next week when it goes on the road to face UNC. Will the Heels have Marcus Paige back for that game?
Here’s a look at the full top 25:
AP Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky Wildcats (59) | 4-0 | 1,619 |
| 2 | Maryland Terrapins (6) | 3-0 | 1,518 |
| 3 | Michigan State Spartans | 3-0 | 1,448 |
| 4 | Iowa State Cyclones | 2-0 | 1,297 |
| 5 | Kansas Jayhawks | 1-1 | 1,243 |
| 6 | Duke Blue Devils | 4-1 | 1,238 |
| 7 | Oklahoma Sooners | 2-0 | 1,210 |
| 8 | Villanova Wildcats | 4-0 | 1,153 |
| 9 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 3-1 | 1,141 |
| 10 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 2-0 | 1,138 |
| 11 | Arizona Wildcats | 4-0 | 970 |
| 12 | Virginia Cavaliers | 4-1 | 872 |
| 13 | Indiana Hoosiers | 3-0 | 846 |
| 14 | California Golden Bears | 3-0 | 746 |
| 15 | Miami-Florida Hurricanes | 5-0 | 724 |
| 16 | Purdue Boilermakers | 5-0 | 550 |
| 17 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 3-0 | 480 |
| 18 | Connecticut Huskies | 3-0 | 432 |
| 19 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 3-0 | 431 |
| 20 | Wichita State Shockers | 2-1 | 423 |
| 21 | Oregon Ducks | 4-0 | 369 |
| 22 | LSU Tigers | 3-0 | 285 |
| 23 | Xavier Musketeers | 3-0 | 143 |
| 24 | Cincinnati Bearcats | 4-0 | 110 |
| 25 | Texas A&M Aggies | 4-0 | 100 |
| 25 | SMU Mustangs | 3-0 | 100 |
| Also Receiving Votes: Utah 95, George Washington 85, Baylor 81, West Virginia 69, Butler 59, Louisville 40, Northern Iowa 23, Iowa 20, Dayton 18, Tulsa 17, Colorado State 13, Providence 8, Georgetown 4, Michigan 3, Valparaiso 2, Washington 1, Chattanooga 1 | |||
| Dropped: Utah 16, Baylor 20, Butler 22, Michigan 24 | |||
Coaches’ Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky (28) | 4-0 | 772 |
| 2 | Maryland (3) | 3-0 | 736 |
| 3 | Duke | 4-1 | 623 |
| 4 | Michigan State | 3-0 | 614 |
| 5 | Iowa State | 2-0 | 610 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | 2-0 | 561 |
| 7 | Kansas | 1-1 | 555 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 3-1 | 554 |
| 9 | Villanova | 4-0 | 552 |
| 10 | Arizona | 4-0 | 530 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 2-0 | 492 |
| 12 | Virginia | 4-1 | 488 |
| 13 | California | 3-0 | 377 |
| 14 | Indiana | 3-0 | 327 |
| 15 | Purdue | 5-0 | 262 |
| 16 | Vanderbilt | 3-0 | 260 |
| 17 | LSU | 3-0 | 220 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 3-0 | 218 |
| 19 | Miami (FL) | 5-0 | 216 |
| 20 | Wichita St | 2-1 | 200 |
| 21 | Connecticut | 3-0 | 164 |
| 22 | West Virginia | 3-0 | 145 |
| 23 | Oregon | 4-0 | 124 |
| 24 | Cincinnati | 4-0 | 82 |
| 25 | Baylor | 2-1 | 77 |
| 25 | SMU | 3-0 | 100 |
| Also Receiving Votes: Utah 73, Louisville 51, Butler 47, Xavier 44, Texas A&M 41, Michigan 15, George Washington 12, Dayton 10, Tulsa 6, Washington 3, New Mexico 3, Iowa 3, Northern Iowa 3, Davidson 3, Georgetown 1, Colorado State 1 | |||
| Dropped: Utah 16, Butler 20, Michigan 25 | |||
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