It only took Kentucky one week to jump into the top spot in the AP Poll. The Wildcats replace Duke as college basketball’s new No. 1 after the Blue Devils lost to Kansas in the Champions Classic last week.
New NCAA basketball rankings: Kentucky ascends to No. 1 in AP Poll
Duke falls to No. 6 after losing to Kansas, while Kentucky moves up to No. 1 in the 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.
Kentucky is 4-0 after a convincing win over Michigan State last Tuesday and a blowout win against Duquesne on Sunday. Villanova is now No. 2 after a signature win over Purdue last week, while Indiana — who beat Kansas in overtime in its season opener — slides up to No. 3.
Don’t feel too bad for Duke. Mike Krzyzewski’s team only fell to No. 6 following a win over No. 23 Rhode Island on Sunday. The Blue Devils still haven’t had three top freshmen — Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles, and Marques Bolden — this year, but remain formidable thanks to the elevated play of sophomore shooter Luke Kennard.
Creighton made a big jump all the way into a tie for No. 12 after beating Wisconsin and NC State to start the season. Oregon, a top five team to start the season, is tied at No. 12 after losing to Baylor.
Here’s the rest of the AP Poll for this week:
Rank | Team | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky (40) | 4-0 | 1,494 |
| 2 | Villanova (20) | 5-0 | 1,469 |
| 3 | Indiana (1) | 3-0 | 1,348 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 4-0 | 1,319 |
| 5 | Kansas | 2-1 | 1,284 |
| 6 | Duke | 4-1 | 1,253 |
| 7 | Virginia | 3-0 | 1,126 |
| 8 | Arizona | 3-0 | 1,066 |
| 9 | Xavier | 5-0 | 1,039 |
| 10 | Louisville | 3-0 | 893 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 3-0 | 816 |
| 12 | Creighton | 4-0 | 716 |
| 12 | Oregon | 2-1 | 716 |
| 14 | UCLA | 4-0 | 681 |
| 15 | Saint Mary's | 3-0 | 665 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 2-1 | 623 |
| 17 | Syracuse | 3-0 | 576 |
| 18 | Purdue | 2-1 | 571 |
| 19 | West Virginia | 3-0 | 466 |
| 20 | Baylor | 3-0 | 326 |
| 21 | Iowa State | 3-0 | 283 |
| 22 | Texas | 3-0 | 237 |
| 23 | Rhode Island | 4-1 | 198 |
| 24 | Michigan State | 2-2 | 184 |
| 25 | Florida State | 4-0 | 89 |
| Others receiving votes: Michigan 83, Maryland 56, California 54, Miami 40, Cincinnati 34, Wichita St 29, Florida 27, Seton Hall 15, Virginia Tech 12, Butler 11, Dayton 11, Notre Dame 6, Colorado 4, Ohio State 2, Ohio 1, Rutgers 1, Tennessee State 1 | |||
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