The Associated Press released their Top 25 men’s college basketball rankings on Monday, February 7.
For the third consecutive week, the Auburn Tigers are the No.1 team in the nation. The Tigers held on to their program’s first-ever No.1 ranking after surviving a scare against a six-win Georgia team over the weekend.
Auburn (22-1) needed a layup with four seconds remaining to escape with a 74-72 victory. The Tigers have now won 19 consecutive games since their lone loss in November. They received 48 of 61 first-place votes.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs remained the No.2 team in the nation for the third consecutive week, receiving the remaining 13 first-place votes. Purdue follows at No.3, with Arizona at No.4 and Kentucky rounding out the top five.
At No.6 is the highest-ranked team from Texas, the Houston Cougars (20-2), out of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Cougars defeated Cincinnati 70-58 over the weekend and are putting together another impressive season under head coach Kelvin Sampson. Last season, Houston made it to the national semifinals before losing to the eventual champion Baylor Bears.
The Cougars will face one of their biggest challenges of the season next when they visit Dallas to play the second-place team in the AAC, the SMU Mustangs.
The Kansas Jayhawks are the No.8 team in the nation, moving up two spots from last week after taking command of first place in the Big 12 conference over the weekend. The Jayhawks had their way with the defending champion Baylor Bears in an 83-59 trounce on Saturday, February 5. The Bears had won nine straight games against AP top ten opponents before their trip to Kansas.
The Jayhawks raced out to early leads of 12-2 and then 21-7 in the first half. Kansas (19-3, 8-1 Big 12) held a commanding 39-21 lead at halftime and never looked back, opening a lead as large as 34 points in the second half.
“It snowballed on us,” Bears head coach Scott Drew said postgame. “We haven’t been beaten like that in three or four years. It’s disappointing. It starts with me. You’re not supposed to let things snowball like that as a leader.”
Baylor (19-4, 7-3) dropped two spots to No.10 after their blowout loss. They are now in a tie for second place in the Big 12 Conference with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the No.9 team in this week’s rankings.
The Red Raiders moved into the top ten from No.14 in last week’s rankings thanks to a 77-64 win over a ranked Texas Longhorn team and a challenging 60-53 win on the road over West Virginia. Texas Tech (18-5, 7-3) trailed by six points at halftime but held West Virginia to only four made shot attempts in the second half to secure the win.
“It was ugly, but I’m certainly excited and proud of our guys,” Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said after defeating West Virginia. “These are the type of games that we can build on, build character and toughness from.”
The Red Raiders have won three consecutive games and five of their last six, with the lone loss occurring on the road against Kansas in double overtime.
It is the first appearance in the top ten this season for Texas Tech under first-year head coach Mark Adams.
The Texas Longhorns are the fourth and final team ranked in the Top 25 from the Big 12 Conference. They rose three spots to the No.20 ranking this week.
After their loss to Texas Tech, the Longhorns rebounded with a resounding 63-41 win over then-No.20 Iowa State over the weekend. Texas was dominant in the second half, outscoring Iowa State 38-18 after halftime. Iowa State dropped out of the Top 25 following the loss.
“We guarded, we shared the ball, we played well today,” Longhorn head coach Chris Beard said following the Iowa State game. “Today, it probably wouldn’t have mattered who our opponents was. We play like that in the second half, we can play with anybody in the country.”
Texas (17-6, 6-4) is now 17-0 this season when opponents score less than 60 points. All six Big 12 conference wins for Texas have occurred, with opponents scoring an average of fewer than 52 points per game.
Next for the Longhorns is the most challenging remaining schedule in the nation. Their final eight games of the regular season include; two games apiece against No.8 Kansas and No.10 Baylor, a road game versus arch-rival Oklahoma, and a home game against No.9 Texas Tech.
