Michigan State basketball cracks Associated Press Top 25; Michigan drops again

A strong showing in the Bahamas has helped move Michigan State in to the Associated Press Top 25 men's basketball poll, released Monday.

Michigan State (5-2) is No. 22 this week, after reaching the Battle 4 Atlantis championship. Michigan State fell to No. 4 Baylor, 75-58, but knocked off Loyola Chicago and UConn along the way.

Michigan (4-2) dropped four spots to No. 24. The Wolverines won their lone game last week, 65-54, over Tarleton State.

Duke jumped to No. 1 after its win against Gonzaga, adding to a record haul of top rankings for Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The Blue Devils earned 51 of 61 first-place votes in the new poll, climbing from fifth last week following a win that knocked the Bulldogs from the top spot. This marks the 127th week at No. 1 for Krzyzewski, who is set to retire after this season.

The Blue Devils are No. 1 for the first time since spending two weeks there in November 2019.

Purdue earned nine first-place votes and moved up a spot to No. 2, while the Zags fell to third.

Reigning national champion Baylor rose two spots to No. 4 while UCLA fell three spots to No. 5 after a 20-point loss to Gonzaga last week.

Villanova, Texas, Kansas, Kentucky and Arkansas rounded out the top 10 in a reshuffled poll that saw no team hold its spot from the previous week and three new teams join the list.

Florida made the week’s biggest jump by climbing nine spots to No. 14 while No. 11 Arizona and No. 12 BYU each rose six spots.

Memphis had the week’s biggest tumble, sliding nine spots to No. 18, followed by No. 16 Alabama’s six-spot fall. No. 8 Kansas, No. 24 Michigan and No. 25 Seton Hall slid four spots.

Associated Press Top 25

1. Duke (51 first-place votes), 7-0, 1513 (last week: 5)

2. Purdue (9), 6-0, 1442 (3)

3. Gonzaga (1), 6-1, 1428 (1)

4. Baylor, 7-0, 1324 (6)

5. UCLA, 6-1, 1253 (2)

6. Villanova, 4-2, 1147 (7)

7. Texas, 4-1, 1115 (8)

8. Kansas, 5-1, 1027 (4)

9. Kentucky, 5-1, 1002 (10)

10. Arkansas, 6-0, 960 (13)

11. Arizona, 6-0, 851 (17)

12. BYU, 6-0, 791 (18)

13. Tennessee, 4-1, 730 (15)

14. Florida, 6-0, 681 (23)

15. Houston, 5-1, 631 (12)

16. Alabama, 6-1, 456 (10)

17. UConn, 6-1, 437 (22)

18. Memphis, 5-1, 435 (9)

19. Iowa State, 6-0, 403 (NR)

20. Southern Cal, 6-0, 380 (24)

21. Auburn, 5-1, 325 (19)

22. Michigan State, 5-2, 295 (NR)

23. Wisconsin, 5-1, 224 (NR)

24. Michigan, 4-2, 177 (20)

25. Seton Hall, 5-1, 151 (21)

Others receiving votes: Illinois 111, St. Bonaventure 106, LSU 93, Ohio State 75, Indiana 63, Colorado State 59, Xavier 46, Texas Tech 34, Marquette 23, North Carolina 9, Iowa 9, San Francisco 7, Loyola Chicago 3, Virginia Tech 3, Louisville 2, Wake Forest 2, Ohio 1, Iona 1.