Michigan State holds steady in Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll

Michigan State held its spot in this week's Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll, remaining at No. 10 for the third straight week.

Michigan State (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten) won its only game last week, 79-67 against Nebraska. A second game scheduled for Saturday at Michigan was postponed because of COVID-19 issues with the Wolverines.

This week, the Spartans play host to Minnesota on Wednesday and Northwestern on Saturday.

Baylor is the unanimous No. 1 once again, while fifth-ranked Southern California climbed to its highest ranking in nearly five decades.

The reigning national champion Bears earned all 61 first-place votes for the fourth time in five weeks. Baylor (15-0) beat Oklahoma and TCU last week to push its winning streak to 21 games dating to last year’s title run in the Indianapolis bubble.

Gonzaga, UCLA, Auburn and USC rounded out the top five. The Tigers jumped five spots to No. 4, while the Trojans rose two spots to hit their highest ranking since last reaching No. 5 in December 1974.

Arizona, Purdue, Duke, Kansas and MSU rounded out a reshuffled group of the same top-10 teams from last week.

No. 13 Wisconsin had the biggest jump of the 12 teams that climbed in this week’s poll, leaping 10 spots after beating Purdue, Iowa and Maryland in Big Ten play. No. 12 LSU rose nine spots after wins against ranked Kentucky and Tennessee teams.

No. 24 Alabama had the biggest tumble of the 10 teams that fell in Monday’s poll, sliding nine spots after losing to a Missouri team that was 6-7 entering the game. No. 21 Texas and No. 23 Providence each fell seven spots.

Illinois re-entered the poll at No. 25 after opening the year at No. 11 but falling out before the end of November. That came after the AP Top 25 featured no new teams for each of the past two weeks.

Michigan (7-6, 1-2), which has had its last two games postponed because of COVID-19 protocols within the program, remains unranked.

Associated Press Top 25 men

1. Baylor (61 first-place votes), 15-0, 1525 points (last week: 1)

2. Gonzaga, 12-2, 1440 (4)

3. UCLA, 10-1, 1376 (5)

4. Auburn, 14-1, 1193 (9)

5. Southern Cal, 13-0, 1152 (7)

6. Arizona, 12-1, 1144 (8)

7. Purdue, 13-2, 1139 (3)

8. Duke, 12-2, 1130 (2)

9. Kansas, 12-2, 1031 (6)

10. Michigan State, 13-2, 1011 (10)

11. Houston, 14-2, 949 (12)

12. LSU, 14-1, 889 (21)

13. Wisconsin, 13-2, 784 (23)

14. Villanova, 11-4, 682 (19)

15. Iowa State, 13-2, 648 (11)

16. Ohio State, 10-3, 510 (13)

17. Xavier, 12-2, 453 (22)

18. Kentucky, 12-3, 438 (16)

19. Texas Tech, 11-3, 373 (25)

20. Seton Hall, 11-3, 342 (24)

21. Texas, 12-3, 282 (14)

22. Tennessee, 10-4, 277 (18)

23. Providence, 14-2, 250 (16)

24. Alabama, 11-4, 237 (15)

25. Illinois, 11-3, 208 (NR)

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma 122, Loyola Chicago 96, Miami 65, West Virginia 20, UConn 17, Indiana 12, Colorado State 10, San Diego State 9, Davidson 5, San Francisco 2, Iowa 2, BYU 2.