Kansas is still No. 1 in the AP Top 25; Gonzaga, Auburn in top 5

Kansas remained atop the first Associated Press poll of the top 25 regular-season college basketball teams after winning a battle of basketball bluebloods, while Gonzaga and Auburn cracked the top five after impressive opening-week victories and St . John’s moved up the rankings.

The Jayhawks received 44 of 62 first-place votes after a home win against North Carolina, a game in which Kansas blew a 20-point lead but held on to it with a 92-89 win. That left them ahead of Alabama and two-time reigning national champion UConn in the poll with an unchanged 1-2-3 lineup, with the Crimson Tide receiving six first-place votes and the Huskies receiving seven.

Mark Few’s Zags moved up two spots to No. 4 after ousting the then No. 1 seed. 8 Baylor opens the season and then prevails against Arizona State. Next up were Bruce Pearl’s Tigers, who jumped six spots to No. 5 after a win over then-No. 6, making their biggest jump of the week. 4Houston. The Zags and Tigers received the remaining five first-place votes.

Auburn was the only newcomer to the largely reshuffled top 10, with Duke moving up one spot to No. 6 and topping the next group. Iowa State finished seventh, followed by Houston, Arizona and North Carolina, which fell one spot after the loss at KU’s Allen Fieldhouse.

WELCOME BACK

St. John’s’ jump to No. 22 was a remarkable return for two reasons. It’s the Red Storm’s first appearance since a week at No. 24 in January 2019, but it also marks the return of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.

This is the first time a Pitino-coached team has appeared in the AP Top 25 since the final poll of the 2016-17 season, when he was at Louisville. Pitino was fired shortly before the next season as part of a federal corruption investigation into college basketball that implicated the Cardinals and several other programs.

Pitino spent three seasons at Iona (2020-23) before taking over at St. John’s before last season.

WHO’S IN; WHO’S OUT

No. 21 Ohio State came to St. John’s as the Newcomer of the Week, marking the Buckeyes’ first appearance since January 2023.

Texas (No. 19) and UCLA (No. 22) were eliminated from the preseason poll.

STAND UP

After Auburn, Kentucky had the next biggest jump of the week, moving up four spots to No. 19, beginning Mark Pope’s tenure, while Marquette (No. 15) and Cincinnati (No. 17) were next at three spots .

In total, 13 teams moved up from their preseason poll spot.

FALL

Texas A&M suffered its biggest drop of the week, falling 10 spots to No. 23 after losing at UCF earlier in the season. Houston joined No. 12 Baylor and fell four spots after losses to ranked opponents.

A total of seven teams were eliminated compared to the previous survey.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The Southeastern Conference led the way with eight ranked teams, including No. 11 Tennessee, No. 18 Arkansas under new coach John Calipari, No. 20 Florida and No. 25 Ole Miss.

Next is the Big 12 with six teams, followed by the Big East and Big Ten with four each. The Atlantic Coast Conference has two while the West Coast Conference has one.