AP Top 25: Kentucky drops to No. 8; Villanova still on top

Marc Lancaster

AP Top 25: Kentucky drops to No. 8; Villanova still on top image

What figures to be the last quiet week of the college basketball season passed with little movement in The Associated Press Top 25.

Villanova remains No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week in the poll that was released Monday. The rest of the top five also is unchanged.

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The biggest movement came courtesy of Louisville's 73-70 win over Kentucky, which vaulted the Cardinals from 10th to No. 6 and dropped the Wildcats from sixth to No. 8.

An intrastate rivalry was also responsible for the one change among the 25 ranked teams, as No. 22 South Carolina fell out after a loss to Clemson, making room for Florida to enter the poll at No. 25.

Conference play begins this week, so the degree of difficulty for many schools will increase quickly. Put Louisville at the top of that list; the Cardinals host ACC opponent No. 12 Virginia this week before facing No. 16 Indiana in a non-conference game.

The full Top 25:

Rank. Team (first-place votes), W-L, Pts
1. Villanova (56), 12-0, 1,614
2. UCLA (3), 13-0, 1,518
3. Kansas, 11-1, 1,461
4. Baylor (6), 12-0, 1,458
5. Duke, 12-1, 1,375
6. Louisville, 11-1, 1,260
7. Gonzaga, 12-0, 1,222
8. Kentucky, 10-2, 1,171
9. North Carolina, 11-2, 1,113
10. Creighton, 12-0, 1,049
11. West Virginia, 11-1, 933
12. Virginia, 10-1, 892
13. Butler, 11-1, 837
14. Wisconsin, 11-2, 772
15. Purdue, 11-2, 745
16. Indiana, 10-2, 709
17. Xavier, 10-2, 548
18. Arizona, 11-2, 512
19. Saint Mary's, 10-1, 407
20. Florida State, 12-1, 326
21. Oregon, 11-2, 321
22. USC, 13-,0 248
23. Cincinnati, 10-2, 207
24. Notre Dame, 10-2, 204
25. Florida, 9-3, 76

Others receiving votes: Maryland 40, Virginia Tech 37, Seton Hall 18, Clemson 12, Minnesota 8, Miami 8, Oklahoma State 7, Northwestern 5, South Carolina 4, UNC Wilmington 3, Arkansas 3, Iowa State 2.

Marc Lancaster

Marc Lancaster Photo

Marc Lancaster joined The Sporting News in 2022 after working closely with TSN for five years as an editor for the company now known as Stats Perform. He previously worked as an editor at The Washington Times, AOL’s FanHouse.com and the old CNNSportsIllustrated.com, and as a beat writer covering the Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, and University of Georgia football and women’s basketball. A Georgia graduate, he has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2013.