Unbeaten Vols enhance grip on No

Tennessee tightened its grip on No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday following a pair of uneven wins, including one over SEC rival Arkansas, that left the Volunteers as the only unbeaten group in men’s Division I college basketball.The Vols picked up four more first-place votes and had 45 of 60 from the national panel to remain atop the poll for the fifth straight week. Auburn earned the other 15 first-place nods and remained at No. 2, while Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounded out a top five that was the same following the very first week of conference play for many leagues around the country.Team Record 1. Tennessee 14-0 (45 )2. Auburn 13-1 (15)3.

The Vols have done that a lot this season. Only as soon as have they stopped working to beat somebody by double digits.”Everything goes to the players, you know? Great households,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes stated.”They can be found in knowing what we anticipate, but they expect it from themselves, too. It just requires to be reemphasized daily to them.”The Wildcats rode their win over Florida up 4 spots

to No. 6. They were followed by Marquette, the Gators, UConn and Texas A&M, which routed Texas for the Aggies ‘8th consecutive win.Kansas dropped four areas to No. 11 after losing a nail-biter to West Virginia and burning out UCF. The Jayhawks were followed by Houston and Illinois– the biggest climber today, moving up nine areas– together with Mississippi State and Oregon.Michigan State was No. 16 and Oklahoma fell five areas after its 107-79 loss to the Crimson Tide. Gonzaga, Memphis and Purdue rounded out the leading 20 after the Boilermakers beat Minnesota and Northwestern last week.The Mountaineers, who followed their win over Kansas by beating Oklahoma State, were at No. 21 for their very first ranking since Dec. 26, 2022. They were followed by UCLA, Mississippi, Michigan and Utah State, with the Wolverines returning after a two-week lack and the Aggies making their season launching at No. 25.”You’re 14-1 and you’re mad. That’s sort of childish habits, but you can’t be pleased,”Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun stated after his group gutted out an 89-83 win over Fresno State on Saturday.”That’s kind of how I live my life, in survival mode.”Fluctuating Illinois rose nine spots to No. 13 following a 109-77 rout of then-No. 9 Oregon and its win at Washington on Sunday.Cincinnati fell all the way out from No. 16 after losing to Kansas and Arizona. The Ducks dropped six spots, and UCLA fell 7 to No. 22 after the Bruins lost at Nebraska in their only game of the week.In and out West Virginia’s appearance at No. 21 is only its 2nd in the AP Top 25 ranking considering that the final edition of the 2020-21 season. Michigan is ranked for the third time this season while Utah State is ranked for the very first time with Calhoun on the sideline. Those 3 gotten in at the expenditure of the Bearcats, the Razorbacks and Baylor.On the radar Pittsburgh was the first team outside the Leading 25 after opening ACC have fun with wins over California and Stanford. Nebraska was on 21 tallies amid its six-game

winning streak. St. Bonaventure appeared on 5 ballots after beating Fordham for its eighth straight win; the Bonnies, whose only loss is to Utah State, have actually spent simply 3 weeks in the poll given that the 1970-71 season.Conference watch The SEC once again led all leagues with 9 ranked groups, consisting of three of the top 5 and six of the top 10. The Big 10 was next with 6 teams in the poll,

while the Huge 12 had four and the Big East had two– both in the top 10. The ACC, West Coast, American Athletic and Mountain West each had one team in the poll.