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College basketball’s latest AP Top 25 poll continues to scream what we’ve already come to know so far this season: the SEC has taken over the sport, with 9 teams from the conference filling the latest poll that was released Monday.
Tennessee remained No. 1 and is still undefeated, Auburn stayed at No. 2 and Alabama also stayed put at No. 5, giving the SEC 3 teams in the top 5 once again. But that’s only half of the top 10, and 3 more SEC teams are in the new top 10. Kentucky moved up 4 spots to No. 6 after handing Florida its first loss of the season on Saturday, but the Gators only slid down 2 spots to No. 8. Texas A&M also entered the top 10, moving up 3 spots to No. 10.
That gives the SEC 6 teams in the top 10 alone this week, and the SEC Top 25 roll call doesn’t stop there.
Mississippi State moved up 3 spots to No. 14, Oklahoma got punched in the mouth by Alabama over the weekend but the Sooners are still at No. 17 in the new poll, and Ole Miss was at No. 23. That’s 9 SEC teams in the new AP Top 25, speaking to its dominance as we head full blast into January and the meat of the conference schedule.
Arkansas’s loss to Tennessee kicked it out of the top 25, but the Razorbacks still got 62 votes, which was second in the “others receiving votes” category. Georgia got 6 votes, Mizzou earned 5 and Vanderbilt received 1 vote.
Here’s a look at the full top 25:
- Tennnessee
- Auburn
- Iowa State
- Duke
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Marquette
- Florida
- UConn
- Texas A&M
- Kansas
- Houston
- Illinois
- Mississippi State
- Oregon
- Michigan State
- Oklahoma
- Gonzaga
- Memphis
- Purdue
- West Virginia
- UCLA
- Ole Miss
- Michigan
- Utah State
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
