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AP Men’s Basketball Poll: 6 SEC teams land in top 25, including a new program in top 5
By Keith Farner
Published:
The AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll is out, and there’s a new SEC team in the top 5.
Alabama at No. 4 leads 6 SEC teams in the rankings. Tennessee follows at No. 6, and then there’s Arkansas at No. 10, Kentucky at No. 13, Mississippi State at No. 17 and Auburn at No. 19. Auburn had the biggest drop, as the Tigers lost 8 spots following an 82-73 loss to Memphis.
The Crimson Tide moved up 4 spots in this week’s poll after they’ve become giant slayers.
Alabama knocked North Carolina off its top-ranked perch in 4 overtimes on Nov. 27 and became the second team — with Oklahoma in 1990 — to beat two No. 1 teams in the same season with its 71-65 win over Houston on Saturday.
“Huge program win,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “Not sure how many teams get the chance to play two No. 1 teams in nonconference, let alone beat them, but I think that shows where we’ve gotten this program to that we can play with anyone in the country at this point.”
Purdue moved into the No. 1 spot following wins over Hofstra and Nebraska last week, and combined with that loss by Houston, were enough to move the Boilermakers to No. 1 for the second straight season.
The SEC and Big Ten led the way among conferences with 6 ranked teams each.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
