By Field Level Media
Nov 09 (Field Level Media) – UCLA leaped 13 spots to No. 9 in the first weekly update of the Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll on Monday after a season-opening 84-75 win over then-No. 5 Arizona.
The Bruins (2-0) hold their highest ranking since the final poll of the 2022-23 season, when they were seventh. Arizona (1-1) fell seven spots to 12th.
Louisville (2-0) moved up one spot to No. 10 as the only other new addition to the top 10, replacing Tennessee, which fell three spots to 11th after a 1-0 week.
There was stability at the top of the rankings, with the top four teams remaining the same. Florida (2-0) strengthened its lead as the No. 1 team, adding six more first-place votes to earn 53 of the 60 ballots, followed by Duke (2-0), Illinois (2-0) and UConn (2-0). Michigan State (2-0) moved up one spot to round out the top five.
Virginia (3-0), which comfortably beat then-No. 12 Arkansas 91-72 on Sunday, moved up three spots to sixth, Texas (2-0) remains at No. 7 and Houston (2-0) moved up two spots to eighth.
Arkansas (1-1) was tied with Arizona for the biggest drop of the week, falling seven spots to No. 19.
Iowa State (1-1), which was 18th in the preseason AP poll, was the only team to fall out of the poll after its opening loss to Memphis. The Cyclones were replaced by Nebraska (2-0), the only addition to this poll, at No. 25.
The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll: 1. Florida (2-0) 2. Duke (2-0) 3. Illinois (2-0) 4. UConn (2-0) 5. Michigan State (2-0) 6. Virginia (3-0) 7. Texas (2-0) 8. Houston (2-0) 9. UCLA (2-0) 10. Louisville (2-0) 11. Tennessee (1-0) 12. Arizona (1-1) 13. St. John’s (2-0) 14. Gonzaga (2-0) 15. Kansas (2-0) 16. Texas Tech (2-0) 17. Miami (Fla.) (1-1) 18. Alabama (2-0) 19. Arkansas (1-1) 20. Michigan (1-1) 21. Southern California (2-0) 22. Vanderbilt (2-0) 23. BYU (2-0) 24. Kentucky (2-0) 25. Nebraska (2-0)
(–Field Level Media)
