Duke ascended to No. 1 within the AP Prime 25 males’s school basketball ballot for the primary time since Week 4 of the 2021-22 season on Monday and for the primary time below third-year coach Jon Scheyer. The Blue Devils’ rise supplanted Auburn, which spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 1, for the highest spot. The Tigers slipped to No. 3 after taking two losses of their two outings this week to Texas A&M and Alabama to precipitate the massive change. Houston moved as much as No. 2.
Duke had been ranked No. 2 the earlier two weeks and for 5 of the final seven weeks waited within the shadows for a possible Auburn slip-up. When Auburn misplaced to Florida on Feb. 8, nonetheless, Duke additionally misplaced the identical day to Clemson, which saved Auburn at No. 1 within the subsequent ballot with a stripping of its unanimous standing by voters.
Auburn’s two-game slide this week got here as Duke rolled with ease into postseason play with wins over Wake Forest and North Carolina by 33 and 13 factors, respectively. It enters ACC Event play this week having received 24 of its final 25 video games, culminating with Monday’s transfer up one spot to No. 1 within the rankings.
The 0-2 week pushed Auburn off the No. 1 spot all the way down to No. 3 and snapped a streak of 14 consecutive weeks of being ranked inside the highest two within the AP ballot. The Tigers prolonged a streak of eighteen weeks of being ranked inside the highest 5 relationship again to the preseason ballot when it was No. 11. No different workforce has been ranked within the prime 5 for each in-season ballot this season, and the final groups to take action — Purdue and UConn in 2023-24 — had been the final two groups standing within the NCAA championship final season.
AP Prime 25
1. Duke (52)
2. Houston (5)
3. Auburn (4)
4. Florida
5. Alabama
6. St. John’s
7. Michigan State
8. Tennessee
9. Texas Tech
10. Clemson
11. Maryland
12. Iowa St.
13. Louisville
14. Texas A&M
15. Kentucky
16. Memphis
17. BYU
18. Wisconsin
19. Saint Mary’s
20. Purdue
21. Missouri
22. Michigan
23. Oregon
24. Illinois
25. Marquette
Additionally receiving votes: Drake 103, Arizona 82, UCLA 52, UC San Diego 39, UConn 38, Gonzaga 28, New Mexico 20, Creighton 18, Mississippi 17, VCU 6, Excessive Level 4, Kansas 3, Akron 2, McNeese St. 1, Xavier 1.
Scheyer has Duke at No. 1 for first time
Mike Krzyżewski led Duke to its first No. 1 rating of his tenure in Week 15 of the 1985-86 season — six seasons after taking the job in 1980. His successor, Jon Scheyer, has achieved it in his third season, with Monday’s motion getting Duke to No. 1.
St. John’s surges into postseason
Simply when the dream season for St. John’s seemingly could not get higher, it does. The Johnnies remained at No. 6 within the newest ballot however are threatening to maneuver into the highest 5, which hasn’t occurred since January 1991, after matching a program report for normal season wins with 27 this week following an extra time win over Marquette on the buzzer.
Houston leaps Auburn
In one of many larger surprises of the newest ballot, Auburn fell not one spot however two, as each Duke and Houston leapfrogged the Tigers. Duke’s leap was overwhelming however Houston’s was by a slim margin, with it incomes 1,427 complete factors to Auburn’s 1,407 within the vote. Houston additionally earned 5 first-place votes to Auburn’s 4.