MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – Duke fell five places in The Associated Press men’s basketball top 25 rankings in Week 3, while Kentucky took over as the new No. 1 team in the country on Monday.
The Blue Devils (4-1) dropped out of the top five to No. 6 after going 2-1 in their three scheduled games last week.
Duke suffered a 77-75 final-seconds loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic last Tuesday before beating Penn State and Rhode Island to win the Hall of Fame Tip-off tournament at the weekend.
Kentucky collected 40 of 65 first-place votes to take over as the new No. 1 team, moving up one spot with 1,494 points.
The Wildcats (4-0) beat then-No. 13 Michigan State 69-48 and Duquesne, 93-59 last week to stay undefeated on the term.
Defending champion Villanova received 20 first-place and jumped one spot to No. 2 in the rankings after winning all four of its games last week.
The Wildcats (5-0) defeated Purdue, Western Michigan, Wake Forest and UCF to collect 1,469 points.
Indiana, North Carolina and the Jayhawks round out the top five.
After Duke, at No. 7 is Virginia, with Arizona, Xavier and Louisville completing the top 10.
Bluejays Make AP Top 25 Big Move
The biggest mover in the AP top 25 in Week 3 is Creighton, which picked up three wins last week, including an impressive 79-67 victory over Wisconsin to climb 10 slots to No. 12.
Gonzaga comes in at No. 11, but Oregon, following the 66-49 defeat to Baylor, slipped eight places to tie at No. 12, while UCLA and Saint Mary’s made their way into the top 15.
The newcomers in the rankings this week are Baylor and Florida State, while Cincinnati (24) and California (25) dropped out of the top 25.
Michigan State (2-2) dipped 11 places this week to No. 24 and Wisconsin is down seven spots to No. 16.
Syracuse, Purdue, West Virginia and Baylor round out 17 through 20, with Iowa State, at No. 21, Texas, at 22nd and Rhode Island, 23rd in the top 25 as well.
AP Top 25: Week 3
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Kentucky (40) 4-0 1,494
2 Villanova (20) 5-0 1,469
3 Indiana (1) 3-0 1,348
4 North Carolina 4-0 1,319
5 Kansas 2-1 1,284
6 Duke 4-1 1,253
7 Virginia 3-0 1,126
8 Arizona 3-0 1,066
9 Xavier 5-0 1,039
10 Louisville 3-0 893
11 Gonzaga 3-0 816
12 Creighton 4-0 716
12 Oregon 2-1 716
14 UCLA 4-0 681
15 Saint Mary’s 3-0 665
16 Wisconsin 2-1 623
17 Syracuse 3-0 576
18 Purdue 2-1 571
19 West Virginia 3-0 466
20 Baylor 3-0 326
21 Iowa State 3-0 283
22 Texas 3-0 237
23 Rhode Island 4-1 198
24 Michigan State 2-2 184
25 Florida State 4-0 89
Complete Rankings On College AP Website
Dropped from rankings: Cincinnati 24, California 25
Others receiving votes: Michigan 83, Maryland 56, California 54, Miami 40, Cincinnati 34, Wichita St 29, Florida 27, Seton Hall 15, Virginia Tech 12, Butler 11, Dayton 11, Notre Dame 6, Colorado 4, Ohio State 2, Ohio 1, Rutgers 1, Tennessee State 1
