MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – As expected, Duke is No. 1 in the first regular-season poll, according to the last Associated Press Top 25 rankings on Monday.
There were movements up and down, but the top 25 teams from the preseason poll remained ranked, with no teams leaving or adding.
The Blue Devils (2-0), who were the top-ranked team in the preseason poll, received 34 of 65 first-place votes from a national media panel after winning their opening two games to start the season.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski side earned one more first-place vote from the preseason poll, where it got 33.
Staying put at No. 2 is Michigan State, which received 13 first-place votes, following the 98-66 win over North Florida last week.
No. 3 Arizona collected 16 first-place votes, while No. 4 Kansas had the remaining two.
Villanova and Wichita State are No. 5 and No. 6 respectively, with Kentucky dropping two places to No. 7 after struggling to beat both Utah Valley and Vermont.
“You cannot play Popcorn State and learn anything,” Wildcats coach John Calipari said after the weekend’s fixtures.
“You’ve got to play good teams. I didn’t realize how good (Vermont) was until I watched the tape.
“Then I was like: `Who scheduled this game? This is ridiculous.’ They just do an unbelievable job.”
Florida at No. 8, North Carolina and USC complete to Top 10.
Miami, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Minnesota and Xavier make up the Top 15 this week.
Texas A&M was the biggest gainers this week after it jumped nine spots to No. 16 by beating then-No. 11 West Virginia 88-65 on Friday.
The Mountaineers (0-1), who were the only Top 25 team to lose in Week 1, dropped 13 spots to No. 24.
The Aggies are followed by Gonzaga at No. 17, Louisville, Purdue, Northwestern in the Top 20.
Completing the next five were Saint Mary’s, Seton Hall, UCLA and Baylor.
AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Duke (34) 2-0 1,577
2 Michigan State (13) 1-0 1,529
3 Arizona (16) 2-0 1,511
4 Kansas (2) 1-0 1,446
5 Villanova 1-0 1,307
6 Wichita State 1-0 1,277
7 Kentucky 2-0 1,219
8 Florida 0-0 1,125
9 North Carolina 1-0 1,078
10 USC 1-0 1,023
11 Miami 2-0 911
12 Cincinnati 1-0 890
13 Notre Dame 1-0 860
14 Minnesota 1-0 675
15 Xavier 1-0 605
16 Texas A&M 1-0 577
17 Gonzaga 1-0 525
18 Louisville 1-0 518
19 Purdue 2-0 426
20 Northwestern 1-0 374
21 Saint Mary’s 1-0 315
22 Seton Hall 2-0 283
23 UCLA 1-0 266
24 West Virginia 0-1 211
25 Baylor 1-0 205
Others receiving votes: Alabama 98, Rhode Island 55, Virginia 45, TCU 43, Providence 36, Missouri 32, Virginia Tech 17, Wisconsin 9, Texas 7, Michigan 7, Texas Tech 6, Butler 6, Oklahoma 5, Arkansas 4, Mt. St. Mary’s 4, SMU 4, Middle Tennessee 3, Nevada 2, Oakland 2, Dayton 2, Maryland 2, Harvard 1, Oregon 1, South Carolina 1
