Duke Returns To No. 1 In AP Top 25 College Basketball Rankings

MIAMI, FL — As expected, Duke reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 college basketball rankings, which was released in Week 16 on Monday.

However, there are no new teams joining the Top 25 for the first time this term.

The Blue Devils (23-2) received 58 of 64 first-place votes from the panel to replace Tennessee at the top of the poll. It is the third Duke is holding the top-ranked spot this season.

Duke grabbed a pair of victories last week, including a stunning 71-69 comeback victory at then-No. 16 Louisville last Tuesday, while Tennessee went down to last week’s fifth-ranked Kentucky.

The Volunteers (23-2), who had spent four weeks at No. 1, slipped to No. 5 this week after the weekend’s loss at the Wildcats in SEC play.

Week 16 poll sees Gonzaga (25-2), which earned the remaining six first-place votes, moved up one place to No. 2 and it is followed by Virginia at No. 3 and Kentucky, which all advanced a slot each.

Nevada is at No. 6 Michigan, followed by North Carolina, Houston and Michigan State to round out the top 10.

Marquette slipped a spot to No. 11, Kansas is at No. 12, while LSU made the biggest leap this week after climbing six spots to No. 13. Texas Tech and Purdue are also in the top 15.

Florida State at No. 16, Villanova, which suffered a shocking defeat to St. John’s on Sunday, Louisville, Iowa State and Virginia Tech make up the top 20.

The next five is completed by Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Maryland and Buffalo.

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