MIAMI, FL (December 26) —— The latest Associated Press college men’s basketball Top 25 rankings saw no movement in the top five, which means Purdue held its spot as the No. 1 team in the nation. The undefeated Boilermakers sit atop the Top 25 poll for the third straight week and are followed in Week 8 by No. 2 UConn, No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Kansas, and No. 5 Arizona.
Meanwhile, preseason No. 1 North Carolina has been rewarded for some quality results in recent outings as the Tar Heels are back in the rankings again after winning four straight games. Dropping from the poll in Week 8 are Illinois (16), Virginia Tech (21), Marquette (24), and Arizona State (25). Read More: AP Top 25 men’s basketball scores on Dec. 17; Winners, losers and upsets!
The teams making the biggest slide this week are Virginia, which took the biggest tumble in Week 8 after the Cavaliers fell seven spots to No. 13, following the defeat to Miami. Mississippi State also slide a big chunk, falling six places to No. 21, while Duke was the only other team to drop this week, slipping three spots to No. 17 after losing to Wake Forest.
As expected, Purdue (12-0) returns as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 rankings after collecting 40 first-place votes from the media panel for 1,478 points. Fellow unbeaten UConn, which is 13-0 on the season, gained the other 20 votes for first place and ended with 1,459 points.
Texas was next at No. 6, and the Longhorns are followed by Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Gonzaga to round out the top 10. North Carolina returns to the rankings at No. 25 this week after recovering from a run of four straight losses with four consecutive victories, including a win over a Top 25 team.
No. 12 Baylor and No. 19 Kentucky were the other two teams to hold their respective spot from the last rankings in Week 7.
College Men’s Basketball AP Top 25 Rankings Week 8
| AP Top 25 | ||||
| RK | TEAM | REC | PTS | TREND |
| 1 | Purdue(40) | 12-0 | 1478 | – |
| 2 | UConn(20) | 13-0 | 1459 | – |
| 3 | Houston | 12-1 | 1351 | – |
| 4 | Kansas | 11-1 | 1299 | – |
| 5 | Arizona | 12-1 | 1274 | – |
| 6 | Texas | 10-1 | 1144 | 1 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 10-2 | 1068 | 1 |
| 8 | Alabama | 10-2 | 1067 | 1 |
| 9 | Arkansas | 11-1 | 1017 | 1 |
| 10 | Gonzaga | 10-3 | 940 | 1 |
| 11 | UCLA | 11-2 | 906 | 2 |
| 12 | Baylor | 9-2 | 888 | – |
| 13 | Virginia | 8-2 | 861 | 7 |
| 14 | Miami | 12-1 | 658 | 8 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 9-2 | 570 | 2 |
| 16 | Indiana | 10-3 | 513 | 2 |
| 17 | Duke | 10-3 | 500 | 3 |
| 18 | TCU | 10-1 | 480 | 2 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 8-3 | 439 | – |
| 20 | Auburn | 10-2 | 237 | 3 |
| 21 | Mississippi State | 11-1 | 215 | 6 |
| 22 | Xavier | 10-3 | 147 | 4 |
| New Mexico | 12-0 | 147 | 4 | |
| 24 | West Virginia | 10-2 | 126 | 2 |
| 25 | North Carolina | 9-4 | 112 | 1 |
