Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for the second time in program history, while Georgia, a fellow Southeastern Conference program, is ranked for the first time in 13 years.

Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (15-1) earned 60 of 62 first-place votes and moved up one spot Monday after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season with a loss to Florida, snapping a five-week reign finished at the top. Auburn has been ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 just once during a three-week stint in January and February 2022 and is the third team to finish atop the poll this season.

Auburn’s only loss came at Duke in early December, and the Tigers have won eight straight games. However, there is no information on when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday’s win over South Carolina.

The Tigers’ rise made them the headliner in another SEC-heavy poll, with the league having nine teams in the AP Top 25 – including three of the top five and five of the top 10.

Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each took first place.

The top step

The Volunteers (15-1) had been No. 1 since Dec. 9 and were the last undefeated team in Division I before a 30-point loss to Florida. They rebounded with a win over Texas, but still fell five spots to No. 6.

Next, Marquette landed at No. 7, making it the only team to remain in the same spot as last week, followed by Kentucky, preseason No. 1 Kansas and Houston, which rounded out the top 10.

Uprising

No. 12 Michigan State and No. 20 Michigan had the biggest jumps of the week, moving up four spots each. Next up were Florida and No. 17 Purdue, which climbed three spots.

In total, 15 teams that were on the rankings last week advanced in the latest survey.

Falling

While Tennessee’s decline was notable, No. 19 Illinois experienced its biggest drop of the week, falling six spots following a home loss to Southern California over the weekend.

Two-time defending national champion UConn closed the Volunteers’ five-spot deficit to finish at No. 14 after last week’s loss at Villanova.

Six teams that were ranked last week slipped in Monday’s poll.

Welcome

No. 23 Georgia, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Baylor were this week’s additions. And for Georgia, it’s been a while.

Mike White’s Bulldogs (14-2) have their first AP Top 25 ranking since spending a week at No. 24 in January 2011. That single appearance was the program’s only appearance since the 2002-03 season, but the Bulldogs are coming off a week of wins against then-No. 6 Kentucky and then No. 17 Oklahoma for the program’s first consecutive wins over ranked opponents since 2006/07 season.

Both the Badgers and Bears have participated in the survey for multiple weeks this season.

Farewell (for now)

West Virginia (No. 21) and UCLA (No. 22) were eliminated from this week’s poll along with the Sooners.

Conference clock

The SEC — which had 10 ranked teams as of Dec. 23 and 30 — had nine ranked teams for the fifth time this season, including No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 21 Mississippi.

The Big Ten was next with six, followed by the Big 12 with four. The Big East had two, followed by the Atlantic Coast, West Coast, American Athletic and Mountain West conferences with one each.

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