By AARON BEARD, AP Basketball Writer

Last year’s NCAA champion, Connecticut, has achieved its first No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll in almost 15 years. At the same time, Gonzaga has dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in eight years.

After a week of upsets and changes in the sport, the Huskies have risen to the number one spot in the latest poll. Monday’s rankings saw five new teams join, but UConn secured 39 out of 63 first-place votes, allowing them to move up three places and overtake Purdue for the top spot after their loss to Nebraska.

This is the first instance that UConn has achieved the top spot in the AP Top 25 since being ranked there for four weeks during the second half of the 2008-09 season. That season culminated in the Huskies making it to the Final Four.

“I think there are some individuals who may not desire to attain the top spot,” stated coach Dan Hurley on Sunday regarding the possibility of becoming No. 1. “However, at UConn, we welcome and embrace the challenge.”

Purdue received 20 votes for first place in the poll, while Kansas was the only team to maintain their position from last week and hold onto three first-place votes, even after a loss to UCF.

UNC rose to No. 4 in the rankings, thanks to their three consecutive away wins in the Atlantic Coast Conference against rival North Carolina State and dominating Syracuse at home. They also received a first-place vote.

Gonzaga fell out from No. 23 after a loss at Santa Clara, marking the first time Mark Few’s club has been unranked since the final two months of the 2015-16 season.

This marks the conclusion of a streak of 143 consecutive weeks in the rankings, including 39 weeks at the top spot. This was highlighted by their dominant performance throughout the 2020-21 season, where they held the No. 1 position from start to finish. Unfortunately, the team’s only defeat came in the NCAA championship game against Baylor.

Last week proved to be a difficult one for the AP Top 25 teams, as many of them fell into traps. Eight of the top 10 teams suffered at least one loss, including No. 5 Houston, who lost two games by a total of five points for the first time this season.

However, due to 15 ranked teams suffering defeats last week, some teams were protected from dropping significantly as their surrounding teams also struggled. As a result, the Cougars only fell three positions to No. 5, while Purdue, Tennessee, and Kentucky dropped one or two spots following losses to unranked teams.

Duke climbed up four places to reach No. 7, reclaiming a spot in the top 10 after beginning the year at No. 2. The Wildcats, Baylor at No. 9, and Memphis at No. 10 follow behind.

Ten teams advanced in this week’s rankings, with the Bears making the largest leap of five places. Wisconsin at No. 11, Utah State at No. 16, and Creighton at No. 18 all climbed four spots along with the Blue Devils.

Unfortunately, Oklahoma and Marquette both experienced significant drops in the rankings this week, each falling six places. The 15th-ranked Sooners were affected by their defeats on the road against TCU and Kansas, while the 17th-ranked Golden Eagles suffered a loss at home against Butler.

Arizona (ranked 12th) and Illinois (ranked 14th) dropped four places, and a total of nine teams moved down from the previous week’s rankings.

TCU, ranked 19th, had the most impressive start to the week, joining five other teams in the poll after defeating Oklahoma and Houston.

Dayton at number 21, Mississippi at number 22, Iowa State at number 24, and Texas Tech at number 25 were the other newly added teams. The Rebels were the only team to make their first appearance of the season.

Colorado State (ranked 17), San Diego State (ranked 19), Clemson (ranked 21), and Texas (ranked 25) also dropped out of the rankings, along with the Zags.

The Big 12 had the highest representation in the Top 25, making up nearly one-third of the list with eight teams.

The Southeastern Conference had four teams, while the Big Ten and Big East had three each. The Atlantic Coast and American Athletic conferences had two teams each, and there was one team representing the Pac-12, Atlantic-10, and Mountain West.

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Source: wralsportsfan.com