Written by JOHN MARSHALL, a reporter for the Associated Press covering basketball.

The latest AP Top 25 rankings saw significant changes, as teams constantly shifted positions similar to kernels in a popcorn machine.

The two teams remained in the lead despite the chaotic polling situation.

The latest Associated Press poll for men’s college basketball was released on Monday, with the reigning national champions Connecticut maintaining their top spot. Out of the 61 members of the media panel, 44 of them voted for Connecticut as the No. 1 team. Purdue, ranked at No. 2, received 17 first-place votes.

Kansas’s defeat caused chaos in the rest of the top five rankings.

Last week, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Houston, and No. 5 Tennessee all climbed one spot in the rankings after winning both of their games.

The Jayhawks fell four positions to seventh place after a 91-85 defeat against West Virginia, putting an end to their six-game winning streak in the rivalry.

Last week, UConn ascended to the number one spot in the poll for the first time in 15 years.

At the start of the week, the Huskies had a dominant victory against No. 17 Creighton as Donovan Clingan returned from a foot injury. UConn narrowly defeated Villanova 66-65 in a physical game that prompted coach Dan Hurley to reference martial arts and mixed martial arts.

Alex Karaban, from UConn, stated that being ranked as the top team is like receiving a temporary championship belt. He explained that it’s important to keep defending that title, just like a heavyweight champion would.

The Boilermakers kicked off their week with a decisive 87-66 victory against their rival Indiana and continued their success with a 14-point win over Iowa. Purdue’s center, Zach Edey, had an impressive week, scoring 33 points and grabbing 14 rebounds against Indiana, and 30 points and 18 rebounds against Iowa.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery stated that things are unique when it comes to him. Defending him becomes challenging when he gains a deep position.

Last season, North Carolina suffered a steep decline in the rankings, falling out after only a month as the preseason No. 1.

The Tar Heels have moved in the opposite direction this season after missing the NCAA Tournament.

North Carolina opened at No. 19 in the preseason poll and, after bouncing around a bit, has steadily climbed to No. 3. The Tar Heels beat Louisville 86-70 last Wednesday and took down Boston College 76-66 on Saturday.

North Carolina (15-3) is on a winning streak of eight consecutive games, having won all seven of its Atlantic Coast Conference matches. This puts them at the top of the conference, with a two-game lead over North Carolina State.

Memphis at number 19 experienced the largest descent this week, plummeting nine positions due to defeats against South Florida and Tulane. Similarly, Baylor dropped six spots to rank at number 15 after facing losses against Kansas State and Texas.

Duke’s 12th-ranked team suffered a defeat of 80-76 against Pittsburgh, causing them to fall five places in the latest poll compared to last week.

The team ranked 16th, Dayton, saw the largest increase in ranking, moving up six spots due to victories against Saint Louis and Rhode Island. Auburn, ranked 8th, and Texas Tech, ranked 20th, also climbed in the rankings by five spots each.

After being absent from the rankings last week, Colorado State (ranked 24th) returned to the poll with victories against Air Force and UNLV. New Mexico (ranked 25th) made its first appearance in the rankings since January by defeating No. 18 Utah State and Air Force.

TCU’s ranking dropped from 19th place after losing closely to both Iowa State (ranked 23rd) and Cincinnati. Similarly, Mississippi also fell out of the rankings from 22nd place due to losses against LSU and Auburn.

Even after TCU’s departure, the Big 12 remains at the top with seven teams ranked nationally. The Big East, Southeastern, Big Ten, and Mountain West conferences all have three teams ranked.

The Atlantic Coast and American Athletic conferences each had two teams ranked in the top rankings, while the Pac-12 and Atlantic-10 each had one ranked team.

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Source: wralsportsfan.com