Written by AARON BEARD, AP’s Author on Basketball

For the third week in a row, Connecticut, Purdue, and North Carolina maintained their positions as the top three teams in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. South Carolina also entered the rankings for the first time in almost seven years.

The Huskies received 45 out of 61 first-place votes and maintained their top spot for the fourth consecutive week in the poll released on Monday. The Boilermakers also received the most votes from 16 other voters.

The top rankings in the poll were unchanged following a week full of big games, including four top-10 matchups. Purdue secured a win against Wisconsin and UNC defeated their rival Duke. Kansas also beat Houston, causing the Jayhawks to move up four spots to No. 4 and the Cougars to drop one spot to No. 5.

After being defeated by the now-ranked No. 15 Gamecocks at home, Tennessee dropped to No. 6 in the rankings. However, they bounced back with a win against Kentucky, who also fell seven spots to No. 17 after losses to the Vols and Florida.

Marquette, Arizona, Duke, and Illinois finished off the top 10 rankings, with the Wildcats and Fighting Illini making a comeback after being absent earlier in the season.

The Gamecocks of South Carolina have returned to the poll for the first time since February 2017. This comes after a surprising run to the Final Four during that season. Under Lamont Paris’ leadership, the team has won five consecutive games. Their current record of 19 wins has already exceeded their total from any season since their impressive run in 2017.

The University of South Carolina’s football team, known as the Gamecocks, entered the rankings at No. 24 this week, along with San Diego State. They took the spots previously held by Oklahoma (previously ranked at No. 23) and TCU (previously ranked at No. 25).

Alabama experienced the most significant increase this week, climbing eight positions to No. 16. This was due to their success in the Southeastern Conference where they currently hold a record of 8-1. Following closely behind was No. 13 Baylor, who also moved up five spots after defeating No. 14 Iowa State at home.

In total, nine teams advanced from their positions in last week’s poll.

The biggest drop of the week belonged to Texas Tech, as they fell eight places to No. 23 following defeats against TCU and Cincinnati on their home court. Creighton (No. 19) and New Mexico (No. 25) also experienced significant declines, each dropping six spots in the rankings.

Overall, ten teams dropped in rank last week.

Florida Atlantic, ranked 20th, joined UConn, Purdue, and UNC as the only teams to maintain their positions from the last poll.

The Big 12 had the most ranked teams in the country with six, while the SEC had five. The Big Ten, Big East, and Mountain West conferences each had three ranked teams. The Atlantic Coast Conference had two, while the Pac-12, Atlantic 10, and American Athletic conferences each had one ranked team.

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Source: wralsportsfan.com