The AP men’s basketball poll gives Florida Atlantic the top spot.
Before Saturday’s 96-95 win over Arizona, FAU coach Dusty May said, “We wanted to play it in the most disastrous manner for a lot of reasons.” “National TV show. Our guys were looking for a test.
After beating Jacksonville, Purdue kept its top spot for a second week in a row, getting 46 first-place votes in a group of 60 media members.
Five first-place votes went to No. 2 Kansas, and nine went to No. 3 Houston. The last two teams in the top five were Arizona and UConn.
Last season, Florida Atlantic made a lot of noise. During the regular season, they got their first place in the AP Top 25, and then they had an amazing run in the NCAA tournament.
Lamont Butler of San Diego State made a jump shot at the end that beat the Owls and put them out of the national championship game.
Florida Atlantic (10-2) brought back almost the whole team from that season and has shown that they could make another strong run.
The Owls lost to Bryant early at home, which was a surprise, and then they lost by seven points to then-No. 20 Illinois at Madison Square Garden on December 5.
Texas A&M, which was ranked 12th at the time, lost to FAU in the quarterfinals and Virginia Tech won the title game.
The Associated Press released its poll for men’s college basketball on Monday. FAU moved up seven spots to No. 7 after beating No. 4 Arizona in double overtime. It is the Owls’ best placing ever as a team. Before the season, they were ranked No. 10.
The Owls lost to Bryant early at home, which was a surprise, and then they lost by seven points to then-No. 20 Illinois at Madison Square Garden in New York on December 5.
Texas A&M, which was ranked 12th at the time, lost to FAU in the quarterfinals and Virginia Tech won the title game.
Arizona and the Owls played one of the best matchups of the season so far on Saturday in Las Vegas. Both teams were tough.
They like having to work hard. We thought these games were even more important for our team than making it to the Final Four.
Johnell Davis got 35 points, as well as FAU blocked Caleb Love’s last-second 3-point shot to win their fifth straight game over a top opponent in the last two years. Before last season, the Owls had lost 19 times to teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
The biggest jump in the poll this week was made by FAU. No. 16 Duke also moved up five spots after upsetting No. 17 Baylor 78–70. The Tigers moved up four spots after beating Virginia and Vanderbilt.
The most significant drop of the week was No. 22 Creighton, which dropped 10 spots after losing with Villanova in overtime. Following its 12–9 loss to No. 9 North Carolina, No. 12 Oklahoma dropped five spots.
The last time Providence was in the poll was on February 27, when it was No. 20. Last week, they beat No. 10 Marquette and Butler, which put them back in the poll.
Virginia’s time back in the AP Top 25 didn’t last long. After losing to Memphis, the Cavaliers fell from No. 22 to No. 23 this week.
Once more, the Big 12 had the most ranked teams, with six. The Big East came in second, with four.
There were three in each of the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC. Two teams from the American Athletic Conference were ranked. One team from each of the Pac-12, West Coast, Mountain West, when Sun Belt leagues was ranked.