New AP men’s basketball Top 25: More teams lose, more new names in poll

Syracuse, N.Y.-- No huge shakeup at the top of the AP men’s basketball Top 25 this week, though Baylor tumbled with its two losses, both of which were on the road.

The ACC still has just two teams in the Top 25: North Carolina and Duke. The Blue Devils, in case you missed it, lost to Pittsburgh on Saturday. Two of Duke’s starters were out with injuries.

At any rate, here’s the latest Top 25. Scroll below to see the ballot I submitted last night:

(rank, team, record, total points, No. 1 votes in parentheses)

1. UConn (17-2) 1508 (44)

2. Purdue (17-2) 1472 (17)

3. North Carolina (15-3) 1391 (0)

4. Houston (16-2) 1309 (0)

5. Tennessee (14-4) 1237 (0)

6. Kentucky (14-3) 1205 (0)

7. Kansas (15-3) 1157 (0)

8. Auburn (16-2) 1094 (0)

9. Arizona (14-4) 1060 (0)

10. Illinois (14-4) 862 (0)

11. Oklahoma (15-3) 849 (0)

12. Duke (13-4) 832 (0)

13. Wisconsin (14-4) 801 (0)

14. Marquette (13-5) 747 (0)

15. Baylor (14-4) 645 (0)

16. Dayton (15-2) 546 (0)

17. Creighton (14-5) 505 (0)

18. Utah State (17-2) 381 (0)

19. Memphis (15-4) 329 (0)

20. Texas Tech (15-3) 304 (0)

21. BYU (14-4) 294 (0)

22. Florida Atlantic (15-4) 290 (0)

23. Iowa State (14-4) 253 (0)

24. Colorado State (15-3) 214 (0)

25. New Mexico (16-3) 177 (0)

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:

Seton Hall 84, San Diego St. 64, Kansas St 39, Alabama 30, TCU 27, Mississippi 25, Princeton 21, Utah 20, Texas 16, Boise St. 9, Florida 6, Gonzaga 6, Grand Canyon 5, Michigan St. 3, Saint Mary’s 2, NC State 1, San Francisco 1, Indiana St 1, Samford 1, McNeese St. 1, Colorado 1.

Let’s get right to it.

I eliminated Memphis from my ballot after the Tigers lost to South Florida and Tulane. Memphis had rung up a string of wins, but those losses -- both of them close games -- don’t justify a spot in the Top 25 right now. The analytics people definitely do not like Memphis or the way this team is trending.

Purdue remains at the top of my ballot. I’ve included three new teams -- New Mexico, Iowa State and Utah. And kept Seton Hall, despite its 3OT loss to Creighton. (Kadary Richmond took 32 shots in that game! He made eight and had 11 assists and 11 rebounds to achieve a triple-double.) The No. 25 spot on my ballot was the toughest one to select. The Pirates, who have beaten UConn, Marquette, St. John’s and Providence, either stay on or play their way off with games against Providence and Marquette this week.

Dayton has one of the best bigs in the nation in DaRon Holmes and has now won 12 in a row and looks like the class of the Atlantic 10.

Here’s my ballot:

1. Purdue

2. UConn

3. Houston

4. North Carolina

5. Tennessee

6. Arizona

7. Kentucky

8. Illinois

9. Auburn

10. Kansas

11. Duke

12. Wisconsin

13. Oklahoma

14. Dayton

15. Marquette

16. Baylor

17. Texas Tech

18. BYU

19. Creighton

20. New Mexico

21. Utah State

22. Iowa State

23. Utah

24. Colorado State

25. Seton Hall

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