North Carolina and Gonzaga remain 1-2 in The Associated Press’s first regular-season men’s college basketball poll.
The top-ranked Tar Heels (2–0) earned 44 of the 63 first-place votes in the AP Top 25, while the second-ranked Bulldogs (2–0) garnered 14 votes after the opening week of the regular season. Third-place Houston and fourth-place Kentucky picked up the remaining votes as the poll released Monday showed only minor changes from the preseason edition scheduled for Oct. 17.
Baylor and Kansas were tied for fifth previously. This time, Baylor is alone at No. 5, followed by Kansas and Duke. UCLA, Arkansas and Creighton round out the top 10.
Tennessee (1-1) dropped 11 places to number 22 after losing to Colorado in its home state. And after losing to Temple in his second game under Kyle Neptune, Villanova went unranked from 16th place for the first time since February 2019, who took over in the spring following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright.
Illinois (2-0) made the biggest jump, climbing four places to No. 19 after two easy home victories.
No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 25 Connecticut are the week’s new additions, while Oregon joins Villanova as the two teams left out of the preseason poll.
