Auburn No. 1 in Men's AP Poll for First Time in Program History

For the first time ever, Auburn is atop the AP men's college basketball poll.

A week after controversially ranking second behind Gonzaga despite receiving more first-place votes, the Tigers have passed the Bulldogs and ascended to No. 1. Auburn, now 18–1 and winner of 15 straight, got the push it needed by beating Kentucky, 80–71, in front of a raucous Auburn Arena crowd Saturday.

Gonzaga, for its part, beat a solid San Francisco team by 16 to move to 15–2 on the season. Arizona (16–1) remained at No. 3 in the poll after a pair of Pac-12 road wins. 

Wendell Green Jr. was all smiles after the Tigers beat the Wildcats.

Jake Crandall/USA TODAY NETWORK

A loss to Indiana bumped Purdue out of the top five, with Baylor moving up to fourth and Kansas taking No. 5. The Boilermakers dropped to sixth, while Duke fell to ninth following a defeat at Florida State.

Elsewhere, Loyola Chicago's stay in the poll was short-lived due to a home loss to Missouri State, and Illinois tumbled to No. 24 after defeats to Purdue (in double OT) and Maryland (sans Kofi Cockburn). Marquette and Davidson both moved into the top 25.

The full top 25 is below (as of Jan. 24):

1. Auburn (45 first-place votes)
2. Gonzaga (15)
3. Arizona (1)
4. Baylor
5. Kansas
6. Purdue
7. Houston
7. UCLA
9. Duke
10. Michigan State
11. Wisconsin
12. Kentucky
13. Texas Tech
14. Villanova
15. USC
16. Ohio State
17. Providence
18. Tennessee
19. LSU
20. UConn
21. Xavier
22. Marquette
23. Iowa State
24. Illinois
25. Davidson

Others receiving votes: BYU 120, Alabama 77, Texas 61, Colorado State 57, Florida State 50, Loyola Chicago 21, Oregon 19, Wake Forest 12, Indiana 10, Murray State 10, Iowa 8, TCU 6, Miami 4, Florida 3, Boise State 3, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 3, Wyoming 2, Iona 1, Seton Hall 1.

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