Purdue remained atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll despite suffering a loss, while Marquette pushed into the top 10 and North Carolina State made its first poll appearance in four years.
The Boilermakers earned 38 of 62 first-place votes in the poll released Monday to remain at No. 1 for a third straight week and seventh time this season. Purdue was the unanimous choice last week before falling at Indiana over the weekend for only its second loss this season.
Houston rose to No. 2 with 22 first-place votes, followed by Alabama, Arizona and Texas to round out the top tier. The Longhorns jumped five spots for the week's biggest climb.
Tennessee fell four spots to No. 6, followed by UCLA, Virginia, Kansas and Marquette — with Shaka Smart's Golden Eagles cracking the top 10 for the first time since 2019.
That also marked the last time the Wolfpack landed in the AP Top 25, spending a six-week stint there during the 2018-19 season. But N.C. State's 19 wins already have surpassed the total for each of the last two seasons and have the Wolfpack in contention for the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018.
Creighton and Rutgers joined N.C. State as this week's new additions to the poll, though both were ranked earlier this season. The Bluejays were No. 9 in the preseason poll and peaked at No. 7 before falling out by mid-December, while the Scarlet Knights spent a week at No. 23 in mid-January.
Florida Atlantic, Clemson and Auburn fell out of this week's poll.
___
Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
___
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
