The results of Saturday’s Tobacco Road Rivalry had wide-ranging implications in Monday’s AP Top 25 poll. On the heels of North Carolina’s 84-79 win over Duke, which gave it the outright ACC regular-season championship, the Tar Heels moved up three spots from No. 7 to No. 4 in Monday’s update; Duke fell out of the top 10 from No. 9 to No. 11. It marks the highest ranking in the AP poll for UNC in more than a month and the lowest ranking for Duke since the Week 12 poll nearly two months ago.
Houston retained its standing as No. 1 in the rankings for a third consecutive week after a perfect 2-0 week to close out the regular season with an outright Big 12 championship. The Cougars earned 52 first-place votes for a second consecutive week and edged out No. 2 UConn and No. 3 Purdue, which received six and four first-place votes, respectively. UNC replaced Tennessee at No. 4; the Volunteers dropped one spot to No. 5 after their loss Saturday to Kentucky.
Kentucky’s win over Tennessee wasn’t enough to move it ahead of the Vols in the AP poll, but the Wildcats enjoyed the biggest jump of any team in Monday’s update, vaulting from No. 15 to No. 9. It’s the first time UK has been inside the top 10 of the AP poll in six weeks.
You can view the entire poll below. First-place votes in parentheses.
AP Top 25
1. Houston (52)
2. UConn (6)
3. Purdue (4)
4. North Carolina
5. Tennessee
6. Arizona
7. Iowa State
8. Creighton
9. Kentucky
10. Marquette
11. Duke
12. Auburn
13. Illinois
14. Baylor
15. South Carolina
16. Kansas
17. Gonzaga
18. Utah State
19. Alabama
20. BYU
21. Saint Mary’s
22. Washington State
23. Nevada
24. Dayton
25. Texas Tech
Others receiving votes: Boise St. 46, South Florida 27, San Diego St. 21, Drake 16, Texas 14, James Madison 14, FAU 11, Florida 8, Princeton 7, Nebraska 6, New Mexico 4, Colorado 2, McNeese St. 2, Colorado St. 1, Wake Forest 1, Indiana St 1.
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