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AP College Basketball Poll 2022: Complete Week 6 Men's Rankings Released
December 12, 2022
Purdue is the new No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll after a chaotic week of men's college basketball.
Houston and Texas each suffered their first losses of the year, knocking off the top two teams from last week. It left Virginia, Purdue and Connecticut all as legitimate options to put on top of the Week 6 rankings.
Voters decided on the Boilers, marking the third different No. 1 team for the 2022-23 season. Purdue received 27 first-place votes for a narrow edge over Virginia (19) and UConn (15). Tennessee also received one first-place vote.
Here is the full Top 25 this week.
AP Poll
1. Purdue
2. Virginia
3. UConn
4. Alabama
5. Houston
6. Tennessee
7. Texas
8. Kansas
9. Arizona
10. Arkansas
11. Baylor
12. Duke
13. Kentucky
14. Indiana
15. Gonzaga
16. UCLA
17. Mississippi State
18. Illinois
19. Auburn
20. Maryland
21. TCU
22. Wisconsin
23. Ohio State
24. Virginia Tech
25. Miami (Florida)
Alabama has earned a reputation as a giant killer already this season, knocking off then-No. 1 North Carolina last month before pulling off a 71-65 upset over Houston on Saturday.
Houston led by as many as 15 points, but the Crimson Tide fought their way back with a balanced effort and some key momentum-swinging plays.
Alabama Men's Basketball @AlabamaMBB𝐉𝐁 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐀 𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐀<br><br>📺: <a href="https://t.co/HG8bKRQ90q">https://t.co/HG8bKRQ90q</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RollTide?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RollTide</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueCollarBasketball?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueCollarBasketball</a> <a href="https://t.co/PxN5N2YZBg">pic.twitter.com/PxN5N2YZBg</a>
It put the 8-1 squad in rare territory this season:
ESPN Stats & Info @ESPNStatsInfoNo. 8 Alabama pulled off the 15-point comeback to hand No. 1 Houston its first loss of the season.<br><br>It's Alabama's 2nd win over an AP No. 1 this season. They join 1965-66 Duke as the only teams in the AP Poll era with multiple wins vs AP No. 1 teams prior to the new year. <a href="https://t.co/lSHBu1voIK">pic.twitter.com/lSHBu1voIK</a>
Alabama surged up four spots to No. 4 in the latest poll, while Houston is now down to fifth.
UConn, the only team to beat Alabama this year, is No. 3 after convincing victories over Florida and Long Island University.
Texas dropped from No. 2 to No. 7 after suffering an overtime loss to Illinois at Madison Square Garden. Terrence Shannon Jr. was a star in the extra session to help the Illini clinch the upset:
It was a high point of a strange week for Illinois, which also lost to Maryland and Penn State to start 0-2 in the Big Ten.
Purdue has also had some problems early in conference play, barely escaping with a 65-62 overtime win against Nebraska. The squad is still 10-0 and a clear top contender in both the conference and nationally.
Virginia remains undefeated at 8-0 after a 55-50 win over James Madison, once again showing the grit needed to pull out a tough victory. There are now only seven teams in Division I without a loss this season, including three in the Mountain West.
Tennessee (9-1) has bounced back from an early-season loss to win eight in a row, including a hard-fought victory over Maryland to climb one spot to No. 6 in the latest poll.
There should be even more movement after next week's games, with Saturday's slate featuring Virginia at home against Houston, Gonzaga against Alabama and Kansas versus Indiana.