AP College Basketball Poll 2024: Complete Week 14 Men's Rankings Released

Voters had their say in the Associated Press Top 25 poll following a jam-packed week of games in men's basketball.

The top three is unchanged with UConn at No. 1, followed by Purdue and North Carolina. Kansas moved up four spots to No. 4.

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AP Top 25 Poll Week 14

1. UConn 
2. Purdue 
3. North Carolina 
4. Kansas 
5. Houston 
6. Tennessee 
7. Marquette 
8. Arizona 
9. Duke 
10. Illinois 
11. Wisconsin 
12. Auburn 
13. Baylor 
14. Iowa State 
15. South Carolina 
16. Alabama 
17. Kentucky 
18. Dayton 
19. Creighton 
20. Florida Atlantic 
21. BYU 
22. Utah State 
23. Texas Tech 
24. San Diego State 
25. New Mexico

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The surprises started early as Georgia Tech beat North Carolina while South Carolina upset Tennessee on Tuesday. Then a pair of Top 10 teams (Kentucky and Wisconsin) suffered overtime defeats in back-to-back nights.

And that was just the prelude to Saturday. It's probably easier to just list off the Top 25 results from two days ago:

• No. 1 UConn 77, St. John's 64 
• No. 3 North Carolina 93, No. 7 Duke 84 
• No. 8 Kansas 78, No. 4 Houston 65 
• No. 5 Tennessee 103, No. 10 Kentucky 92 
• No. 9 Marquette 91, Georgetown 57 
• No. 18 Baylor 70, No. 12 Iowa State 68 
• Cincinnati 75, No. 15 Texas Tech 72 
• No. 16 Auburn 91, Ole Miss 77 
• San Diego State 81, No. 17 Utah State 67 
• No. 22 BYU 86, West Virginia 73 
• UCF 74, No. 23 Oklahoma 63 
• No. 24 Alabama 99, Mississippi State 67 
• Texas 77, No. 25 TCU 66

Getting the better of archival Duke was a strong response from North Carolina after its heartbreaker days earlier.

Forwards Armando Bacot (25 points and 10 rebounds) and Harrison Ingram (21 points and 13 rebounds) both had double-doubles. Ingram's five made threes also matched the Blue Devils' entire output.

With a 10-1 start, the Tar Heels have already established a two-game lead atop the ACC.

The picture is less clear in the Big 12, where Kansas, Houston, Baylor, Iowa State and Texas Tech all have three losses.

A double-digit win over the Cougars represented a major statement from the Jayhawks after they slid from second to eighth in the AP poll over a span of four weeks. They shot 68.9 percent from the floor to overcome their 18 turnovers. Hunter Dickinson had 20 points and eight rebounds to anchor the frontcourt, while the guard tandem of Johnny Furphy and Kevin McCullar Jr. had 17 points apiece.

While Kansas stabilized its position in the Top 10, Kentucky is backsliding in a big way with three losses in its last four games. That 105-96 win over Georgia already feels like a long time ago.

The Wildcats rank 318th in scoring defense (78.4 point per game) after allowing 94 points to Florida and then 103 to Tennessee. Even though they weren't at full strength against the Vols, their defense simply isn't where it needs to be.

"Well, some of it in this game, there were things that we talked about," head coach John Calipari told reporters after the game. "You can't let this team get to the elbows. In every huddle we were saying the same thing. So we got to be a little more sound defensively in what we're doing. And we're going to have to be a collective defensive team."

Week 13 culminated in a Top 10 battle between Purdue and Wisconsin on Sunday. The Boilermakers improved to 21-2 after going on the road and leaving Madison a 75-69 winner. Zach Edey had 18 points and 13 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.

As with the last few years, there isn't one team that stands head and shoulders above the pack as a clear national championship favorite. However, there does look to be a gulf between the pair of UConn and Purdue and the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, Saturday's Gonzaga at Kentucky matchup, which was shaping up to be one of the most consequential contests this month, has lost some luster.

Gonzaga's at-large bid for the Big Dance in the event it doesn't win the WCC tourney might already be sunk after it fell to Saint Mary's on Saturday. In addition, Kentucky's recent results mean beating the Wildcats may not provide the kind of bump it would've a few weeks ago.