AP College Basketball Poll 2024: Complete Week 16 Men's Rankings Released

UConn strengthened its hold on the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after delivering one of the most emphatic performances of the 2023-24 season.

The Huskies collected all 62 first-place votes after Purdue suffered only its third defeat of the year against Ohio State on Sunday.

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AP Top 25 Poll Week 16

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

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UConn and Purdue had steadily distanced themselves from the pack in the race for the No. 1 overall seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament. After last Saturday, the Huskies may now be in a class by themselves.

They hammered No. 4 Marquette 81-53 in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the biggest margin of victory on record in a game between two top-five teams from the same conference.

UConn shot 46 percent from the field and assisted on 24 of its 29 made field goals. Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer combined to score 46 points, with Clingan collecting 10 rebounds to earn his second double-double of the season.

It was a comprehensive victory for the Huskies and one that sent a message to the rest of men's college basketball.

You would've bet the house on Purdue going into Columbus, Ohio, and walking out with a 24th win Sunday afternoon. The Buckeyes were just 4-10 in the Big Ten going into the contest and already fired head coach Chris Holtmann.

Instead, the Boilermakers slipped up, though they at least made things interesting after falling behind by 12 points. For the most part, the loss didn't hurt their résumé too much.

In general, Week 15 was pretty tame compared to how much of the season has unfolded.

It didn't look like that would be the case when Texas Tech hammered Kansas by 29 points last Monday. Even after rebounding to beat No. 25 Oklahoma 67-57, the Jayhawks are 3-5 in road games, which doesn't bode well for their wider tournament ambitions.

On Tuesday, No. 7 North Carolina also went down, adding to the sense it would be another chaotic week. However, Marquette was the only team in the top five to fall.

The unpredictability was largely confined to the SEC and on school in particular within the conference.

At No. 11, South Carolina climbed to its highest point in the AP poll since 1997-98. How did the Gamecocks react to their move up the rankings? They were routed 101-61 to No. 13 Auburn, which was coming off a 16-point upset at the hands of Florida.

Things didn't get any better from there for Lamont Paris' squad as it lost to unranked LSU by one point. Guard Jacobi Wright's three-point attempt missed the mark at the buzzer.

Ironically enough, things didn't get better for Auburn, either. The Tigers suffered a double-digit defeat at home to Kentucky. They went ice cold offensively in stark contrast to their performance against South Carolina, shooting 30.9 percent from the field and going 4-of-22 from beyond the arc.

Good luck trying to handicap the SEC regular-season title race. Alabama leads the way at 10-2, and five teams are within two games of the Crimson Tide. Just when you start to get a read on things—South Carolina is ascendant and Kentucky is reeling—the script totally flips.

Kentucky hosts Alabama on Saturday. As bleak as things looked for the Wildcats after their 89-85 loss to Gonzaga, their outlook will be much different if they defend their home court against the Tide.