AP College Basketball Poll 2025 Week 9 Rankings Released with Top Risers and Fallers

Arizona sits atop the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the fifth straight week after running its record to 14-0 and beating Utah in its Big 12 opener.

Michigan also earned first-place votes as it continued a perfect start to the 2025-26 season. Only one point separates the Wildcats and Wolverines.

Nebraska, meanwhile, moved up three spots after taking down No. 9 Michigan State to win its 14th straight game to open the year.

Week 9 AP Top 25

1. Arizona (14-0)

2. Michigan (13-0)

3. Iowa State (14-0)

4. UConn (14-1)

5. Purdue (13-1)

6. Duke (13-1)

7. Houston (13-1)

8. Gonzaga (16-1)

9. BYU (13-1)

10. Nebraska (14-0)

11. Vanderbilt (14-0)

12. Michigan State (12-2)

13. Alabama (11-3)

14. Texas Tech (11-3)

15. Arkansas (11-3)

16. Illinois (11-3)

17. North Carolina (13-2)

18. Georgia (13-1)

19. Iowa (12-2)

20. Louisville (11-3)

21. Tennessee (10-4)

22. Kansas (10-4)

23. Virginia (12-2)

24. SMU (12-2)

25. UCF (12-1)

Nebraska had a win over then-No. 13 Illinois on its resume, but AP voters remained a little skeptical about the Cornhuskers despite their impressive record. Edging out Michigan State affirmed that Fred Hoiberg's squad is for real.

Senior forward Rienk Mast had a team-high 19 points. He tied the game with 2:34 on the clock and put the Cornhuskers ahead with a long-range jumper 40 seconds later.

While Nebraska went scoreless for the final 1:54, its defense held firm.

Spartans center Carson Cooper also missed three free throws down the stretch that were costly. The atmosphere inside Pinnacle Bank Arena was electric as the home crowd tried to throw the senior off-kilter at the charity stripe.

Nebraska Upsets Mich St

00:56

"I'd say they still kind of kicked our ass on the glass. They out-rebounded us by a pretty decent margin," Mast told reporters after the game. "Mental toughness in a game like this, there's stretches where they play well, where we play well, and especially on their runs, you just try and stay composed, and it's next action, and I feel like throughout this season, we've done a pretty good job.

"I've really liked how these guys responded in games like the Oklahoma game or the Kansas State game, where the other team had crazy runs and we were able to respond. So yeah, we've been tested before, and we responded again today."

Nebraska doesn't have another ranked opponent until Jan. 27, when it hits the road to play Michigan. The next three weeks give the Cornhuskers a great opportunity to extend their red-hot stretch.

Michigan State aside, the teams in the AP Top 10 got their business done last week. In the case of Gonzaga, that wasn't without some serious effort.

The Zags trailed Seattle by 13 points in the second half before clawing back and prevailing 80-72 in overtime.

Gonzaga was plus-20 on points in the paint and held Seattle to 36.1 percent shooting from the field. The Redhawks, however, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and used those second chances to fire away more from deep. They were 12-of-36 on three-pointers.

"They came in with a great plan, and they're a good team. You could see that on film," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said in his postgame press conference. "They went to Stanford and won, and they beat the University of Washington, and so we knew that. But they got some nice offensive rebounders. They got some great rim protection. And I think early on, that kind of stifled us.

"They were covering down on the post really, really hard, and we didn't handle that very well. But eventually we kind of settled in, and we were able to have some success."

Earlier in the week, Gonzaga took its foot off the gas after building a 21-point lead on San Diego. The Toreros made it a single-digit game in garbage time.

After the Zags were so flat to start the Seattle game, Few probably drilled into his players the need to remain focused from the opening tip until the final buzzer.

With the holiday season now over, men's basketball can now fully swing back into gear.

Michigan State will try to rebound against USC on Monday night in East Lansing. Tuesday has a pair of Top 25 battles (Duke vs. Louisville and Texas Tech vs. Houston). Vanderbilt will put its 14-0 record on the line at home against Alabama on Wednesday. Illinois plays Iowa on the road on Sunday to help bring Week 10 to a close.