Arizona expands lead atop AP Top 25, Iowa State up to No. 2

Field Level Media|published: Mon 12th January, 13:47 2026

NCAA Basketball: Arizona at Texas Christian

Jan 10, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) brings the ball up court during the game between the Horned Frogs and the Wildcats at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Arizona opened a commanding lead for the No. 1 spot in this week's Associated Press men's top 25 poll on Monday.

The Wildcats (16-0) earned 60 of 61 first-place votes to top the poll for a fifth straight week after receiving 32 first-place votes in last week's edition, enough to lead at that time by a single point. Michigan (14-1) sustained its first loss of the season to unranked Wisconsin and fell two spots to No. 4.

Iowa State (16-0) rose one spot to No. 2 and received the sole remaining first-place vote. UConn (16-1) moved up a spot to No. 3.

No. 5 Purdue (15-1), No. 6 Duke (15-1) and No. 7 Houston (15-1) all held firm in the spots they were in last week, but there was shuffling at the bottom of the top 10.

Nebraska (16-0) is up two spots to No. 8, tied for the best ranking in program history with the 1965-66 team, as it continues the program's best start to a season.

Gonzaga (17-1) fell one spot to No. 9 and Vanderbilt (16-0) moved up a spot to No. 10, securing its first top-10 appearance since the 2011-12 preseason poll.

No. 16 Virginia (14-2) was the biggest riser in this week's poll, jumping up seven spots. No. 18 Alabama (11-5) fell five spots after an 0-2 week.

Defending national champion Florida (11-5) returned to the poll at No. 19 following a one-week absence by knocking off two ranked teams at home.

Clemson, Utah State and Seton Hall also entered this week's poll at No. 22, No. 23 and No. 25, respectively.

Iowa, Kansas, SMU and UCF were dropped from this week's poll.

The rest of the Top 25:

11. BYU (15-1)

12. Michigan State (14-2)

13. Illinois (13-3)

14. North Carolina (14-2)

15. Texas Tech (12-4)

16. Virginia (14-2)

17. Arkansas (12-4)