College basketball: Georgia men crack Top 25

ATHENS, Ga. — Following back-to-back wins over ranked teams last week, the Georgia men's basketball cracked the AP and Coaches Top 25 ranking. 

Last week, Georgia defeated No. 6/7 Kentucky, 82-69, on Tuesday and topped No. 17/16 Oklahoma, 72-62, on Saturday to improve to 14-2 overall. The two wins resulted in the Bulldogs joining both the Associated Press and coaches polls at No. 23 on Monday. 
 
Georgia last appeared in the Associated Press poll on Jan. 10, 2011, when the Bulldogs were No. 24. The Bulldogs improved to 12-2 overall by defeating No. 10 Kentucky in the SEC opener on Jan. 8. Within that week’s coaches poll, Georgia was No. 29 among teams receiving votes. The Bulldogs split road games at Vanderbilt and Ole Miss the next week and slipped out of the AP poll.

The last time the Bulldogs were featured in both national polls was March 10, 2003, when Georgia was No. 21 and No. 22 in the AP and coaches polls, respectively. The Bulldogs were ranked during 13 weeks throughout the 2002-03 season, topping out on Jan. 27 when Georgia was ranked No. 15 by the AP and No. 17 by the coaches.

Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men's basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history, while fellow Southeastern Conference program Georgia is in the rankings for the first time in 14 years.

Bruce Pearl's Tigers (15-1) claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot Monday after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Florida, to end a five-week reign at the top. Auburn has been No. 1 only once before in the AP Top 25, during a three-week stint in January and February of 2022, and is the third team to sit atop the poll this season.

Auburn's only loss came at Duke in early December and the Tigers have won eight straight games, though there is no word on when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday's win over South Carolina.

The Tigers' rise made them the headliner in another SEC-heavy poll, with the league having nine teams in the AP Top 25 — including three of the top five and five of the top 10.

Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each claimed a first-place vote.

The Volunteers (15-1) had been No. 1 since Dec. 9 and stood as Division I's last unbeaten team before a 30-point loss to Florida. They recovered by beating Texas but still tumbled five spots to No. 6.

Marquette was next at No. 7 as the only team to stay at the same spot from last week, followed by Kentucky, preseason No. 1 Kansas and Houston to round out the top 10.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.