Arizona, Michigan stay 1-2 in AP Top 25 men's poll; No. 15 Nebraska hits highest mark since 1991

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No. 1 Arizona and No. 2 Michigan remained locked in place atop The Associated Press men's college basketball poll released Monday while No. 15 Nebraska jumped to its highest Top 25 ranking in nearly 35 years.

The Wildcats had 42 of 61 first-place votes to hold the top spot while the Wolverines received 15 to keep the teams at 1-2 for a second consecutive week.

The Wildcats (9-0) rallied from a halftime deficit Saturday to claim a 21-point win against then-No. 12 Alabama in the Crimson Tide’s home state, adding to a list of victories against ranked opponents that includes reigning national champion Florida, at UConn and Auburn.

The Wolverines (10-0) have won their last seven games by at least 18 points, a run that includes romps against Auburn (102-72) and Gonzaga (101-61). And Michigan sits atop analytics rankings by KenPom, Evan Miyakawa and Bart Torvik.

The top 10 was largely unchanged, with No. 7 Gonzaga and No. 8 Houston swapping spots from last week the only new wrinkle. No. 3 Duke (three) and No. 4 Iowa State (one) were the only other teams to earn first-place votes.

UConn and Purdue were next after the Cyclones, and Michigan State and BYU rounded out the top 10.

The Cornhuskers (11-0) had the week's biggest jump of eight spots after Saturday's win at then-No. 13 Illinois on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Nebraska has not been ranked this high since it was No. 11 in March 1991 for the final poll of that season.

Nebraska had been ranked just 15 times in the more than three decades since, then jumped in at No. 23 last week.

No. 14 Arkansas climbed three spots after beating then-No. 16 Texas Tech over the weekend, while No. 12 North Carolina, No. 13 Vanderbilt and No. 17 Kansas each rose two spots.

In all, seven teams moved up from last week.

The now-No. 18 Illini and 23rd-ranked Florida had the week's biggest slides, with each falling five spots. Alabama fell four spots after losing to Arizona and Texas Tech slid three, joining Houston as the week's five teams to drop.

Nearly half of the poll (12 teams) held their positions from the previous week.

Georgia was the lone new addition to the poll, moving in at No. 25 to replace UCLA. This marks only the third time the Bulldogs have been ranked since the 2002-03 season, the others coming in January 2011 (No. 24) and last January (No. 23).

The Southeastern Conference has the most ranked teams with seven, though none higher than Vanderbilt at No. 13.

The Big 12 was next with six ranked teams, including four in the top 10 and two in the top five, followed by the Big Ten with five and the Atlantic Coast Conference with four. Each of those three leagues have at least three teams ranked higher than anyone in the SEC.

The Big East (two) and West Coast Conference (one) rounded out the roll call.

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