War Eagle is flying over a college basketball game for the first time.
The AP Top 25 poll was released on Monday and it showed that auburn was the top ranked team. After beating Kentucky for their 15th consecutive win, the Tigers received 45 of 61 first-place votes to become the nation's top-ranked team.
15 first-place votes gave the Bulldogs a second-place finish. The other No. 1 vote went to Arizona.
Bruce Pearl said Monday that the No. 1 ranking matters. I'm happy for the team. I'm happy that my coaches and players have been able to achieve that. We have a lot of work to do.
It includes a trip to Missouri on Tuesday and a game with Oklahoma on Saturday.
The 1999-2000 season was the most successful in the program's history, with the Tigers ranking in the top 10 most of the time. They spent a week at No. 2 in February 1959 and late in the 1998-99 season.
Being the No. 1? That is a new experience. The five teams that have reached that spot this season are Duke, Purdue, Duke, and the defending national champion Bears.
It's not new for Pearl. He led Tennessee to the top spot.
He said that he didn't know if he could draw differences between the other teams. I like how close they are off the court and how much they enjoy playing with each other. We have not faced much adversity. It doesn't just build character, adversity reveals it. We'll see how those friendships are challenged when we get some adversity and losses. How you can get into them.
After losing to West Virginia and Oklahoma, the Bears rebounded and climbed one position to fourth in the latest poll. Kansas is in the Big 12.
The Boilermakers lost to Indiana early last week. Houston and UCLA were tied at 7, with Duke and Michigan State rounding out the top 10.
The Spartans were unranked to start the season. They have lost once since November.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said that a lot of it fell on him. I think we accomplished some things last week.
Kentucky, Texas Tech, Southern California, and other teams rebounded from losses to Oregon and Colorado with victories over Utah and Colorado.
The Big Ten has four teams in the top 16. The top 20 consisted of Providence, Tennessee, LSU, and Connecticut.
In March 2015, Stephen Curry's alma mater was ranked for the first time.
One of the joys of learning lessons is that they can be learned with victories and not losses.
In and out.
The Golden Eagles didn't have a single vote last week, but they returned to the Top 25. You can run your winning streak to six if you beat the Pirates on Tuesday night, after beating three ranked teams in a row.
Texas has lost three of its last five, and Loyola lost to Missouri State on Saturday.
Up and down.
Tennessee climbed six spots to 18 after winning over LSU and Commodores. The Red Raiders jumped five spots to a season-best 13th in the poll.
Iowa State fell eight spots after losing to Texas Tech and TCU. Illinois fell seven spots after losing to both Maryland and Purdue.
There is a conference watch.
The Big Ten and Big East have five ranked teams, followed by the SEC and Big 12 with four. The West Coast, American Athletic, and Atlantic 10 each had one.
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There are more AP college basketball stories at www.apnews.com/college-basketball and www.apnews.com/college-basketball-poll.
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