Alabama hoops No. 1 in AP Top 25 for first time in 20 years

Alabama is the new No. 1, rising to the top spot in TheAssociated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the firsttime in 20 years.

Purdue’s loss to Northwestern last week caused a jumble at thetop of the AP Top 25 and that helped the Crimson Tide.

Alabama received 38 first-place votes from a 62-person mediapanel Monday, moving up two spots to leapfrog No. 2 Houston. TheCougars had 22 first-place votes to remain at No. 2 and Purdue,down to No. 3, still had two first-place votes.

UCLA and Kansas rounded out the top five.

Alabama has made a name for itself as more than just a footballschool since coach Nate Oats arrived from Buffalo in in 2019. TheCrimson Tide reached the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight two yearsago and Oats pulled in one of the nation’s best recruiting classeslast year.

Alabama is No. 1 for the first time since spending two weeksatop the poll midway through the 2002-03 season. Alabama (22-3,12-0 Southeastern Conference) beat Auburn and Florida last week,with its only loss since mid-December coming at Oklahoma in anonconference game on Jan. 28.

“Our team is playing good basketball right now,” Auburn coachBruce Pearl said after a 77-69 loss to the Crimson Tide onSaturday. “We’re playing well. We’re just not playing well enoughto beat the best team in the country.”

BOUNCING BOILERMAKERS

Purdue managed to remain at No. 1 last week despite losing toNo. 14 Indiana. The Boilermakers weren’t so fortunate after a 64-58loss to Northwestern on Sunday.

The Wildcats swarmed 7-foot-4 Purdue center Zach Edey, who had24 points but committed six turnovers. The Boilermakers shot 36%from the field and missed their final 13 shots from 3-pointrange.

“Just got to show more poise and toughness than we did,” Purduecoach Matt Painter said.

RISING/FALLING

No. 9 Baylor and No. 18 Creighton made the biggest moves of theweek, each gaining five spots.

The Bears beat Oklahoma and picked up a road win at No. 22 TCUlast week. The Bluejays beat Seton Hall and eked out a 56-53 winover No. 20 UConn to stretch their winning streak to eight games toremain in contention for the Big East regular-season title.

No. 19 Iowa State had the biggest drop, losing eight placesfollowing losses to West Virginia and Oklahoma State.

IN AND OUT

Florida Atlantic was the only team to move into the poll,returning at No. 25 after dropping out last week. The Owls beatRice and Louisiana Tech last week after being ranked for the firsttime in school history earlier this season.

Rutgers fell out of the poll for the second time this season,dropping from No. 24 after losing to Indiana and Illinois.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The Big East and Big 12 conferences had the most teams in thisweek’s poll with five each. The ACC, SEC and Big Ten each had threeranked teams, with the Pac-12 and West Coast conferences twoeach.

Conference USA, the Mountain West Conference and AmericanAthletic Conference had one apiece.