Purdue at No. 1, Charleston ranked for 1st time in 20 years

Purdue solidified its No. 1 ranking in The Associated Pressmen’s college basketball poll following UConn’s first loss of theseason, while No. 23 Charleston moved into the rankings for thefirst time in 20 years.

The Boilermakers remained No. 1 for the fourth straight week,receiving all but one first-place vote from a 61-person media panelin the poll released Monday. No. 2 Houston and No. 3 Kansas eachmoved up a spot, and No. 4 UConn dropped two spots after losing toXavier, which moved up from No. 22 to No. 18. Arizona rounded outthe top five.

Purdue lasted only one week after hitting No. 1 for the firsttime last season, but it has tightened its grip this season sincemoving to the top spot on Dec. 12.

The Boilermakers (13-0, 2-0 Big Ten) dominated Florida A&M82-49 last Thursday in its first game in eight days to join No. 21New Mexico as the nation’s only remaining undefeated Division Iteams.

“Competition is going to get harder and teams are going to knowwhat to scout,” Purdue’s Mason Gillis said. “There are going to becloser games down toward the end. We’ll find out who can play underpressure.”

UConn (14-1, 3-1 Big East) had been off to its best start since1998 before losing 83-73 to Xavier, which has won eightstraight.

CHARLESTON CHARTING

Charleston put together a solid first season under Pat Kelsey ayear ago, winning 17 games. The Cougars almost have matched thatalready this season to enter the AP Top 25 for the first time sincea one-week stint at No. 25 in 2002-03.

Charleston (14-1, 2-0 CAA) lost to then-No. 1 North Carolina inits second game and has since reeled off 13 straight wins. TheCougars outlasted Colonial Athletic Association preseason favoriteTowson 76-74 in overtime on Saturday.

LOBOS RISING

New Mexico cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time in eightyears last week and won both of its games.

The Lobos beat Colorado State 88-69 on Thursday in front of morethan 15,000 people, the largest crowd at The Pit in seven years.They then pulled out a 76-75 win at Wyoming on Saturday for theirbest start since going 17-0 in 1967-68.

RISING/FALLING

No. 18 Xavier had the largest jump within the poll, climbingfour spots after its win over UConn. No. 11 Virginia and No. 12Miami were the only other teams to climb more than one spot, eachmoving up two.

No. 19 Baylor had the biggest drop, losing seven places after a15-point loss to Iowa State, which went from unranked to No. 25.No. 13 Arkansas dropped four spots following a 60-57 loss atLSU.

IN AND OUT

No. 20 Missouri is ranked for the first time since 2020-21 afterreturning from its holiday break to beat Kentucky by 14.

No. 24 Ohio State returned to the poll after a two-week absencefollowing wins over Alabama A&M and Northwestern. No. 25 IowaState is back after three unranked weeks, thanks to its win overBaylor.

Kentucky is unranked for the first time in two years, droppingout from No. 19 after its loss to Missouri. Mississippi State fellout from No. 21 following a loss to No. 7 Alabama.

North Carolina’s return to the poll didn’t last long.

The Tar Heels, the preseason No. 1, moved back into the poll atNo. 25 last week after a tumultuous start to the season. NorthCarolina is again outside looking in, dropping out after losing toPittsburgh.