Though plenty of teams finally fell back, Tennessee came out of the first weekend of SEC play unscathed.
Here’s everything you missed in Week 9 of the college basketball season, and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
Tennessee holds strong as SEC shakes out
Tennessee is the last remaining undefeated team in the country.
The Volunteers rolled over Arkansas on Saturday to improve to 14-0, which matched their best start in program history from more than 100 years ago. It also kept them at No. 1 in this weeks’ poll. They’ve now been atop the national rankings for a school record five straight weeks.
Though it’s going to get increasingly difficult for Tennessee as conference play gets going — starting with a battle against Florida on Tuesday night — the Vols have the early edge in the SEC. That could come in handy down the stretch.
While Auburn and Alabama both won this past week, too, Florida and Oklahoma both finally lost for the first time this season. No. 6 Kentucky held on to beat the Gators 106-100 behind 23 points and seven 3-pointers off the bench from Koby Brea. It was the first ranked game that the Gators have played all year, too. They fell two spots to No. 8 as a result.
Though Florida largely kept pace with Kentucky in that loss, the Sooners completely fell flat against the Crimson Tide. Alabama rolled to a nearly 30-point blowout win over Oklahoma on Saturday. Mark Sears dropped 22 points and had 10 assists in the win, which marked their sixth straight. The Sooners, who were off to their best start in three decades, fell five spots to No. 17 this week.
There’s no doubt that the top of the SEC is among the best in the country. The second group of teams, however, has some work to do to prove they belong. If Florida can’t hang with Tennessee on Tuesday night, and Oklahoma doesn’t overcompensate right away against No. 10 Texas A&M on Wednesday, their starts could be for nothing.
Kansas bounces back
Bill Self and the Jayhawks more than put their bad loss to West Virginia behind them.
Kansas, after falling by a single point to the Mountaineers on New Year’s Eve, cruised to a wild 51-point win over UCF on Sunday. It was the second-largest margin of victory in program history in what was the perfect way to bounce back.
Hunter Dickinson dropped 27 points, 21 of which came in the first 20 minutes, and nine rebounds in the win. The Jayhawks shot nearly 51% from the field and almost doubled up UFC on rebounds. The Knights aren’t awful, either, which makes the win that much more impressive. They entered the game with a 10-2 record that included wins over Texas A&M and Texas Tech. But nothing was working, and they looked completely outmatched.
“We played hungry,” Dickinson said, via KUSports. “We played like we dropped our first game in the Big 12 and we’re trying to get back into that Big 12 race. I think guys just were out there playing hungry, playing hard, and that was kind of a reflection of it.”
Kansas moved to No. 11 in this week’s poll. The Jayhawks are the second-highest ranked Big 12 team behind No. 3 Iowa State, who they will go up against next week at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. Assuming the Jayhawks can get past Arizona State and Cincinnati this week, that battle should be one of the best of the season.
Games to watch this week
Tuesday, Jan. 7
No. 1 Tennessee at No. 8 Florida | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN2
Wednesday, Jan. 8
No. 10 Texas A&M at No. 17 Oklahoma | 9 p.m. ET | SEC
Saturday, Jan. 11
No. 11 Kansas at Cincinnati | 2 p.m. ET | ESPN+
No. 5 Alabama at No. 10 Texas A&M | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN
No. 6 Kentucky at No. 14 Mississippi State | 8:30 p.m. | SEC
AP Top 25
The full Associated Press men’s basketball poll from Jan. 6, 2025.
1. Tennessee (14-0)
2. Auburn (13-1)
3. Iowa State (12-1)
4. Duke (12-2)
5. Alabama (12-2)
6. Kentucky (12-2)
7. Marquette (13-2)
8. Florida (13-1)
9. UConn (12-3)
10. Texas A&M (12-2)
11. Kansas (10-3)
12. Houston (10-3)
13. Illinois (11-3)
14. Mississippi State (13-1)
15. Oregon (13-2)
16. Michigan State (12-2)
17. Oklahoma (13-1)
18. Gonzaga (12-4)
19. Memphis (12-3)
20. Purdue (11-4)
21. West Virginia (11-2)
22. UCLA (11-3)
23. Ole Miss (12-2)
24. Michigan (11-3)
25. Utah State (14-1)
Others Receiving Votes: Pittsburgh 91, Arkansas 62, Nebraska 62, Baylor 32, Wisconsin 31, St. John’s 27, San Diego State 26, Cincinnati 22, Clemson 19, Maryland 7, Georgia 6, St. Bonaventure 6, Texas Tech 6, Indiana 6, Missouri 5, Arizona 3, Dayton 1, Georgetown 1, Vanderbilt 1, Xavier 1
