Duke keeps finding its way back to No. 1.
The Blue Devils reclaimed the top spot in Monday’s AP Top 25, the third time this season they’ve reached No. 1. Duke earned 58 of 64 first-place votes to climb one spot and replace Tennessee, which had spent four weeks at No. 1 but fell to fifth after Saturday’s loss at Kentucky.
Duke has now spent nearly half of the season’s polls (seven of 16) at No. 1, and hasn’t been ranked lower than fourth since the preseason. The Blue Devils (23-2) — who start four talented freshmen in RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones — also haven’t lost a game at full strength since falling to Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational championship game.
Barrett (22.7 points per game) and Williamson (22.4) are the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top two scorers, while Jones is second in the league in assists (5.4) while also being one of the nation’s best on-ball defenders.
Duke spent two weeks at No. 1 in November after a dazzling performance in a season-opening blowout win against Kentucky. The Blue Devils returned to No. 1 on Christmas Eve and spent four more weeks there, but dropped after an overtime home loss to Syracuse while playing without Reddish (illness) and losing Jones to a first-half shoulder injury.
They had to make a wild comeback from 23 down in the final 10 minutes against Louisville last week to get back to No. 1 this time, just in time for their rivalry game against No. 8 North Carolina on Wednesday.
THE TOP TIER
Gonzaga (25-2) earned the remaining six first-place votes and moved up a spot to No. 2, followed by Virginia and coach John Calipari’s Wildcats — who have made a long climb back after falling from No. 2 following the Duke loss to as low as No. 19 in mid-December.
Nevada, Michigan, UNC, Houston and Michigan State rounded out the top 10.
RISING
LSU made the week’s biggest jump, climbing six spots to No. 13 after last week’s win at Kentucky. The Tigers (21-4) are tied with Tennessee atop the Southeastern Conference standings and have lost once since mid-December.
Iowa State also made a significant jump, rising four spots to No. 19 after beating Big 12-leading Kansas State.
Twelve teams climbed in the rankings this week, though LSU and Iowa State were the only ones that moved more than a spot or two.
SLIDING
Kansas State fell five spots to No. 23 for the week’s biggest slide. And No. 17 Villanova matched Tennessee’s four-spot fall after the reigning national champions lost to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
In all, eight teams fell in Monday’s poll.
STATUS QUO
For the first time this season, no new teams joined the Top 25. And five teams stayed in the same spot from the previous poll.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten took up nearly half the spots in this week’s Top 25.
The ACC has six ranked teams in Duke, Virginia, UNC, No. 16 Florida State, No. 18 Louisville and No. 20 Virginia Tech. The Big Ten also has six with Michigan, Michigan State, No. 15 Purdue, No. 21 Iowa, No. 22 Wisconsin and No. 24 Maryland.
The Big 12 had four ranked teams — led by preseason No. 1 and current No. 12 Kansas — the SEC had three and the Big East had two.
Tina Langley had a vision when she took over Rice’s women’s basketball program four years ago.
The Owls have been steadily improving every season and now can add an appearance in the AP Top 25 to their achievements.
Rice entered The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the first time in school history on Monday.
“I’m so grateful to the student-athletes and coaches that have come here and poured their heart and soul into the program,” said Langley, who spent seven years as an assistant and associate head coach under Brenda Frese at Maryland before coming to Rice. “Everything that we’ve accomplished we’ll celebrate with them.”
The Owls have won 15 straight games and are ranked 25th. Langley planned to briefly discuss being ranked at practice later Monday.
“We’ll talk a little about what it means and continue to stay focused on the ultimate goal,” she said.
Baylor remained the top team in the country, garnering 26 of the 28 first-place votes from a national media panel. Oregon moved up to second, getting the other two No. 1 ballots. UConn was third, while Louisville slipped to fourth after losing to Miami on Sunday. The Hurricanes made the biggest jump, moving up six spots to 14th.
Notre Dame was fifth. Mississippi State, Stanford, Maryland, North Carolina State and Iowa rounded out the top 10.
Drake joined the rankings at No. 24, while Rutgers and Michigan State fell out.
Here are some other tidbits from the AP Top 25 this week:
ROUGH WEEK TO BE RANKED
Fourteen of the Top 25 teams lost last week, including seven to unranked schools. That tends to happen a lot in conference play where teams know each other better.
ALL ABOUT THE OGWUMIKES
Rice is led by Erica Ogwumike, who transferred to the school from Pepperdine with her sister Olivia. Now that Rice is ranked, it means all four Ogwumike sisters have appeared in the Top 25 at some point in their careers. Older sisters Nneka and Chiney starred at Stanford.
“Erica is one of the best players in the country,” Langley said. “I believe she’ll be a professional player if she chooses to be. She’s a brilliant young woman with a great future in front of her.”
MOVING ON UP
One week after getting ranked for the first time in school history, South Dakota climbed up to No. 23. The Coyotes won their lone game, routing Western Illinois 83-61.
TOP 25 SHOWDOWNS
There are a bunch of big games this week, starting Monday night when Notre Dame visited N.C. State and Oregon plays at No. 12 Oregon State. Later in the week, No. 16 Kentucky plays 13th-ranked South Carolina and No. 17 Arizona State visits Stanford.