A light holiday week schedule resulted in few changes at the top of the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll.
The top five teams remain the same this week with Purdue retaining the No. 1 position. The Boilermakers received 25 of 32 first-place votes cast this week to stay ahead of second-ranked Connecticut. The Huskies, also still with an unblemished record, picked up the other seven No. 1 nods. Houston, Kansas and Arizona hold steady in the next three spots.
The next six teams each move up one position as Virginia slides six places to No. 12 after a loss at red-hot Miami (Fla.). The Hurricanes, meanwhile, make the week’s biggest jump from No. 22 to No. 16.
There were a few upsets during the week. Duke was without a couple of key players in a loss at Wake Forest and was not punished by the voters, holding steady at No. 14. Some other upset victims weren’t as fortunate. Mississippi State falls five spots to No. 20 after dropping its first game of the campaign to unranked Drake. Illinois drops from No. 16 to No. 22 following a blowout loss to Missouri. Virginia Tech is out of the Top 25 entirely after an overtime setback at Boston College.
West Virginia joins the rankings at No. 23 along with No. 25 Xavier.
Marquette is the week’s other dropout.
