Baylor Stays at No. 1 in Men's AP Poll; Auburn Rises

There wasn't much movement in this week's men's NCAA top 10 as conference play begins in earnest.
Baylor Stays at No. 1 in Men's AP Poll; Auburn Rises
Baylor Stays at No. 1 in Men's AP Poll; Auburn Rises /

After a big road win, No. 1 Baylor stayed atop the men's AP college basketball poll for the fourth consecutive week. The Bears knocked off then-No. 8 Iowa State in Ames on Saturday to open Big 12 play 1–0 and stay perfect on the season.

The rest of the top seven remained unchanged as well, with Duke, Purdue, Gonzaga and UCLA rounding out the top five. The Bruins haven't played since Dec. 11 due to a COVID-19 pause, while the Blue Devils and Bulldogs have also dealt with virus impacts of late. 

Auburn jumped into the top 10 after handing LSU its first loss of the season last week. The Tigers are now ninth, while the Cyclones dropped three spots to No. 11 after their loss to Baylor.

LSU dropped five spots to No. 21, while Seton Hall tumbled nine spots to No. 24 after back-to-back losses to Providence and Villanova.

Auburn's Walker Kessler dribbles
John Reed/USA TODAY Sports

Full top 25 (as of Jan. 3):

1. Baylor
2. Duke
3. Purdue
4. Gonzaga
5. UCLA
6. Kansas
7. USC
8. Arizona
9. Auburn
10. Michigan State
11. Iowa State
12. Houston
13. Ohio State
14. Texas
15. Alabama
16. Kentucky
17. Providence
18. Tennessee
19. Villanova
20. Colorado State
21. LSU
22. Xavier
23. Wisconsin
24. Seton Hall
25. Texas Tech

Others receiving votes: Illinois 74, Oklahoma 71, Loyola Chicago 40, UConn 39, West Virginia 6, Iowa 5, Minnesota 3, San Francisco 3, Davidson 3, Creighton 2


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Molly Geary
MOLLY GEARY

Molly Geary is an associate editor for SI.com. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Geary has worked for the company since 2014.