Virginia Moves Up to No. 2 in Latest AP Top 25 Poll

UVA's No. 2 ranking is the program's highest since the end of the 2018-2019 season

Virginia moved up one spot to No. 2 in the latest AP Top 25 men's basketball poll released on Monday afternoon. UVA received 19 first-place votes. 

Purdue moved up three spots and jumped UVA to become the new No. 1 team in the nation. UConn is ranked No. 3. 

Some significant movement at the top of the rankings was expected after No. 1 Houston fell at home to Alabama on Saturday and No. 2 Texas lost in overtime to Illinois in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Alabama moved up four spots to No. 4 after taking down the Cougars on their home floor. 

Virginia seemed in line to take over the No. 1 spot as the highest-ranked undefeated team following the losses by Houston and Texas, but it seems the AP voters were slightly more impressed with Purdue's resume at this point in the season. The Boilermakers edged the Cavaliers with 1,508 points to UVA's 1,476 points and received 28 first-place votes. UConn received 15 first-place votes and trailed Virginia by just 10 overall points with 1,466. No. 6 Tennessee also received a first-place vote. 

Houston fell four spots to No. 5, which means the No. 2 and No. 5 teams in the country will clash when Virginia and Houston battle this Saturday in Charlottesville. 

Virginia's No. 2 ranking is the highest for the program since the end of the 2018-2019 season. UVA is one of four ACC teams ranked in the AP Top 25, joining No. 12 Duke, No. 24 Virginia Tech, and No. 25 Miami. 

AP Top 25 Men's Basketball Poll - Week 6

1. Purdue (10-0)
2. Virginia (8-0)
3. UConn (11-0)
4. Alabama (8-1)
5. Houston (9-1)
6. Tennessee (9-1)
7. Texas (7-1)
8. Kansas (9-1)
9. Arizona (8-1)
10. Arkansas (9-1)
11. Baylor (7-2)
12. Duke (10-2)
13. Kentucky (7-2)
14. Indiana (8-2)
15. Gonzaga (7-3)
16. UCLA (8-2)
17. Mississippi State (9-0)
18. Illinois (7-3)
19. Auburn (8-1)
20. Maryland (8-2)
21. TCU (8-1)
22. Wisconsin (8-2)
23. Ohio State (7-2)
24. Virginia Tech (10-1)
25. Miami (10-1)

Others receiving votes: Memphis (74), Charleston (64), Marquette (39), Iowa State (39), Arizona State (39), UNLV (27), Xavier (26), Iowa (25), West Virginia (20), Saint Mary's (15), Texas Tech (14), San Diego State (14), New Mexico (12), Utah (12), Creighton (11), Michigan State (5), Mississippi Valley State (4), Utah State (4), Kansas State (2)

No. 2 Virginia is set to host No. 5 Houston on Saturday, December 17th at 2pm at John Paul Jones Arena. 

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