Unbeaten Tennessee tightens grip on No. 1 ranking

The Tennessee Volunteers, the lone unbeaten team remaining in men’s college basketball, strengthened their grip on the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday.

The Volunteers (14-0) beat Norfolk State by 15 points and then-No. 23 Arkansas by 24 points last week and picked up four more first-place votes. Tennessee received 45 of 60 ballots to stay on top for a fifth straight week.

The top five remained unchanged this week, with No. 2 Auburn (13-1) followed by Iowa State (12-1), Duke (12-2) and Alabama (12-2).

No. 6 Kentucky (12-2) climbed four places after handing Florida its first loss, knocking the Gators (13-1) down two spots to No. 8. No. 7 Marquette (13-2), No. 9 UConn (12-3) and No. 10 Texas A&M (12-2) round out the top 10.

The biggest movers this week were Illinois (11-3), which jumped up nine spots to No. 13, and UCLA (11-3), which tumbled seven spots to No. 22.

The rest of the AP Top 25:

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)