After an entertaining first week of college basketball, there was plenty of shakeup in the latest AP Top 25 ranking. The Blue Zone will be here every Monday at noon until March giving you the biggest takeaways from each poll:
Blue Devils rise to No. 2
After an opening night that saw two top-4 matchups, Duke rose to the second spot in the latest poll thanks to a win last Tuesday over Kansas, now ranked No. 5. The new top dog in college basketball is Kentucky, who takes control of the top ranking from Michigan State after a convincing win over the Spartans later that night. The Blue Devils have now appeared in the top five of 22 consecutive AP polls, the longest active streak.
ACC taking over
It's no surprise that the top college basketball conference is once again dominating the sport as the ACC checked in with four teams in the top-10. Duke, No. 4 Louisville, No. 6 North Carolina and No. 9 Virginia solidified their roles as championship contenders, and Florida State is also on the brink of the poll after an impressive win over Florida.
The conference also placed four top-10 teams in the final poll of last season with the Blue Devils, Cavaliers and Tar Heels occupying the top trio of spots and the Seminoles placing at No. 10.
Washington and Colorado enter the poll
Despite the chaos at the top of the ranking, many of the teams in the bottom half of the Top 25 were able to hold steady during Week 1. With the departure of VCU and Purdue, the Huskies and Buffaloes were able to jump into college hoops relevancy at No. 20 and No. 25, respectively. The first week of the season has been historically dull for upsets over lower ranked teams, however, expect some mayhem as holiday tournaments start to get underway.
Complete Rankings
1. Kentucky (64 first-place votes)
2. Duke
3. Michigan State
4. Louisville (1)
5. Kansas
6. North Carolina
7. Maryland
8. Gonzaga
9. Virginia
10. Villanova
11. Texas Tech
12. Seton Hall
13. Memphis
14. Oregon
15. Florida
16. Ohio State
17. Utah State
18. Saint Mary's
19. Arizona
20. Washington
21. Xavier
22. Auburn
23. LSU
24. Baylor
25. Colorado
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