The 2024-25 men’s college basketball season is officially off and running, and the top of the sport is still largely holding strong — starting with top-ranked Kansas after its big win over North Carolina on Friday night.
Here’s everything you missed in the opening week of the season and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
Kansas survives UNC to remain No. 1
The Jayhawks nearly blew a 20-point lead at home in a rare battle against North Carolina, but they’ve lived up to their second consecutive No. 1 ranking to start the season.
Kansas held on late at Allen Fieldhouse to beat the Tar Heels 92-89 and improve to 2-0 on the year on Friday night. The Jayhawks went up by 20 points in the first half and more than lived up to their ranking as the best team in the country. They shot better than 55% from the field in the first 20 minutes, and both Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams dominated inside early.
While the Tar Heels rallied back in the second half and took the lead on a Jalen Washington layup with just more than two minutes left in the game, Kansas finished the job. Dickinson responded with a go-ahead bucket after transfer Zeke Mayo tied it up with a jumper of his own to lift Kansas to the three-point win in what was just the 13th matchup between the two programs. The win was also Bill Self’s 590th in his career, which tied Phog Allen for the most in program history.
The win naturally kept Kansas at No. 1 in this week’s poll, which helped keep the top three spots in the rankings unchanged. North Carolina dropped a spot to No. 10.
The Jayhawks will go up against Michigan State next on Tuesday, and will get Cooper Flagg and No. 6 Duke and No. 14 Creighton in the next month before Big 12 play kicks off. North Carolina’s slate is easier, but it’ll host No. 2 Alabama next month.
Though it’s still early, and North Carolina appears more than ready to hold its own with Duke in the ACC, the Jayhawks have solidified themselves as the early team to beat.
Auburn stuns Houston after plane incident
After struggling to even get to Houston, Bruce Pearl and Auburn picked up the first major upset win of the season on Saturday.
The Tigers beat Houston 74-69 in a battle on Saturday night at the Toyota Center thanks to 21 points from Tahaad Pettiford. Johni Broome added 20 points, 16 of which came in the second half, and nine rebounds in the win for the Tigers, too.
The biggest news out of that upset win, however, came a day before the game was even played. The plane that was carrying the Auburn team to Houston actually had to turn around and return to Alabama after an incident among players on board. Pearl didn’t address the incident after the game, but Jahki Howard and Ja’Heim Hudson — who were reportedly the two players involved — did not end up making the trip. There was reportedly yelling and that players got into each other’s faces, but no punches were thrown in the air. The team then took a second flight to Houston later that night and made it with plenty of time to spare before the game tipped.
But despite the chaotic trip, Auburn still pulled off the win and jumped up to No. 5 in this week’s poll. Houston fell four spots to No. 8.
Gonzaga was the other program initially ranked in the top 10 to come out of the first week of the season with a pair of big wins. The Bulldogs absolutely rolled over Baylor 101-63 in their season-opener last week before hanging on late on Sunday to beat Arizona State 88-80. Gonzaga moved to No. 4 in the latest poll while Baylor fell four spots to No. 12.
Purdue’s Jacobsen out for season
Purdue big man Daniel Jacobsen’s season is over.
Jacobsen was ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken leg on Sunday, head coach Matt Painter announced. The freshman left their win over Northern Kentucky on Friday after he collided with a Norse defender in the lane in the opening minute of the game. He will now undergo surgery in the coming days.
Jacobsen, a 7-foot-4 center, was a three-star Rivals.com recruit out of high school. He’ll now take a medical redshirt this season.
Purdue, after beating both Northern Kentucky and Texas A&M Corpus-Cristi last week, moved up to No. 13 in this week’s poll. They’ll take on Yale on Monday night before hosting No. 2 Alabama on Friday.
Todd Golden still coaching for Florida
Though he’s the subject of an investigation after a Title IX complaint against him, Florida coach Todd Golden will keep leading the Gators.
Golden was accused of sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, stalking and cyberstalking by multiple women, including Florida students, earlier this fall. The allegations were first reported by Florida’s student newspaper, The Alligator, on Friday.
Florida confirmed in a statement on Sunday that Golden’s “status as UF men’s basketball coach has not changed,” and he’ll lead the team in the Gators’ game against Grambling State on Monday night. Florida, after two solid wins to open the year, is ranked No. 20 this week.
Games to watch this week
* neutral site game
Tuesday, Nov. 12
Michigan State at No. 1 Kansas | 6:30 p.m. ET | ESPN*
No. 6 Duke at No. 19 Kentucky | 9 p.m. ET | ESPN*
Friday, Nov. 15
No. 2 Alabama at No. 13 Purdue | 7 p.m. ET | Peacock
No. 15 Marquette at Maryland | 8 p.m. ET | FS1
No. 9 Arizona at Wisconsin | 9 p.m. ET | Peacock
Saturday, Nov. 16
South Carolina at No. 16 Indiana | 3 p.m. ET | Peacock
AP Top 25
The full Associated Press men’s basketball poll from Nov. 11, 2024.
1. Kansas (2-0)
2. Alabama (2-0)
3. UConn (2-0)
4. Gonzaga (2-0)
5. Auburn (2-0)
6. Duke (2-0)
7. Iowa State (2-0)
8. Houston (1-1)
9. Arizona (2-0)
10. North Carolina (1-1)
11. Tennessee (2-0)
12. Baylor (1-1)
13. Purdue (2-0)
14. Creighton (2-0)
15. Marquette (2-0)
16. Indiana (2-0)
17. Cincinnati (2-0)
18. Arkansas (1-1)
19. Kentucky (2-0)
20. Florida (2-0)
21. Ohio State (1-0)
22. St. John’s (2-0)
23. Texas A&M (1-1)
24. Rutgers (1-0)
25. Ole Miss (2-0)
Others Receiving Votes: Illinois 144, Texas Tech 102, Wake Forest 84, Xavier 78, Texas 51, Michigan St. 41, BYU 26, Kansas St 24, UCF 20, Mississippi St. 15, New Mexico 15, Oregon 14, North Florida 14, Miami 14, Clemson 13, VCU 12, Memphis 8, Wisconsin 6, Grand Canyon 6, Providence 4, Maryland 3, Austin Peay 2, Arizona St 2, South Dakota St. 1, Michigan 1, Columbia 1, Dayton 1
