After surviving a potential upset bid from Illinois on Saturday, Tennessee is projected to maintain its No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday. The Volunteers improved to 10-0 with a last-second win over the Fighting Illini after Jordan Gainey converted a coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer to give his team a 66-64 win.
The very top of the poll shouldn’t change much. Tennessee, Auburn, Iowa State, Duke and Kentucky should all hold firm to keep the same top-five as last week. After that, there could be some shakeup inside the top 10. Florida moved to 10-0 with a statement win over Arizona State on Saturday, and that victory should help the Gators move up further inside the top 10.
Florida won’t be the only team that gets a bump. UConn got back on track with a 77-71 win over No. 8 Gonzaga for its fourth consecutive victory. After going 0-3 at the Maui Invitational and nearly dropping out of the rankings entirely, the voters are likely to give the two-time reigning national champions a boost in the rankings.
Here’s how we project the new AP Top 25 poll to look on Monday after last week’s games.
Projected to drop out: No. 25 Mississippi State
