Auburn No. 1 in AP men's poll; Georgia in, 1st time since 2011 - ESPN

Auburn has climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men's basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history, while fellow Southeastern Conference program Georgia is in the rankings for the first time in 13 years.

Bruce Pearl's Tigers (15-1) claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot Monday after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Florida, to end a five-week reign at the top. Auburn has been No. 1 only once before in the AP Top 25, during a three-week stint in January and February of 2022, and is the third team to sit atop the poll this season.

Auburn's only loss came at Duke in early December and the Tigers have won eight straight games, though there is no word on when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday's win over South Carolina.

First-place votes in parentheses

The Tigers' rise made them the headliner in another SEC-heavy poll, with the league having nine teams in the AP Top 25 — including three of the top five and five of the top 10.

Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each claimed a first-place vote.

The top tier

The Volunteers (15-1) had been No. 1 since Dec. 9 and stood as Division I's last unbeaten team before a 30-point loss to Florida. They recovered by beating Texas but still tumbled five spots to No. 6.

Marquette was next at No. 7 as the only team to stay at the same spot from last week, followed by Kentucky, preseason No. 1 Kansas and Houston to round out the top 10.

Rising

No. 12 Michigan State and No. 20 Michigan had the week's biggest jumps, each rising four spots.