Men’s basketball AP poll: Tennessee holds strong as Florida, Oklahoma finally drop

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Tennessee is the last remaining undefeated team in the nation. (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)

Though plenty of teams finally fell back, Tennessee came out of the first weekend of SEC play unscathed.

Here’s everything you missed in Week 9 of the college basketball season, and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.

Tennessee holds strong as SEC shakes out

Tennessee is the last remaining undefeated team in the country.

The Volunteers rolled over Arkansas on Saturday to improve to 14-0, which matched their best start in program history from more than 100 years ago. It also kept them at No. 1 in this weeks’ poll. They’ve now been atop the national rankings for a school record five straight weeks.

Though it’s going to get increasingly difficult for Tennessee as conference play gets going — starting with a battle against Florida on Tuesday night — the Vols have the early edge in the SEC. That could come in handy down the stretch.

While Auburn and Alabama both won this past week, too, Florida and Oklahoma both finally lost for the first time this season. No. 6 Kentucky held on to beat the Gators 106-100 behind 23 points and seven 3-pointers off the bench from Koby Brea. It was the first ranked game that the Gators have played all year, and fell two spots to No. 8 as a result.

Though Florida largely kept pace with Kentucky in that loss, the Sooners completely fell flat against the Crimson Tide. Alabama rolled to a nearly 30-point blowout win over Oklahoma on Saturday. Mark Sears dropped 22 points and had 10 assists in the win, which marked their sixth straight. The Sooners, who were off to their best start in three decades, fell five spots to No. 17 this week.

There’s no doubt that the top of the SEC is among the best in the country. The second group of teams, however, has some work to do to prove they belong. If Florida can’t hang with Tennessee on Tuesday night, and Oklahoma doesn’t overcompensate right away against No. 10 Texas A&M on Wednesday, their…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-basketball-ap-poll-tennessee-holds-strong-as-florida-oklahoma-finally-drop-182951721.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-06 18:29:00

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