Auburn becomes longest consecutive AP Poll No. 1 since 2022
The seven-week reign as the country's top program is the longest run in over three full calendar years. Gonzaga, who earned the preseason No. 1 ranking in the 2020-2021 season, grasped onto the top ranking for 21 straight weeks before finally giving it up in Week 4 of the 2021-2022 campaign. Before Monday's poll, Connecticut (2024), was the only other program to hold the AP No. 1 for at least six weeks since the 2015 season, when Kentucky held the top ranking for that entire campaign.
Auburn also received every first place vote in the Week 17 AP Poll after an undefeated week. This is the fourth time the Tigers have been at the peak of every voters paper, and the first since Week 14. Florida, who received the only other first-place vote a week ago, slid down one spot in the top 25, to No. 3, in favor of Duke.
Other than the Gators and Auburn, Tennessee (No. 5) and Alabama (No. 6) make up the remaining SEC programs ranked in the top 10 of the poll. Texas A&M (No. 12) fell out of the top 10 after a pair of losses to Mississippi State and Tennessee, marking just the second time since Week 5 the SEC hasn't represented at least 50% of the top 10 teams in college basketball. Kentucky (No. 17) spent most of the early season ranked in the top third of the AP Poll before the Aggies planted themselves among the nation's top programs.
Missouri (No. 14), who very well could have won the SEC if the season was a month longer, continued its surge up the polls this week to round out conference programs ranked in the top 15, while Mississippi State continued its descent down the rankings, checking in at No. 24. Ole Miss (28) and Vanderbilt (2) were the only other SEC teams to receive votes. Old friend Yale received a single vote as well. Kansas, who had been ranked in the AP Poll for 80 consecutive weeks, only received 25 votes in Week 17.
Auburn will need to continue playing extraordinary basketball over the final stretch of the season if it hopes to continue the streak of AP No. 1. After a matchup with Ole Miss at Neville Arena early this week, the Tigers travel to Rupp Arena to take on No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday before taking a pit stop in College Station to take on the Aggies next Tuesday. The regular season then wraps up with part two of the 'Iron Bowl of Basketball' on March 8.
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter
This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Auburn becomes longest consecutive AP Poll No. 1 since 2022
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Three Longhorns earn spots on Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list
Walter Camp Player of the Year watch list includes three Longhorns With the start of the 2025 college football season less than a month away, three Longhorns stars have found themselves on a prestigious watch list. On Monday, Arch Manning, Anthony Hill Jr., and Colin Simmons were named to the Walter Camp National Player of the Year preseason watch list. The award is given annually to the national player of the year. While the Longhorns trio will face competition, they have each shown flashes of brilliance, starting with Manning. In 10 games last year, he showed why his future is bright in Austin. The New Orleans native completed 61 of 91 passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns. His stellar play earned Manning the SEC's Co-Freshman of the Week on Sept. 16. While he thrived under center, the Longhorns got a boost from Simmons on defense. During his freshman campaign, Simmons led the team in sacks with nine. The talented edge also ranked second in tackles for a loss with 14. As Simmons made life difficult for offensive coordinators, he etched himself into the history books. He was rewarded for his stellar play with the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year Award. Simmons is the only player in program history to take home the honors. On defense, Texas also got a boost from Hill. He led the Longhorns in total tackles with 103 and tackles for a loss with 16.5. In his second year in the Forty Acres, the Texas native was a model of consistency, appearing in all 16 games. As the talented linebacker was a human highlight reel, he added three double-digit tackling performances to his resume. Although the Longhorn trio is focused on winning a national title, they will be keeping a close eye on the award. The list will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists in early November. Then, a month later, the finalists will be revealed in early December. The winner will be announced on December 12th. Regardless of who wins the award, the Longhorns are in a good position to build on their success from last year. That is partly due to the trio of Manning, Hill, and Simmons, who are in a great position to do special things during the 2025 campaign.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kerry Carpenter crushes key home run in Detroit Tigers' 6-3 win vs new-look Twins
Not only did the Minnesota Twins part ways with one-third of the players on their roster, they also shipped out some of their best players at the trade deadline: closer Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies, reliever Griffin Jax to the Tampa Bay Rays and shortstop Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros. Two years ago, the Twins won the American League Central. In 2025, the Detroit Tigers are the AL Central leaders, and looked like in Monday night. The Tigers reminded their division foes of their current dominance in a 6-3 win over the new-look Twins on Monday, Aug. 4, in the opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park. The Twins didn't go down easy, but the Tigers (66-48) pulled away with three runs in the sixth inning, including a 437-foot two-run home run from Kerry Carpenter off right-handed reliever Noah Davis with the fans chanting his first name. Carpenter celebrated the key home run by flipping his bat, holding both arms in the air and trotting to first base. After Gleyber Torres tied the game on a groundout, Carpenter refused to swing at back-to-back pitches for balls before demolishing a 94 mph sinker at the top of the strike zone for a two-run homer, putting the Tigers ahead, 5-3. It was his 19th homer in 85 games this season. The Tigers padded their lead in the seventh inning, thanks to Dillon Dingler's solo home run off right-handed reliever Erasmo Ramírez. He pulled a down-and-in sinker over the wall in left field. It was Dingler's 10th homer. Dingler is hitting .274 with a .749 OPS across 85 games in his first full season in the big leagues. [ MUST LISTEN: Make "Days of Roar" your go-to Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ] Casey Mize's quality start Right-hander Casey Mize allowed three runs on four hits and zero walks with four strikeouts in six innings, throwing 67 pitches. He entered Monday's game with an 11.42 ERA in his last three starts — following a 2.63 ERA in his first 15 starts. This was a step forward. In 2025, Mize now owns a 3.50 ERA in 19 starts. The Twins tagged Mize for three solo home runs: Ryan Jeffers hit a 94.4 mph sinker for a 420-foot homer in the first inning; Trevor Larnach hit a splitter for a 434-foot homer in the fifth inning; Matt Wallner hit a splitter for a 437-foot homer in the sixth inning. Both splitters were poorly executed pitches. The homer from Wallner landed in the shrubs in center field. Aside from the homers, Mize gave up just one hit on a single to Edouard Julien in the sixth inning, then erased Julien from the bases when Austin Martin grounded into a double play. Wenceel Pérez's development The Tigers fell behind on the scoreboard, but Wenceel Pérez revived them when he hit a two-run home run off right-hander Travis Adams with one out in the fifth inning. Until then, Adams had shut out the Tigers. The Pérez homer tied the game, 2-2. It was Pérez's ninth home run in 54 games (and 197 plate appearances) in his second MLB season — following nine homers in 112 games (and 425 plate appearances) as a rookie last season. Not only has Pérez developed in the power department from Year 1 to Year 2, but he has also improved his batting average (.242 to .262) and his OPS (.683 to .805). For the Twins, Adams allowed two runs on four hits and zero walks with seven strikeouts in five innings, throwing 63 pitches. He generated 16 whiffs on 33 swings for an incredible 48.5% whiff rate. Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@ or follow him @EvanPetzold. Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at Order your copy of 'Roar of 125: The Epic History of the Tigers!' by the Free Press at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers score: Kerry Carpenter homer leads to 6-3 win vs Twins
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dillon Dingler's solo homer (10)
Dillon Dingler hits a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the 7th inning to extend the Tigers' lead to 6-3
