AP College Basketball Poll 2023: Complete Week 8 Men’s Rankings Released

Adam WellsDecember 25, 2023

AP Photo/Lucas Peltier

A chaotic college basketball season has led to another shakeup near the top of the Associated Press Top 25 men’s poll released on Monday.

Purdue, Kansas and Houston remain in the top three spots after fairly comfortable wins this week.

AP Top 25 Poll – Week 8

Purdue (11-1)Kansas (11-1)Houston (12-0)Arizona (9-2)Connecticut (11-2)Tennessee (9-3)Florida Atlantic (10-2)Kentucky (9-2)North Carolina (8-3)Marquette (10-3)Illinois (9-2)Oklahoma (10-1)Gonzaga (9-3)BYU (11-1)Colorado State (11-1)Duke (8-3)Baylor (10-2)Clemson (10-1)Memphis (10-2)James Madison (12-0)Texas (9-2)Creighton (9-3)Wisconsin (9-3)Mississippi (12-0)Providence (11-2)Arizona was able to hold down the No. 4 spot for a second consecutive week, despite a 96-95 double-overtime loss to Florida Atlantic on Saturday. This was the second loss in three games for the Wildcats, though both of them have come against teams now ranked in the top seven (Purdue).

Speaking of the Owls, they are back in the top 10 for the first time since the start of the season. They have won eight of their last nine games after a hiccup on Nov. 18 against Bryant.

No. 5 Connecticut had a mixed bag of results last week. The reigning national champs followed up their marquee win over Gonzaga on Dec. 16 with a 75-60 loss to Seton Hall on Tuesday in the Big East opener for both teams.

The Huskies rebounded with a 69-65 victory over St. John’s on Saturday, but it was announced before the game that Donovan Clingan would miss three to four weeks due to a foot injury suffered in the Seton Hall loss.

Oklahoma fell from the ranks of the unbeaten and dropped five spots in the poll after climbing up to No. 7 last week. The Sooners suffered their first loss of the season on Wednesday to North Carolina, which moved up to two spots to No. 9 this week.

Further down the Top 25, Duke looks to be figuring things out after back-to-back losses at Arkansas and Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils have won three straight games, highlighted by their biggest victory of the season on Wednesday against Baylor at Madison Square Garden.

Duke is back in the top 20 for the first time since the Nov. 27 poll.

Due to the holiday, the schedule is light on marquee matchups. The game of the week pits No. 22 Creighton against No. 10 Marquette at Fiserv Forum on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.