Auburn still No. 1, Bama falls to No. 4 in new AP Poll after Tigers win in Tuscaloosa
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The first top-two matchup in SEC men’s basketball history lived up to the hype Saturday and No. 1 Auburn left no doubt who the best team in the country currently is.
The Tigers led wire-to-wire, defeating the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa for the first time in three years. It was a sign to the rest of the country that Auburn still belongs in the top spot despite a home loss to Florida.
And almost all of the Associated Press voters agreed, giving Auburn 59 of the 60 first-place votes this week. It is the sixth straight week the Tigers have been ranked No. 1, extending the longest stretch in program history.
AP Top 25
While Auburn is in the top spot, the Crimson Tide slid down a couple of spots and lost the 23 first-place votes from last week but remain in the top five. The SEC has nine teams in this week’s AP rankings including:
- No. 1 Auburn
- No. 2 Florida
- No. 4 Alabama
- No. 6 Tennessee
- No. 7 Texas A&M
- No. 15 Missouri
- No. 17 Kentucky
- No. 21 Mississippi State
- No. 24 Ole Miss
Auburn is now 8-1 this season since taking over the No. 1 ranking, winning five games against ranked teams and claiming five victories on the road. The Tigers won at Vanderbilt earlier in the week before taking down their rivals in Tuscaloosa.
The Tigers currently sit with a 23-2 overall record with the pair of losses coming against No. 2 Florida and No. 3 Duke. Auburn now sits alone on top of the SEC standings with an 11-1 conference record.
The Crimson Tide was ranked first in the coaches poll last week but also fell to fourth after losing to the Tigers. Auburn moved back to the top spot in that poll as well, earning all 31 first-place votes.
Alabama won its midweek game on the road but the loss to Auburn dropped the Tide to 21-4 overall + 10-2 in SEC play.
It’s the ninth consecutive week to feature the Crimson Tide in the top 5, the second longest streak in program history. Alabama was ranked in the top five 10 straight weeks in 2023 before earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Saturday was the first top-5 matchup on the basketball court in the rivalry’s history. It could happen again in less than three weeks when the Tide travels to Auburn for the regular season finale on March 8.
March Madness
For the first time this season, the NCAA Selection Committee released its top 16 seeds for next month’s tournament. The weekly release serves as a look at where each team’s resume currently compares to the rest of the country.
The announcement came before Saturday’s game in Tuscaloosa but it did include Auburn + Alabama as the top two overall seeds with both earning a 1 seed.
The most updated Bracketology from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has both teams played in Lexington, Kentucky for the first two rounds.
An update from the selection committee will be released every Saturday through the end of the regular season.
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