We’ve got a new No. 1 team in the country this week after the previous one completely fell apart this past weekend.
Here’s everything you missed in the fifth week of the regular season, and the latest Associated Press poll.
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Iowa State launches into top 5 after stunning Purdue
It was only a matter of time before Purdue finally dropped a game. After all, it’s been decades since we’ve had an undefeated national champion. But the Boilermakers’ first loss of the season was a historic one, and vaulted Iowa State into the top tier of teams in the country.
The Cyclones erupted in the second half on Saturday to pick up an 81-58 road win over Purdue. The 23-point loss at Mackey Arena was the largest nonconference home loss by a top-ranked team in the AP poll’s history, and matched the largest home loss ever by a No. 1 team. In fact, the last time Purdue lost at home by such a big margin was back in 2013.
That loss knocked Purdue down five spots to No. 6 in this week’s poll. That paved the way for Arizona to take over the No. 1 spot. The Wildcats picked up a 29-point win over Auburn on Saturday in what was their fourth ranked win of the season. Michigan remained undefeated, too, with a 41-point rout over Rutgers, and moved up a spot to No. 2.
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Duke, thanks to 16 second-half points from Cameron Boozer, handed Michigan State its first loss of the season on Saturday. The Blue Devils also climbed up to No. 3.
Iowa State, meanwhile, launched into the top five after Saturday’s win, which got it to 9-0. They came in at No. 4, one spot above UConn. The Cyclones now have several quality wins already this fall, including over St. John’s and Creighton before steamrolling Purdue, and they came in at No. 2 in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings behind only Michigan.
The Cyclones have already positioned themselves not only in line with Arizona and Houston in the Big 12, but as a legitimate title contender nationally. While the Cyclones have yet to make it past the Sweet 16 in the TJ Otzelberger era, this group in Ames looks like it’ll be in a great position in a few months time.
Kentucky falls out of poll
It’s a concerning time in Lexington.
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Mark Pope and the Wildcats are coming off their worst week of the season so far, which they capped with a blowout 35-point loss to Gonzaga in which they were repeatedly booed off the court by their own fans in Nashville. The Bulldogs led the entire way after opening Friday night’s game on a 19-2 run. Kentucky shot less than 27% from the field as a group and missed their first 10 shots of the night.
«All the boos that we heard tonight were incredibly well-deserved, mostly for me, and we have to fix it,» Pope said, via Fox Sports. «We’ve kind of diminished a little bit into a bad spot right now that we have to dig ourselves out of it, and it’s going to be an internal group thing, and we feel the responsibility we have to this university and this fan base.»
That loss came after Kentucky fell to North Carolina in the ACC-SEC Challenge earlier in the week. Gonzaga, now 9-1, climbed up to No. 8 in this week’s poll. North Carolina, which also beat Georgetown by 20 points on Sunday, is at No. 14.
All four of Kentucky’s losses have come against ranked opponents. The Wildcats tumbled out of the poll completely this week after the latest losing skid. While they have a chance to rebound with two more ranked opponents before SEC play kicks off — they’ve got Indiana and Saint John’s waiting later this month — the Wildcats have yet to pick up a quality win this fall. For a team that started inside the top 10, and is now completely unranked, that’s not a good spot to be just six weeks into the season.
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Games to watch this week
All times ET | * denotes neutral site
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Tuesday, Dec. 9
Villanova at No. 2 Michigan | 6:30 p.m. | FS1
No. 18 Florida at No. 5 UConn | 9 p.m. | ESPN *
Thursday, Dec. 11
Iowa at No. 4 Iowa State | 8 p.m. | FS1
Saturday, Dec. 13
No. 17 Arkansas at No. 16 Texas Tech | 12 p.m. | ESPN2 *
No. 1 Arizona at No. 12 Alabama | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN
AP Top 25
The full Associated Press men’s basketball poll from December 8, 2025.
1. Arizona (8-0)
2. Michigan (8-0)
3. Duke (10-0)
4. Iowa State (9-0)
5. UConn (8-1)
6. Purdue (8-1)
7. Houston (8-1)
8. Gonzaga (8-1)
9. Michigan State (8-1)
10. BYU (7-1)
11. Louisville (8-1)
12. Alabama (7-2)
13. Illinois (7-2)
14. North Carolina (8-1)
15. Vanderbilt (9-0)
16. Texas Tech (7-2)
17. Arkansas (7-2)
18. Florida (5-3)
19. Kansas (7-3)
20. Tennessee (7-3)
21. Auburn (7-3)
22. St. John’s (5-3)
23. Nebraska (9-0)
24. Virginia (8-1)
25. UCLA (7-2)
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Others receiving votes: Iowa 60, Oklahoma State 54, USC 50, Georgia 49, Saint Mary’s 38, Seton Hall 31, Kentucky 29, Wisconsin 24, Indiana 18, Clemson 14, LSU 14, Villanova 9, California 6, Notre Dame 4, Miami 4, SMU 3, TCU 2, Arizona St 2, Miami (Ohio) 2, St. Bonaventure 1
