College basketball rankings: Arizona up to No. 2 in AP Top 25 after Auburn's loss, Kentucky falls to No. 6

Arizona claimed its highest ranking of the season on Monday after improving to 24-2

By David Cobb

Feb 21, 2022 at 12:32 pm ET • 1 min read

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There is a new No. 2 team in college basketball: Arizona. The Wildcats improved to 24-2 (14-1 Pac-12) this weekend and passed Auburn, which dropped to No. 3 after losing a 63-62 game at Florida on Saturday. This marks the Wildcats' highest ranking of the season as they close in on a Pac-12 regular-season title.

Arizona improved its winning streak to eight games with wins over Oregon State and Oregon last week and maintained a three-game lead on No. 16 USC and No. 12 UCLA in the conference standings with five games left to play. Gonzaga remains No. 1 in the poll for a second straight week and received all 61 first-place votes. If the Zags handle San Francisco and Saint Mary's this week, it will mark their second straight undefeated run through the WCC.

Other activity in the top 5 included Purdue climbing a spot to No. 4 and Kansas climbing a spot to No. 5. Kentucky dropped two spots to No. 6 following a loss at Tennessee and a win over Alabama. Villanova and Texas Tech also moved up to No. 8 and No. 9, respectively.

Michigan State dropped out of the poll after losses at Penn State and against Illinois. Wyoming also dropped out following a one-week appearance after losing to New Mexico last Tuesday.

Iowa cracked the poll for the first time this season at No. 25 after picking up a big win at Ohio State on Saturday. The victory marked the first Quad 1 win for the Hawkeyes (18-8, 8-7 Big Ten), which are a projected No. 10 seed for the NCAA Tournament, according to CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm. Saint Mary's also reappeared in the poll at No. 23 after dropping out last week.

Below is the full AP Top 25 (first-place votes in parenthesis).