Michigan State v Rutgers
Getty Images

Michigan State ascended to its highest ranking in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll this season on Monday with a move up one spot to No. 7 after another perfect week in Big Ten play. The Spartans went 2-0 on the week with wins over Illinois and Rutgers to improve to 8-0 in conference play. It is one of four remaining teams in the sport still unbeaten in league play along with Duke (ACC), Auburn (SEC) and Houston (Big 12).

The Spartans began the year unranked in the AP Top 25 poll but appeared in the rankings in Week 6 for the first time after an 8-2 start to the season which included wins over North Carolina, Minnesota and Nebraska at the time, and have steadily risen each of the last five weeks. They've yet to lose since Nov. 26 and own a 12-game winning streak in that span, tied for the second-longest active streak in college hoops. 

The team with the longest active winning streak, Duke, once again held steady at No. 2 in this week's poll for a second consecutive week firmly entrenched still behind unanimous No. 1 Auburn. The Tigers earned all 62 available first-place votes for a second consecutive week, and the entire top-five remained unchanged behind the two as Iowa State, Alabama and Florida remained at Nos. 3-5.

AP Top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

Rank Team Record Points Prev.
1 Auburn (62) 18-1 1,550 1
2 Duke 17-2 1,484 2
3 Iowa State 17-2 1,404 3
4 Alabama 17-3 1,342 4
5 Florida 18-2 1,278 5
6 Houston 16-3 1,242 7
7 Michigan State 17-2 1,170 8
8 Tennessee 17-3 1,149 6
9 Marquette 17-3 1,068 10
10 Purdue 16-5 892 11
11 Kansas 14-5 877 12
12 Kentucky 14-5 858 9
13 Texas A&M 15-5 775 13
14 Mississippi State 16-4 715 14
15 St. John's 17-3 588 20
16 Oregon 16-4 448 15
17 Wisconsin 16-4 440 18
18 Illinois 14-6 384 17
19 Memphis 16-4 383 24
20 Missouri 16-4 352 22
21 Louisville 15-5 346 25
22 Texas Tech 15-4 308 NR
23 Ole Miss 15-5 215 16
24 Vanderbilt 16-4 132 NR
25 UConn 14-6 131 19

Also receiving votes: Michigan 129, Maryland 116, Utah St. 99, Clemson 92, Arizona 47, Saint Mary's 45, Gonzaga 34, Texas 22, Creighton 12, Baylor 8, New Mexico 4, VCU 4, West Virginia 3, Oklahoma 2, Bradley 1, UCLA 1.

Vanderbilt ranked for first time in nine years

It comes at a steep cost (Vandy was hit over the weekend by the SEC for court-storming following its 74-69 win over Kentucky) but the Commodores are ranked, coming in at No. 24 in the first season under Mark Byington. It's the first time the since Dec. 2015 that Vanderbilt is in the AP Top 25 poll.  The Wildcats dropped from No. 9 last week to No. 12 in this week's poll.

SEC flexes its muscles again

With Vanderbilt appearing in the rankings this week, the SEC once again led all conferences with 10 ranked teams — five more than the Big Ten;s five ranked teams. Vandy's appearance also marks the 14th different SEC team to be in the rankings this season.

UConn once again hangs in

With three losses in its last five games imcluding a 76-72 loss at Xavier over the weekend, UConn fell six spots in the rankings and once again narrowly avoided falling out of the Top 25. It's the second time this season UConn has taken a big fall after a rough week and snagged at No. 25, the last time coming after its three-game losing skid during the Maui Invitational in November.