College basketball rankings: Purdue leaps Houston for No. 3 in AP Top 25 poll, will face No. 1 Arizona next

The Big 12 has three of the top six teams in this week's poll and six teams ranked in the AP Top 25

By Cameron Salerno

Dec 11, 2023 at 1:20 pm ET • 1 min read

USATSI

Purdue jumped Houston for No. 3 and No. 5 UConn maintained its ranking after wins over No. 9 North Carolina and Arkansas Pine-Bluff in the latest AP Top 25 poll released Monday. The Boilermakers will meet No. 1 Arizona in Indianapolis just one day after the Huskies will face No. 10 Gonzaga in Seattle in the fourth game the reigning national champions will play vs. a Top 25 team this season.

In UConn's latest test against a top-10 opponent, the Huskies pulled off a near wire-to-wire victory over UNC. UConn never trailed after going down by one point in the opening minutes of the first half against the Tar Heels at Madison Square Garden to move to 2-1 against ranked opponents. All nine of UConn's wins have been by double digits.

No. 7 Marquette moved up one spot after a dominant 86-65 win over No. 19 Texas in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. The Golden Eagles followed up that performance with a 19-point win over Notre Dame to jump Gonzaga in the rankings.

Speaking of the Big East, No. 8 Creighton also moved up two spots after improving to 8-1 with a 109-64 win over Central Michigan. The Blue Jays jumped North Carolina ahead of their big nonconference home showdown against Alabama on Saturday. Big East conference play starts for all teams next week.

No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 13 Clemson made the biggest jumps of any teams in the poll. The Sooners moved up eight spots following a win over Arkansas, while the Tigers jumped 11 spots after knocking off previous unbeaten TCU.

Following a blowout win over North Carolina Central to improve to 8-1, Virginia is back in the Top 25. The Cavaliers checked in at No. 22 after spending the last two weeks out of the poll.

No. 25 Northwestern entered the poll for the first time this season after a 91-59 win over Detroit Mercy. The Wildcats currently sit at 7-1 and already have a marquee win over No. 3 Purdue this season.